8 Dimensions of Wellness, S.M.A.R.T. goals, Journaling, and the Tao of Personal Growth

Ibelieve in intrinsic actions. I feel that the actions an individual takes must be rooted deeply in their core for those actions to be of any substance. Taoist might refer to this as “The Way”. As the Taoist say, the Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. In other words, to describe what I mean by intrinsic action and aligned resolution to a certain direction will only lead to an incomplete definition of what “The Way” is. But in any sense, the Tao Te Ching is worth a read or two.

My management and team-building philosophy is based on a concept called Wu Wei. Wu Wei means doing “not doing”. From a practical standpoint, work still needs to get done, so I can only embody “not doing” to a necessary degree, though in order to help you visualize why I believe in “not doing”, I will some metaphors borrowed from the Tao Te Ching:

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.
We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.
We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.
We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.

The principle is also the same that helps a psychologist help their client.. It is his/her receptivity and emptiness that nourishes the client and I feel the same goes for being a beneficial team player or even a manager.

The manager’s responsibility is to help facilitate a “flow” within the team. A natural flow state that intrinsically aligns actions amongst team players leads to a most successful outcome. I see the role of a technical manager as one who goes with the flow and stays alert to any circumstances that would diminish that flow. People face challenges in terms of reason and internal purpose when carrying out a necessary stream of actions. There has to be a lot aligned in a person’s sense of being for things to go smoothly, and this is where I excel.

First, I realize this: a developer must be called to be a developer. Someone who is called to play baseball isn’t going to make a good Javascript coder nor a good coder is going to be a baseball player. Now I’m not saying people can’t learn to be good baseball players or coders, but if your heart is not aligned to the action, it’s no good.

I am able to recognize and nourish the flame that lights a person’s passion and true calling while assisting that person with their ego so that the ego doesn’t get in the way. This is a very fine art and I practice it very subtlely nonetheless, I do something beneficial for team members with an energy that seems like nothing. It’s actually usually what I don’t do, or what I don’t say that has the most effect.

I’m also a believer that there is an internal framework that empowers a person to their higher purpose. As a theologian and consumer of a lot of psychology and philosophy, I’m very good with metaphysical frameworks that people innately rely on, and I’m like a person who helps set up the framing of that inner world for people who may find themselves stuck at a particular point or frame of context. This eases frustration and despair and ultimately empowers people to give their all. When you feel like you’re making progress with what you are meant to do, well then, you act with a synergy that is more than unaligned action.

Over the years, I’ve learned a few models and techniques that help maintain my own balance and kindle the fire inside of myself which I will share. The first one is the Eight Dimensions of Wellness. Similar in some respect to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, there are certain dimensions a “full and competent” individual can focus on to bring a more complete and wholesome sense of power in all areas in life. These dimensions that I will list all are tied into each other and focus on one has a synergetic effect on the others.

I personally try to cover as many of the eight areas on a daily basis as possible, placing these dimensions as a higher priority than my main goals. I use the action of completing my dimensions as the fire that sets ablaze my goals. So each day, I take each area and plan a task that is aligned with the dimension, and then use it as an aspect that gets me closer to my goals.

The eight dimensions are as follows:

Dropping a pebble in a bucket over time will cause the bucket to overfill. Every day you add to these dimensions, you are adding to your own bucket which will have no other choice but to one day overflow!

Without a goal, your energy is directed to no outcome. The idea is to have a target you are trying to achieve but then let go of reaching that target and care more about the journey instead of the destination. So set goals, and then let go of that very goal so you can achieve it more effectively. Attachment is suffering. Non-attachment is flow.

S.M.A.R.T Goals are goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timebound. There is a worksheet you use when constructing your goals. When you focus on each dimension of the S.M.A.R.T. goal, it helps you construct goals that are grounded and able to be acted on.

When you have many goals, you can organize the goals and tasks to figure out your next most intrinsic and powerful action.

For example, I have the ultimate goal of contributing to world harmony and contentment on a global scale. Without structure, this is a grandiose goal with no grounding. It’s a nice thought but without an actionable plan, it becomes useless and even frustrating because of your inability to act on your highest purpose.

Looking at that purpose, I might create another goal: “use music to influence others” and maybe another one “build an organization of like-minded people”. These are still grandiose and not grounded. So I keep going: “register a decentralized autonomous organization”, or “find funding to advertise the newly formed organization.” I’m getting closer. “Start consulting company to fund world-changing organization” and “find clients for consulting company”. Even closer. “Concentrate on Immersive E-commerce” or “build a personal skill set in WebXR”, or even “Find a client and work solo until funds accumulate to hire others.” “Study Magento2. Study React.JS. Study Symfony”. OK… Closer. “Purchase Symfony 5 Udemy course and watch tomorrow and complete by end of the day.” There we go! A grounded action! And it’s Specific, Measurable, Relevant, Attainable, and Timebound!

So that is just one smart goal, though it would be a very good exercise to go through and make more S.M.A.R.T. goals and organize the precedent of action in an ordered way.

Bonus points can be awarded to the person who uses S.M.A.R.T. goals with an agile project management system.

Another one of my habits that has helped me quite a bit is to use a journal. I use Day One which is a free journaling app for macOS. Journaling is very important when you are a vivid goal setter. A lot of the time when you have a very large set of goals with multiple contingencies, your thoughts can lead in a thousand different directions, and ultimately you will find yourself frustrated and even exhausted. Clarity on the other hand empowers and nourishes you when you have a clear course of action. When you write in a journal, you organize thoughts in a linear fashion instead of a spatial cloud. It helps you focus on what is next and what comes after.

It also releases troubling emotions and gives you a sounding board that represents what your current state of mind is. Like a reflection in a mirror, but using words. When you create that reflection, you then can look at it from a detached position and chose a bit of objectivity and organization. You can write to-do lists or talk to it like you would a very sincere friend. It’s the ultimate tool for the visionary, creating reality from inspiration.

So go ahead and start a journal today. I’m sure you will find some appreciation in it.

Alright, so let’s summarize this with some Harry Potter. To some degree, these methods, tools, and ideas I outlined are the beginning of “magic powers”. With them you can construct whatever is in your vision and cast “spells” to achieve an outcome. You literally can affect the reality around you with a grounding in these principles which, to me, is magical. Take it and go far with it and add your dent to the universe!