Rolling Around with the Pigs

EXCERPT FROM THE NEW COLLECTIVE WORK OF THE LEADERSHIP CIRCLE “OUR ESSENTIAL ENERGIES”
“First, you must know what you want, then you must have the courage to say it, then you must have the energy to do it.”

— Georges Clemenceau
A few months ago, I had a dream.
In this dream, I quit everything, changed my life, and went to settle on the Aubrac plateau.
At that time of year, I was going through a period of severe energy decline… I was tired of the daily turmoil. I felt mental and decision-making fatigue. My sleep was no longer restorative, and every morning I woke up just as drained as the day before. I was at a very low energy level. At least, that’s what the dream was telling me.
The irony of the situation was that at that very moment, Raphaëlle had asked me to speak at a Leadership Circle conference on the subject of energies. Why this invitation? Because I am a coach and, in my daily work, some leaders’ requests concern detecting or mobilizing energies to better reach ambitious goals.
Never having faced such a significant drop in my own energy, I decided to apply to myself what a coaching session on energy issues might contain.
This method, this approach, takes place in five steps.

Accept and Admit Reality
The first step was to admit reality with full objectivity and humility. Admit that I was not in a high-energy state and accept the situation. Accept not being “at the top” all the time. Accept my weakness in that moment. Accept not to give in to the strong injunctions of society and organizations that push us to be constantly performing, caught in a certain kind of delusion of over-power.
This acceptance was all the more complicated since, on a daily basis, I am recognized as a very dynamic and energetic person. It’s even my “signature” in my coaching work, and most of my coachees leave their sessions boosted. How could I have lost this distinctive trait of my personality?
I also had to accept the “poorly wrapped gift” of this invitation to speak at a conference. Why “poorly wrapped”? Because the timing was bad given my low energy. But it was also a double invitation: to refocus and to question the message being sent to me. What was it telling me? What was it bringing me?
We all receive “poorly wrapped gifts” throughout our lives. A layoff, a breakup, a missed promotion. Painful at first, but ultimately a real opportunity if we think about it, because the gift often creates new opportunities, discoveries, and renewal.
The subliminal message of my “poorly wrapped gift” was to take time for myself, to step back and gain perspective, to reconnect internally and accept a slowing of time in order to better regain control.

“Rolling Around with the Pigs”
For Dan Low, coach, author, and speaker from Singapore, the Pig symbolizes an unpleasant task that must be done but that we would all prefer to avoid. Thus, “rolling around with the pigs” means doing unpleasant things, those we constantly postpone because they don’t excite us or even repel us. Except, if we refuse to “roll around with” them, we will be chased by the Bull, symbol of stress. The more stress rises, the more it consumes our precious energy.
We all have our pigs, unique to each of us. Taking time to identify them and to “roll around with them” is sometimes necessary and healthy.
So, I made a list of all the small unpleasant tasks of my daily life—my “pigs”—that created a heavy mental load and consumed my energy. Then I set about “rolling around with them,” starting with the least unpleasant, the smallest, the easiest.
What is the benefit of “rolling around with the pigs”? It frees your mind, clears it, and creates space to take action again. Completing tasks considered menial provides an intense sense of accomplishment. It generates pride and recharges our energy.

