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What can Japan’s Hot Springs teach us about leadership, performance, and recovery? We’re in Beppu on the island of Kyushu, turning steam into fuel.
Japan’s hot springs, or “Onsens,” are ancient and enduring – geothermal wonders, releasing intense pressure, minerals, and heated water from deep below the surface. They can be therapeutic and healing or deadly “hells,” as they’re called, of extreme temperature and toxins. So it’s good to know the difference.
This place has rare, amazing beauty and also conveys vital lessons to help us improve, perform, and lead others. So I invite you to dip into these three pools of thought and action.
1. Release steam. Internalized pressure has to go somewhere. Contain it too long, and it may explode unexpectedly. So explore the depths of underground issues, yours and your teams, and seek proactive, positive methods to let it out including physical play, heated humor, and enriched conversations.
2. Use the force. Pressure can become fuel for peak performance, and performing under pressure is a highly prized skill. Yet there’s a fine line between breakthrough and breakdown. Managing intensity requires us to learn when to invite and ride the pressure and when to pull back from the edge of hellish consequences.
3. Ritualize recovery. To those who live among the hot springs, they are a sacred, essential part of everyday life. Where can you find or create an “onsen” of your design to bring peaceful solitude, restorative healing, and enriching properties that inform your life in real time?
Pressure creates breakthroughs. Venting is vital. And, we humans can adapt to extremes, within limits. So let’s lead from the depths of our values, finding healthy ways up through the layers. Until next week, stay Off Balance On Purpose.
The audio for this week’s coaching video is located under the “Get Inspired” tab in the Positive Playlist . You can subscribe to the podcast and listen to other weekly messages for improving all aspects of your life.
