Fear keeps you playing small. Though it may seem like your reasons are legitimate, your concern is usually just your ego worrying about presenting an unfavorable image. Whether you fail or succeed, it has no bearing whatsoever on your worthiness. Scared of something? Do it anyway. You’re the best you when you’re authentically pursuing your truth. When you go for it…
There’s no such thing as failure.
Steve and Jarl
You’re born with a built-in guidance system that, when followed, generates an internal radiance that’s good for you and everyone else. Because the well-being of the entire planet is the cumulative result of everyone’s individual vibration, the most benevolent service you can render to the rest of the world is to make sure you feel good. The way to have a profoundly positive impact on yourself and the world is pretty simple: Do what you love…
It’s what you’ll do best.
Steve and Jarl
Take a look at the different aspects of your life and assess the degree of fulfillment you feel in each one. Are you experiencing joy in your relationships? Are you fulfilled by your work? Is your health as good as it can be? Does your life feel in balance? If you answered no to any of these questions, you’re in luck. Just getting conscious of your level of satisfaction stimulates an onslaught of creative solutions. When ideas start bubbling up, remember that taking baby steps everyday is the path to an expansive new paradigm…
Of joyful living.
Steve and Jarl
If you frequently find yourself at war with friends, family or co-workers, your ego is probably running the show. When you’re under its spell, different opinions threaten your identity and make you feel insecure or irritated. Next time you catch yourself having a strong negative reaction, remember that you’re not really in your right mind. Beneath your conditioning, the real you knows that little is worth getting upset over. It meets diversity with love and compassion. Shift into that part of yourself by finding something about the other person you can appreciate.
Makes life much sweeter.
Steve and Jarl
In order for any kind of positive change to occur, the consciousness of everyone involved has to evolve to the place where healthy action is predicated upon increased understanding. Condemnation and blame can’t create true change. People will continue their behavior until the light bulb goes off and they see better ways of producing the outcomes they desire. If you want positive change, model it yourself through understanding and kindness. If you’re moved to create a better world….
Do it by setting an example.
Steve and Jarl
Even when someone’s behavior feels harmful to you, it’s rarely ever personal. What drives their actions is usually their own desire to feel good or at least better than they do. Sometimes this results in unconscious and clumsy behavior that makes others suffer. While feeling hurt, angry or victimized may be understandable, it brings temporary relief at best. Real healing happens through love and understanding. The best way to shift out of hurt and into healing is pretty straight forward. Honor your own feelings by feeling them, then…
Send them love.
Steve and Jarl
The reference points you use to help you make sense of the world aren’t absolute truths. They aren’t even definite. They just comprise the framework within which you’ve organized the world to better understand it. If you discover that your framework isn’t making you feel good, maybe it’s time to change it. Consider adopting perspectives that help you thrive no matter what happens Life is a journey. You’re always learning and need only compete with your former self. You’re worthy, loveable and deserve the best life has to offer. In other words…
It’s all good.
Steve and Jarl
Nearly everybody recognizes the benefits of staying physically fit. Students readily understand how studying helps them do well in school. Athletes realize they have to practice regularly to excel in their chosen sport. But strangely, most people don’t understand just how much their thinking affects the way they feel about life. Cleaning up your thoughts by focusing on what you’re grateful for yields the biggest return for your investment of time:
Happiness.
Steve and Jarl
Your attitudinal barometer is a result of the thoughts you cultivate. Changing how you feel is actually pretty straightforward. Imagine that your emotional balance sheet is comprised of different columns with headings like anxiety, anger, jealousy, fulfillment, enthusiasm, love, etc. Each emotion you experience is another entry. As life progresses, certain columns develop a disproportionate mass and those characteristics become even more pronounced. If you want an improved life experience, you have to make entries in the right columns. Believe that everything you experience is, in some way, for you and look for it.
Shortcut.
Steve and Jarl
Every moment contains an equal amount of what you might consider good and bad. If bad didn’t exist, you couldn’t distinguish the good. Seeing things you don’t like helps you know what you do like. The intrinsically varied nature of existence only seems unpleasant when you have an imbalanced habit of focusing on the bad stuff. If your view of life leans toward the negative, take the big picture into consideration and try to see how it’s all necessary. Then, shift your focus…
To the good stuff.
Steve and Jarl
You have no idea how powerful you are. Even your most inflated idea of yourself is probably an underestimation of your potential. But when you present a picture of yourself to the world that isn’t consistent with who you believe yourself to be, the misalignment causes stressful internal dissonance. Since it’s your vibration that others ultimately feel anyway, you can’t really fool anyone. The trick is to imagine who you want to be and be honest about who you believe you are.
Authenticity accelerates success.
Steve and Jarl
Letting go of attachment means you aren’t overly concerned with results or what other people think. It helps you enjoy the process as much as the goal. But the prospect of letting go of outcomes or competition may seem like giving up. You might be concerned that you’ll lose motivation and cease exploring and expanding because you don’t care that much. The opposite is true. Softening attachment actually makes you less fearful and more adventurous. You cease to let ups and downs get in the way of life’s most important objective…
Enjoying the ride.
Steve and Jarl
Integrating healthy new patterns of behavior into your everyday life requires overcoming a mountain of past conditioning. The reason it can take so long to learn some lessons is that it requires effort and intention to undo long-established patterns. Often, all that’s required is the simple act of remembering. Remind yourself that your attitude creates your experience of life. Work hard to develop a positive outlook, be open to others’ perspectives and always, always…
Expect the best.
Steve and Jarl
No matter what you’re pursuing, you’ll probably encounter twists and turns on the way to satisfaction. It’s crucial to imagine your desired results, but be open to changes along the way. Since you can never foresee all the obstacles you’ll encounter, think of any road block as a temporary part of the puzzle. Letting challenges get you down, only wastes valuable energy. Define your goals, stay focused with loose attachment and above all else…
Enjoy the ride.
Steve and Jarl
Your mind loves assessing, judging, declaring and narrating everything that happens. That’s its nature. It’s just as capable of creating wonderful inventions as it is unnecessary anxiety. But you don’t have to be at the mercy of the bad stuff. Rather than unconsciously letting it flail you around, you can learn to identify your awareness as the witness and watch thoughts as they float by. When you rise above the repetitive, enervating chatter, you experience the lovely peacefulness of just being. Breaking free from your mind’s incessant activity…
Is heavenly.
Steve and Jarl
When you have a desire, whether it’s to accomplish a goal, find the love of your life or heal your body, don’t be limited by conventional wisdom. So many dreams have been dashed by statistical averages and well-meaning nay-sayers. No matter how improbable, somebody has, at some point, surmounted the impossible, pushed through self-limitations or healed themselves. It’s possible that you can, too. Trying your best doesn’t guarantee success, but chances are considerably slimmer if you don’t. Open to possibility and give yourself the gift of knowing…
You gave it your all.
Steve and Jarl
