Managing The Constraints On Your Expression
After 10 years of research and client work, I have developed these models to help figure out why we each do what we do so we can build self development strategies that actually work for us.
These are the models I use for a more holistic and comprehensive approach to health, fitness, and self-development.
We assess three distinct aspects: the mental, the physical, and the emotional. This gives us information about who you are in terms of your identity, your expression, and your personality.
Your identity is about your thoughts and memories and goals, your personality is about how you react in different situations, and your expression is about how that comes out in the real world; in your body, how you look, and how you behave.
So here’s how it works:
Each aspect is formed from a base unit that has a horizontal axis and a vertical axis. At the top of the vertical axis, there are fewer, larger entities and at the bottom there are many smaller parts.
As you move up the vertical axis, the lower parts come together to form the larger entities, and as you move down, the higher entities divide into their distinct parts.
Then on the horizontal axis we have two variables: One pushes up into higher complex forms and the other pulls down towards simpler, and more basic forms.
Both sides of the horizontal axis are equally important but they work against each other with each side balancing the other out.
So in short; the vertical axis is our position, higher or lower. And the horizontal axis is our direction, upwards or downwards.
In this article we are looking at Expression.
To assess your expression we look at the position and direction of your actions and behaviours.
Your expression at the top of the vertical axis breaks down into your embodiment in different situations. And your embodiment is the result of all your actions in a given moment.
Actions are when energy is used to contract your muscles and move your body. And when your actions are out of alignment, your body and expression will also be out of alignment.
What I mean by that is you won’t have a clear sense of who you are, what you’re doing, or why you behave in certain ways.
So the two sides of the horizontal axis bring things into alignment at all these levels, from bottom to top.
On the left - anatomical left - we are Burning things down and on the other side we are Building things up.
Here, Burning is what we mean when we say we are burning calories. We burn through the energy in our body to create all our movements, even the small ones like moving our lips to speak or moving our hands to write. When we are Burning, material in the body is being broken down into smaller parts.
Building is what we mean when we talk about bodybuilding, adding material to our body. Bodybuilders build muscle but sometimes building can mean storing energy in your body as glycogen or fat, creating larger and more complex forms out of the material we have absorbed.
Your body builds the things it needs to take the actions you take and will burn the things that it doesn’t need, turning them into energy and waste that leaves the body.
Burning is how a particular expression can move down and dissipate into energy through our individual actions.
This is happening when fat that is part of the body is broken down and used as fuel for movement. Whether you’re walking, lifting weights, or even just talking, the stuff that your body is made from is being converted into energy that contracts your muscles and comes out of your body in the form of movement and heat. In this way, the shape and structure of your body changes as it breaks down.
Building is how energy that comes from the food we eat and absorb can move up and aggregate into a particular expression.
This happens when amino acids that come from a piece of meat we have eaten get digested and absorbed into the body. As you recover from work, those amino acids move through the bloodstream and into the muscles, repairing and strengthening them in response to the actions we take. Over time, each meal you eat adds to the body to become the muscles that hold you up and move you through the world. This is how the structure and shape of your body is built up.
So how do we manage the constraints on your expression?
We're talking here about being able to truly express yourself in the real world. This means turning your intentions and your desires into actual physical actions and having the things you need that make it physically possible to take those actions.
Because in the real world we come up against four basic constraints:
Time, we don't have the time, we run out of time.
Money, nobody has infinite money.
Body, obviously your body has limits. And ...
Relationships. Not having the right relationships can be a big obstacle.
I have frameworks and projects that will help with all of these but here we will start with the body because this is where you have the greatest opportunity right now to break through some of those constraints.
First we need to look at the position of your body.
Where are you at physically right now? Where are things not lining up? Where's the blockage?
So we look at what I call the Seven Cycles. They are ...
Digestion
Performance
Energy
Work
Breath
Light
Attention
They're called the seven cycles because they all work at their best when they cycle in a routine. This makes it easier to have enough time and energy to do the things we want to do. So if you struggle with time and energy, Step Zero of any plan that involves taking physical action is to work on these cycles.
If you want access to my Step Zero Action Plan, just go to GymnasiOn dot Net and join the network. You can also build great relationships there too.
So these seven cycles are not complicated. You just have to go through them in order.
Digestion:
Are you eating good nutritious food? Are you in control of what you eat? Are you eating in a predictable way? Do you know what’s in your food? Is it food you can digest and absorb so your body actually gets the nutrition it needs?
If the answer is no, somethings not right. Start there. This is right at the bottom of that vertical axis. It’s the material that goes into your body. If you’ve got that in place, move to the next cycle.
Performance:
What are you trying to achieve? Is it realistic? Are you biting off more than you can chew? Are you accumulating wins over time or losses? Are you giving yourself too much? Are you challenging yourself enough?
This is important because it’s about your actions. Your body responds differently depending on whether you are getting what you want and need. So you need to be going after something that’s achievable. If you’re not doing that, start there.
