If you throw a bone to a dog, (s)he will likely go and get it but might get distracted - even for a second - when noticing other interesting things happening around, curious to understand what it is.
If you throw a bone to a lion, he might wonder why you throw a tiny bone away when technically, you are a large bag of bones (and other tasty things) and therefore a more interesting meal.
The nature of the lion is to be laser-focused on getting food while saving as much energy as possible, knowing he might go on for days without finding another opportunity to eat. The nature of the dog is to screen his environment constantly, paying attention to all noises, ready to protect himself/ you/ your territory.
Some of us tend to be more 'Lion' than 'Dog', yet it is always possible for all of us to develop the other mode. Here is a table on modes' main characteristics and a few tips on how to develop those modes:
Mode: | Characteristics: | Best with: | How to develop: |
Lion | - Laser-focused - One task at a time - Undivided attention until task is complete | - deadlines - emergencies/ dangers (e.g. driving safely when children are loud and agitated) - prioritising tasks/ organising - reaching your main goal | - meditation, ideally seated: guided then progressively more silent and longer, or inviting you to focus on only one sound, one body part at a time - Avoid multi-tasking in pleasant environment: e.g. drink your take-away coffee seated without looking at your phone, avoid switching from a gym exercise to another (all reps together, then move on to new exercise), read all headlines 1st then click on your favourite, etc. |
Dog | - Curious and enthusiast - Excellent observer - flexibility/ adjusts to new goals | - creative thinking (last min. change of plans) - learning something - discovering a new environment - openminded and attention to details together (e.g.: job/ house hunts) | - meditation: guided, progressively longer, with attention switching constantly from details (sounds, smell, etc) to the breathe, or visualisation of elaborated sceneries - Make a trip to an unknown lively area and figure out activities without using your phone, or gather lots of information on 1 topic (e.g. your next perfume) then summarise without looking at the sources of information |
And you, what is your mode?
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