Connecting with Deep Resources
In my dream, I left my Parisian life to settle on the Aubrac plateau, in the very village of Aubrac.
Aubrac is one of my favorite places in the world. Everything there is beautiful, with colors changing with each season: granite covered by snow’s pure white in winter, then bursting with colors in spring.
In my dream, I saw the soft light of the late summer sun, soothing ochres, stimulating reds… An absolute calm reigned over the plateau.
A white zone, time there seemed suspended. Few regions in France allow such radical disconnection from the noise and hustle of the cities. For me, everything there is an invitation to wonder, serenity, and renewal.
Spontaneously, one might think that this dream was an analogy for escape. Someone close to me, to whom I spoke of my dream, asked about the “delicious” nature of this escape. A disconcerting question, since there is nothing delicious about running away.
And yet, that question pushed me to analyze deeply what that place represented to me. I then transformed this escape strategy into a resource strategy. From an anxious projection, a virtuous projection was born.
I consciously projected myself into Aubrac, to fully feel the energy that place gave me.
By opening up this way, I “self-actualized” in what NLP practitioners call an “anchor.”
These anchors consist of inviting a coachee to remember and relive intensely a positive moment and anchor it in the present through a gesture or a word. A sort of magic word or thought, which, in difficult moments, can bring them back to a calmer mindset.
A magic thought that also enables self-conditioning for success (passing an interview, for example).
Anchoring is a powerful, easy-to-do tool that can be triggered at will. I have kept my Aubrac anchor; it still helps me today whenever I need to feel high energy or to regain calm.

Visualizing a Goal
Once I had “rolled around with my pigs” and identified my internal resources, I worked on resetting and visualizing goals. It seems obvious, but once you regain energy, it’s important not to waste it. Defining goals and visualizing them helps avoid wasted energy by channeling it purposefully.
All top athletes have an objective in mind, morning and night. Visualizing their goal constantly allows them to channel their energy and minimize unproductive actions. It keeps their motivation and determination at the highest level.
In my case, my goal was obviously not to win a gold medal, but I defined it and fully visualized it. Thus, all my actions and energies converged toward achieving it.
Visualizing goal achievement, just like NLP anchoring, greatly increases energy levels.
In coaching, we always set goals at the start. They are necessary to avoid dispersion and energy waste. Launching change requires a lot of mobilization and energy. A clear goal generates energy while ensuring it is used appropriately.

Taking Action
Once these different actions had been undertaken, I began to feel that my energy levels were significantly restored. I felt lively and alert, I rediscovered excitement in my daily life, and above all, perspective. The time to take action had come.
It is highly utopian to think we can shift from neutral to fifth gear instantly—it’s simply impossible. It is therefore useful to apply what we call the 5P Rule or the “small steps method,” that is, the First Smallest Relevant Step (or Possible Step, some coaches say).
This method, inspired by the Kaizen approach, is based on the idea of changing the smallest thing possible to move toward greater efficiency. Strung together, these small changes generate deep transformations and tangible results.
By nature, the ego seeks challenges worthy of itself. But the bigger the challenge, the greater the risk of failure.
Of course, having a powerful purpose in life is essential—it is what stretches the elastic of motivation. But be careful: starting straight away with a very ambitious goal can be counterproductive.
It may be better to break down this powerful purpose into sub-goals, thus creating milestones of success. With this realistic approach, step by step, the individual enters a virtuous cycle, activates their inner dynamo, and each pedal stroke generates even more energy. For example, before setting the goal of running four times a week, it is more realistic to first buy suitable shoes. Then go running once a week, then twice, then three times.
Each small success triggers another, gradually embedding itself into the system’s “motherboard.” With, as a bonus, extra energy!
This is how I returned to a high-energy state, much to my satisfaction, reconnecting with a state that allows me to practice my profession with passion… and energy!
If you too feel low on energy, here’s my advice: if you find your resource place and roll around with your pigs, then you’ll be able to let go of the mustangs!

Expression by Canadian speaker and author Christine Michaud.
D. Low, The Art of Self-Combat. Maximize Your Potential, Pearson, 2002.
NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming): brief therapy developed in the 1970s in the U.S. by John Grinder, linguistics professor, and Richard Bandler, mathematician and psychotherapist.
The 5P Rule is inspired by the Kaizen method, developed in the USA in the early 20th century, then adopted after WWII by the Japanese, hence its name. Kaizen combines kai (“change”) and zen (“better”).
J.-M. Sabatier, The Strength of the Mind. Becoming a Champion Can Be Learned—in Business as in Sports, Dunod, 2013
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