Radical Self Inquiry
The path to *radical self-inquiry *is one that calls for authenticity. Not the kind of authenticity we have heard too much of without a clear purpose. As coach Jerry Colonna puts it, radical self-inquiry starts with opening up your broken open heart completely and unapologetically. That is a necessary condition to inquire within, understand your deeply rooted beliefs, conquer them by letting go, and build yourself up leveraging your past experiences and future ambitions to become one in the present.
In his book Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up, Jerry Colonna presents the idea of radical self-inquiry. He posits that such a concept, if deeply internalized, is a necessary condition for becoming an integrated leader and a more aware, capable human being. When you inquire within without any expectations and with complete curiosity, what comes to the surface may be unexpected, intense, and hard to explore further because of the cognitive and emotional load it entices.
“This is what great leaders do. Great leaders look unflinchingly in the mirror and transform untamed hungers and unruly compulsions into moments of self-compassion and understanding. In doing so, they create the spaces for each of us to do the same, turning our organizations into places of growth and self-actualization.”
— Jerry Colonna, Reboot
According to Colonna, the hardest part of becoming a leader is learning to lead yourself. When you become a leader, the hardest part of *being *a leader is to meet the world with a broken-open heart. A broken-open heart is one that faces the reality of the world for what it truly is and accepts it in its pure form. A broken-open heart is one that believes in the relevance of how we react to events. A broken-open heart is one that knows what it feels like to face its own dragons within, understand them with compassion, and integrate them into its personality and attitudes toward the world.
“The forest knows / Where you are. You must let it find you.”
— David Wagoner
The forest is your true, authentic self. It knows where you are, and you often do not intend to let it find you because the forest brings joy, sorrow, sadness, meaning, terror, calmness, and every other emotion you may imagine. Radical self-inquiry happens when you decide to let the forest find you by standing still and looking inside yourself. If you do that consistently enough and with the pristine intention of “letting the forest find you”, it will find you, unapologetically, at some point.
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. He who looks outside, dreams. He who looks inside, awakens.”
— Carl Jung