Are you making a step or state change?

We influence and are influenced by the culture, systems, and people around us.

If we understand the forces that create influence, we can better

  • shield ourselves from unwanted effects,
  • create more productive, lucrative, and fulfilling lives for ourselves,
  • and change the cultures we live in to be better and more wholesome.

The article shows how this is possible.

Measuring your happiness over time

Everyone has a baseline state of what is normal for them. This includes:

  • the amount of awareness one has of one’s surroundings,
  • the level of happiness,
  • the level of productivity
  • the level of financial wealth and stability
  • the narrative that one tells oneself about the world,
  • what you perceive as God (could be nothing),
  • and your state of mental, emotional, and physical health.

The baseline is like your default state.


If nothing is going on, this is how you are.


It can change over time.

When events occur in your life, they generally have a perceived positive and negative impact on your state.


These events move your experience and your state from the default baseline. This variance is short-term, and your state then returns to baseline once the impact from the event is over.


Here is an example.


This graph represents this person’s state of being over several months.


The average state recorded at fixed durations apart and plotted over a 24-hour timeline shows the state of being as a baseline with a 5% and 95% variance.


This graph allows us to see a snapshot of a person’s state of being, which I call their consciousness (the amount they are awake to themselves), and how this varies across days and hour by hour.


This graph shows a noticeable uplift around midday and in the evenings. Many people feel low at night when the body processes many emotions.


How this graph is created

You may recall an article I wrote on the map of consciousness.


In summary, the map is a linear list of states of being with associated awareness, outlook (view of life and God), and the process by which the person operates. Using this map as a guide, it is easy to record which state one feels one is in at a given moment.


Using the noticing exercise, it is possible to record data about oneself at a given moment.

By enhancing the data collected beyond the original mindfulness exercise, a richer dataset, including feelings of financial safety, health concerns, and productive flow state, can be recorded on a simple, plottable scale.


It is also possible to use the methods David Hawkins uses to record levels of consciousness; however, I have found this to be unreliable.


Taking the data from several months and overlaying it onto a single representative day yields multiple readings for each time period. This is plotted on a graph with a median and 5 and 95 percentile ranges.



Why is this useful?

This data shows trends in our perspective of our health, awareness, productivity, and outlook (which guides the inner narrative). We can see trends over time, daily trends, and hourly factors.

This can be used to improve ourselves and, most importantly, make a step change.



State vs Step changes

So far, the variations we have discussed in the baseline are all state changes. They are small variations in how we are feeling and operating. These can give us as good indication of what factors are influencing our lives on a daily and hourly basis.


For real life improvement, we also want to create opportunities for Step changes. These are much more significant and cause the baseline to shift up or down significantly.

Often these are caused by either existential crisis moments or something significant happening in our lives, such as a new partner, job, or God-like realisation. They can also be deliberating caused.


A step change is a significant life event.

In this example graph above, the person records a significant shift when they cross the courage line and then a significant step change with a powerful experience that alters their baseline to remain above the courage line.


A shift in the default state or baseline is like changing our centre of gravity. All state changes are made, plus or minus, to the baseline.


A state change is the little things that happen every day in our lives that make us feel good or bad but don’t change the underlying default state.


A step change changes the baseline, our default state, to be different.


Power vs Force – the courage line

A person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still – old proverb

Here is a quick recap from the previous article.


The courage line is a level on the graph above, representing the state of consciousness in which there is an available amount of courage to make change in a positive and creative way.

Daily life above the line is achieved through the power of presence.


Below the courage line, there is not an available awareness to achieve courage, and this means the person is on average a net taker of energy, and this means they solve problems reactively and with force.


If you want to be a great manager, leader, change-maker, or a net giver to any system rather than a drain on it, you must be above the courage line most of the time.


If you want to create organisations with a coaching or creative culture, you need most people to be above this line.


Data from a few years ago shows that 85% of people have a baseline below the courage line, so this is going to be very challenging.


How to achieve STEP changes

Step changes are created in one of two ways.


The first approach usually happens by accident but can be achieved through certain rituals that invoke a shock wake-up call.


These are the existential awakenings that life either throws at us in crisis or in epiphany. One example of this is to be on a coaching or therapy program. You cannot be a good coach or therapist without having certain skills and learning those skills often requires a step change.


Our coaching program, for example, helps and guides you through this step change over a 6 month period.


The second approach is more gradual and requires constant vigilance of one’s state changes.


By consistently living at a higher state, we will shift our baseline.

Examples of this are meditating every day, eating well, keeping good company, and living in a culture that resonates at a higher frequency than our baseline.


The second approach requires discipline for consistent practice on a target that is intangible to the mind. This means that almost no one does it. To sacrifice the tangible, immediate pleasures for an intangible presence is a big ask.

There are solutions for this that are outside of this article’s scope.


The effect of culture on state change

As empathic beings seeking connection, we draw in the energy that our culture gives out, and we resonate on that frequency for acceptance and to fit in. This is autonomous and automatic.


We are affected by those around us, the news we read or watch, and the narratives other people hold and share.


This has a huge impact on our state and, therefore, our baseline.



The relationship of culture to individual state and step change

We are all influenced by the state of the culture and our collective behaviours reflected it.

As our behaviours change to fit in, we cause a temporary state change in our own experience.


What can we do about it?

The highest priority item on the agenda is to build connections (that all of us are driven to find) with things that will raise your energy levels and keep you courageous.

Anything that drains your energy, especially things that build hopelessness and apathy, should be eliminated from your daily life. Use your courage to find a way.


The Deeper Change Academy's purpose is to raise people's state change and to bring about curated Step Changes to elevate individuals and humanity.

Our programs are designed to do this and to help you raise the bar for others.


Our ICF Coaching course is a great place to start a curated journey of learning and raising your game as a manager, businessperson, or change agent.

This page was adapted from the original article on the Deeper Change substack

We look forward to connecting and learning about you soon.

Make the change!