Shareable: Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ~ Carl Jung
In 1952, polio became an epidemic. There were 58,000 new cases reported in the United States, and more than 3,000 died from the disease. American medical researcher, Jonas Salk was tirelessly leading the research for a vaccine.
This proved very difficult, and it wasn’t until Salk decided to take a break and distance himself in the beauty of the Italian countryside that he experienced a breakthrough that led to the discovery for the vaccine.
Another profound example of distancing involved Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis. He was a Hungarian physician/scientist, during the mid-1800s. Ignaz was struggling to understand why he had the highest mortality rate for women in his section of the maternity award: 1 in 10. Semmelweis left for a while to spend time at another hospital. Upon returning, he discovered that the death rate had fallen drastically.
Distancing himself supported his discovery that particles (now known as germs) from cadavers and other diseased patients were being transmitted to healthy patients by his own hands.
Semmelweis immediately implemented the use of hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics, drastically reducing childbed fever.
Now centuries later, we again are thoroughly disinfecting our hands and just about everything else, in addition to practicing “social” distancing.
Under my Courageous Leadership Coaching and Consulting platform where leaders learn how to expand their inner power in order to more powerfully lead themselves and others, distancing is used in the context of mental distancing.
Mental distancing is a process whereby we create space or distance between our thoughts in order to become more aware. With awareness, we can choose to change our thinking and in turn, our experiences. As a leader, your influence becomes more intentional, profound and impactful.
Mental distancing begins simply by slowing down, breathing, then noticing your thoughts.
