The Inner More Defined

The Inner More, what is it? An incredibly good and logical question. Once I’d written about it, the question popped into my head: how do you define what it is? The reality is that it isn’t a set of actions or hacks. However, It does have characteristics, and I’ll describe them.

Warning: I really like acronyms. I think that they help me abbreviate the writing process and help me remember what I really want to say. So here are the characteristics of the Inner More:

I – Internal. It resides within - the self. Think that no one is coming for you. Who is left to rely on? You.

N – Necessity. It includes only what’s necessary. The extra is a distraction and weighs you down.

N – Nurture. It accelerates growth. You need to acquire the resources you don’t yet have.

E – Endurance. It activates endurance. Your endurance response signals that you’re taking the long view.

R – Resourcefulness. It inspires getting what’s needed. Your growth need is to be better resourced.

M – Meaning. It assigns meaning. Your path takes you to purpose, purpose is built from meaning.

O – Organization. It brings order. Your purpose needs a structured plan to achieve it.

R – Resolve. It hardens determination. You only accomplish the purpose you’ve committed to.

E – Engagement. It encourages action. You, step by step, implement your plan to achieve your purpose.

In the coaching world it’s said that the answers lie within. I don’t fully subscribe to that belief. However, I do know that within us is the first response needed to start the growth journey into meaning and purpose for our lives, and to acquire the needed resources to overcome and transcend. I believe that this was the case for my North American ancestors. Their Inner More grounded, guarded and guided them through the adversity and depravation of enslavement.

It is the same with all of us. My sense is that it’s a human trait or else our species would have died off long ago. Although it is always there for us to access, the Inner More is almost always what we reach for when our well-being is threatened. But we don’t have to wait until then.

Reach inward for it. You’ll find it there.

Eric