There Are a Lot of Reasons for Doing The Work in a Group
And number one for me is that it keeps me showing up to do my work. There’s something compelling about being in a group.
It’s instinctive, I believe. We don’t want to let our group down, so we rise to the occasion. It certainly has worked for me.
That’s Why I Created the Inquiry Circle Forums
Four years ago, I noticed that I wasn’t doing The Work that consistently. So I created Slow-Cook Inquiry as a way to start doing The Work every day for 10-15 minutes per day.
Many times in the beginning, I was just there with one or two other people. But it worked. I soon found that doing 10-15 minutes of inquiry every day was not hard to keep up.
I attribute that to the power of the group. Of course, it’s just my own mind giving that power to the group. But hey it worked for me. And it still works for me.
From There Came Steady Pace Inquiry and Self-Paced Inquiry
If I can do 10-15 minutes a day, why can’t I do 30 min or even one hour per day?
With the help of a group, I soon found that I could. I’ve been doing The Work consistently for about one hour a day, five days a week, for past 3-4 years.
It’s the power of the group that brings me back day after day.
And It’s Not Just Peer Pressure That Keeps Me There
Not wanting to let down the group is one kind of motivation. But negative motivation can only go so far. I tend to rebel against “having” to do anything.
I know I would not have lasted if this were the only factor keeping me there.
Luckily, there are a lot of other factors that keep me coming back doing my work with a group every day.
Here Are Some of My Favorites
1. I am truly inspired to read the work of others in the group every day. The insights and turnarounds have direct applications to my own life. It’s like I have a team of people doing my work for me.
2. I get new ideas of what I can work on next. When someone opens up an area that I have not yet worked myself, I quite often find myself writing my next worksheet in this area. This is quite helpful since my mind sometimes gets stuck in a rut working similar topics, or avoiding certain topics.
3. I get ideas of how to find examples to challenging turnarounds. I would never come up with the things others come up with. But their examples give me ideas of places I can look when finding my own examples.
4. When I see someone going in deep with their work, it inspires me to go in deep as well.
5. There is something powerful about sharing and working through my weak points with a group. It gives me the courage to be vulnerable when I see that others also are willing to be vulnerable. And by being honest with others, I start becoming more honest with myself.
This Is The Power of a Group
If you’ve never done The Work in a group, I encourage you to try it. Even working with a regular partner brings many of the benefits of group work.
If you look around, you’ll find many examples of the power of the group in sports, spiritual practices of all kinds, business, etc. And you can just as easily take advantage of group practice when doing The Work of Byron Katie.
Have a great week,
Todd
“All across America and Europe, there are groups of people who meet regularly to do The Work.” Byron Katie, Loving What Is
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