Energy:
Are you taking in the right amount of energy? Are you eating enough? Are you putting on weight? Are you losing weight? Are you burning out? Are you hungry all the time?
We’re talking about calories here. It’s about not just the type of food but the amount and how that fuels the work that your body is doing. Remember not to worry about this if you haven’t first figured out the previous two cycles.
Work:
How much physical output are you demanding from your body? Are you exhausting yourself? Are you wasting energy? Are you lazy?
This is the other side of the calorie equation. It’s workouts but it’s also the calories your brain is burning when you do knowledge work, calories burned fighting off illness, calories burned moving around and getting from place to place.
Breath:
Do you snore? Are you holding your breath? Can you walk up the stairs without getting out of puff? Are you breathing deeply? Are you able to use your breath to calm yourself down or amp yourself up?
Sometimes the higher things like breathing can fix themselves when you have the lower things in the right place but this might still be where things aren’t lining up.
Light:
What time do you go to sleep? What time do you wake up? Do you need an alarm to wake you up? Do you rely on caffeine? Are you looking at screens all the time? Do you feel a lot worse in the Winter?
All of these things relate to light. There are certain things that your body does better when the light is dimming to darkness. And there are other things that your body does better as the light gets brighter.
Attention:
Where are you putting your focus? What are you physically looking at? Is it something near or far? Is it something small or large? Do you ever look up from your desk? Do you need glasses?
These questions only really become relevant if everything else is perfectly lined up and in my experience there’s probably something further down the vertical axis that you need to deal with first. So make sure you are being honest with yourself about where you are at physically.
Once we understand your starting position, we can see what is happening on the horizontal axis.
Physical health and fitness is not just adding more strength, more discipline, more efficiency, more, more, more.
It's also about balancing that out with a kind of beneficial destruction through the deliberate burning away of inefficiency, weakness, and the behaviours that do not get us closer to what we truly want.
Too much Building without Burning leads to overgrowth.
If you are only accumulating and holding onto old ways, avoiding all forms of damage, refusing to take risks, you remain locked in place, overweight, and unable to change.
Too much Burning without Building leads to collapse.
If you are constantly depleting resources by not sleeping enough, putting in too much physical exertion, dieting restrictively, or just trying to follow an unsustainable routine, you will eventually break down.
So to balance these out I use a system called The Process.
The Process is designed to help you move between these directions deliberately. Breaking down inefficiencies and reinforcing structure, ensuring that energy is used productively and creatively rather than wasted.
It's like an alchemical experiment that has very specific steps that must be done in a particular order to produce a transformation.
The 12 steps are split across four major stages:
The Black Stage where obstacles and failures are revealed. Most people don't get past this stage on their own because of that.
The White Stage where the focus is more positive. We celebrate success instead of focussing on failure.
The Yellow Stage where the results begin to show. This encourages and motivates us to keep going.
The Red Stage where the transformation becomes the new normal.
Each stage contains 3 steps:
Step 1 is Smelting - Stepping into the fire. Making a full commitment, forcing a break with the past.
Step 2 is Dissolving - Seeing what comes up. Exposing negative behaviours and finding those areas of resistance.
Step 3 is Purification - Removing the bad stuff. Holding ourselves accountable so we can nullify weak points.
These Make up The Black Stage
Step 4 is Unification - Integrating the good stuff. Standardising successful behaviours and building a strong foundation.
Step 5 is Discarding - Exploring better incentives. Replacing unhelpful reinforcement loops and establishing new rewards.
Step 6 is Crystallisation - Ensuring stable progress. Protecting ourselves from failure by ensuring setbacks don’t spiral into collapse.
These Make up the The White Stage
Step 7 is Reinforcement - Strengthening good habits. Making them work together in positive sum games.
Step 8 is Evaporation - Testing and evaluating periodically. Stepping out of the work to see if it's working.
Step 9 is Proliferation - Reapplying successful strategies. Taking things that work in one domain and bringing them into others.
These Make up the The Yellow Stage
Step 10 is Elevation - Redefining what is normal. Raising the standards and setting new goals.
Step 11 is Compounding - Refining things. Making them work better and better over time.
Step 12 is Inspiration - Using what you have learned and taking it into the next challenge.
These Make up The Red Stage
Health, fitness, and self-development are not just about growth and hustle and levelling up. They are also about knowing what to keep and what to throw away.
When I am helping people to walk through The Process step by step they are able to use of both sides of the horizontal axis, Building and Burning towards something they actually want from their physical body.
When we are following The Process, expression is never random, never wasted, never static, and - importantly - it's never over.
There is always further to go.
I’m Ben Fleming, and if you’re a forward thinker of any kind, I want to partner with you and use my expertise in health and fitness to help you become the person you want to be so you can build the future you want to see.
You and I can build a better world for everyone forever together.
Let me know what you’re working on!
Comment below or send me a message.
My handle is @GymnasiOnUK on Youtube, Twitter, Substack, and Instagram.
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