Can you recall your last moment of undisturbed tranquility? Too often quiet and peace hide as we seek to describe the environment of our homes, our work spaces and relationships, the current climate of our nation. Yet, we require quiet peace to spark clarity and release profound energy. Author and leadership expert Karima Mariama-Arthur writes in her new book, Poised For Excellence: Fundamental Principles of Effective Leadership in the Boardroom and Beyond, “the most effective leaders ensure their lives do not resemble the bleakness of zero-sum games.” All movement ceases when there is no longer any stored power to continue course. We cannot survive if we are all work and no rest; all go and no stopping. There is an increased call for leaders to find time for self-care. Beyond health and wholeness, finding ‘white space’ triggers the moment where potential transforms into power.

You’ve no doubt witnessed this transition. It exists in the moment just before the runner bursts into the first step, the drawing in of breath immediately before the singer belts the note. The opening of fire-sparked eyes after a long, meditative blink. It’s the quiet before you email the finished plan. The tipping point is the moment of success; the magic moment when the idea or invention crosses a set threshold and spreads like a wildfire. We can view the tipping point as the outburst or overflow of moving energy in response to its proactive, engaged, and continuous storage (remember T’Challa’s Black Panther suit brilliantly designed by Shuri the genius?). The moment before this powerful release of stored energy is the moment to embrace your mental, emotional, and physical reset.

Control.
Deliberately controlling your time and thoughts to engage in introspection is the first step in transforming potential into kinetic energy. No additional force is applied to the ‘mass’ that is your body of work. Psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person’s level of stick-to-itiveness is directly related to their level of success. This sustained effort over time determines the ‘mass’ of success. Within the reset, consider the mass of the work as it exists. What is your success made of? Is your work product highest quality? Are there deformities? Are changes necessary? We take a moment to gain control when we become silent. Control must occur at the locus where stored energy is corralled in response to a prolonged period of continuous work. Consider what you have done, what you have stored.

The question asked within yourself is, “have I produced a mass of work that, once fully revealed and released, will yield the results I desire?”

Alt.
On a standard computer keyboard, the alt or alternative key is a modifier. It is used on a computer to change the function of another pressed key. It is a tool used to change the outcome of work already performed (the first key being already pressed). The reset affords an opportunity to apply modifications to the mass of work produced - to influence the speed and direction of the results at the tipping point. In the control phase you evaluate. The alt phase includes active adjustment. It is an intentional effort to modify the work to align with the desired path once released.

Consider, “What modifications are required to produce the results I desire?”

Delete.
The full stop. Work has ceased, evaluations and modifications have been made. Once the delete key is pressed, the computer shuts down and reboots. Information consuming speed, space, and power is removed, there is a temporary full stop, then the system restarts with renewed vigor.  

When resetting, your power is temporarily held back for the purpose of rearrangement of resources in preparation for a more intense release.

Ask yourself, “am I prepared for the results I’ve created?”

The moment all of our potential and stored energies become flowing, moving, kinetic power is not visible to our eye. However, we recognize it. We feel it. There is a fixed point when we must choose to embrace the quiet peace that precedes the oncoming noise of success. In this moment, we recognize the full potential and purpose of what must now occur. There is a realization that the sustained input of our work energy is culminating and there is an imminent release that will propel us to heights we had only imagined.

Embrace the reset. Prepare for the release. Ctrl-Alt-Delete.