Where did you come from? When confronted with that question, most of us would answer, “From my parents.” However, your parents had parents, too, and if we continue to look back in time, we see that life flows from a continuous line of creation. If we ask where did the creation come from, we have no answer but that of the One Creator or Universal Substance. If this is so, then we must also come from the One Substance or One Creator. In other words, our life is born through our parents not of our parents.
This line of thought leads us to the conclusion that we are much more than we appear. This essence of who we really are is the Greater Self, because it came from and was created by the One Creator. When we think of ourselves as single individuals, we lose sight of our true power. It is this feeling of separation from which we really are, the Greater Self, that is the seed of impossibility thinking. Instead of focusing on who we are, we focus on what we have become, which is our Created Self.
Perhaps you have heard of the 100th monkey phenomenon. In the late 1970s, the Japanese government studied a small colony of monkeys that lived on several adjoining islands in the Philippines. While observing the behavior of the monkeys, they noticed that one monkey
had discovered how to clean dirt from potatoes by washing them in a stream. The monkey taught this skill to several other monkeys, one at a time. After the 100th monkey had been taught, something very strange happened. Every monkey in the entire colony was instantly able to perform this same skill without being taught. When the number reached 100, it apparently made a quantum leap of consciousness because every monkey was able to perform this skill. This seems to support the One Mind or Universal Mind concept.
Our perception of oneness can be viewed as a universe with One Mind, but billions of individual brains that contribute to the whole, rather than billions of individual brains all going in separate directions. We share the One Mind and consciousness with everything and everyone around us, including animals and plants. The Greater Self is an extension and expression of the infinite One Mind, which may be called by many different names, such as spirit, the Earth Mother, God, the force, or just energy.
The word God has become empty of meaning through years of misuse. By misuse I mean it gives rise to absurd beliefs, assumptions and ego delusions such as My God is the only true God and your God is false. Therefore I prefer to use any terminology but God, so that we do not fall into the trap of my God is better than your God is.
If we understand that our Greater Self came from and is one with the Universal Substance, we must then ask why the Universal Substance gave us life. Why are we here? Are we to be born without a way to understand the meaning of our lives? Are we to spend the rest of our lives eating, sleeping, working, trying to entertain and amuse ourselves, and then die without knowing the purpose of our existence? I don’t think so.
ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Businesses take an annual inventory of profits and losses, assets and liabilities, what is working and what isn’t. Depending on how much we are working on ourselves or changing ourselves, we should take inventory with some kind of regularity as well. An inventory of our liabilities might include personality defects such as intolerance, dishonesty, pride, procrastination, fear, or selfishness, but a personal inventory is not about assessing only our liabilities. We can’t forget the assets in an assessment.
An inventory does not have to be a lengthy list of all that is wrong with us, but rather a look at our assets, uniqueness, strengths, weaknesses, or areas we want to improve. Most importantly, the elements of our personal inventory need to be of such a nature that we can measure and review our progress. If we see a problem repeating itself in a pattern, it will make it easier for us to stop the pattern by recognizing the scenario that triggers the habitual behavior. Wouldn’t taking an honest look at your life and taking a personal inventory help you know your Greater Self and your greatest happiness? Wouldn’t it help you to eliminate your old, undesirable self, which was created by others’ expectations, and encourage development of a new, Greater Self?
If you build on your assets, even turn your liabilities into assets, then your Greater Self will be fully realized. One way to explore and heighten your assets is to examine them through your purpose, which is your passion. You see not only does purpose give you strength, it also rallies your talents to the fore. If you are doing something worthwhile, then you appreciate your true strengths, skills, and talents. By becoming aware of your strengths, you feel more complete, whole, and naturally motivated. It feels so much better to do what you want to do rather than what you feel burdened to do. If you are using the talents that give you pleasure;
you will no longer be looking outside yourself for happiness, because your work and recreation will be fully satisfying.
If you ask yourself how you could be excited about doing certain jobs, then let me tell you about a roto-rooter serviceman’s story that was shown on a television news show. The episode was about how customer service is perceived in America these days, where the public is getting so used to poor service that they no longer expect good service. The television show featured a man who was exuberant about his work, even though his job of fixing messed-up sewage systems is one that is not always pleasant. His attitude was marvelous. He was skilled, with many years of experience, and most importantly, he always had a positive attitude and would strive for excellence.
His uniqueness stood out. He was incredibly positive with his customers and he would go above and beyond the call of duty by doing something like cleaning up, not only what mess he may have made, but also the surrounding mess that existed before he got there. The special effort he put into cleaning up was actually an easy extra step, but so were the endless, unique, self-created devices he used to achieve excellence in his work, such as having cologne, mirrors, and even a shower so that he could clean himself up between customers.
The list could go on and on with this Roto-Rooter serviceman’s unique ideas, which demonstrated the quality of his work and, most of all, his pride and enthusiasm for his job. The man was literally radiant because he knew he was worth something, worth something grand, even though he works with sewage. And guess what? He earns $70,000 per year! If he thinks he’s worth something, what do you think you are worth? You will never let yourself have more money than you think you are worth.
Another individual named Peter Franklin, who has a seemingly ordinary job, has reached the big time by being an extraordinary individual. Franklin is a cabby who is aired all over the world as a talk radio personality. He broadcasts his wisdom from his cab while driving the crazy streets of New York. How did he get noticed? By his radiant personality, which expressed his Greatest Self, of course.
If you see yourself as your best or Greater Self, identify all your most motivating talents, and rally them toward some issue or interest you care about. Then you will create work environments that truly fit who you really are, even while working at a job that is unsuited to your greatest talents and abilities. You will be happy and fulfilled when you choose to let go, and let your real self out.
Personal change always seems difficult, if not impossible, as long as we are focused on what we don’t have (liabilities) as opposed to what we do have going for us (assets). The first step is taking a look at our assets rather than our liabilities. Assets are the tools in our favor that we can use to make the impossible possible. The more we focus on our assets, the more power we will have to change our lives and circumstances. Let’s take a look at some of our assets.
Spiritual Assets
Belief or lack of belief in a connection to a Higher Power (whatever you believe it to be) can be a spiritual asset or a spiritual liability. It is important to understand that we are spiritual beings with a temporary human experience, not human beings with a temporary spiritual experience. What this means is that you will outlive and outlast anything that is going on in your life right now. Whether you are tall, short, thin, fat, heterosexual, homosexual, Asian, Caucasian, European, African, male, female, rich, poor, sick, or healthy, this is only your temporary
state. Who you are – your Greater Self or human spirit – is permanent and lasting. What is important to understand is that what you have and what you do is only temporary.
Your perception, of who you are mentally, physically, and spiritually, forms your Greater Self. This Greater Self is a composite of principles, values, decisions, experiences, friends, heroes, suffering, passion, habits, visions, beliefs, dreams, realities, and goals that are tied to your purpose. Your Greater Self is driven by your life purpose.
Regardless of whether we are clear about our purpose on earth, we can be clear about what we decide to contribute to the world and ourselves. If you have a passion to serve mankind, then this purpose can be tied to what work you choose to do. If your purpose is tied to what surrounds you, such as you and your family, then your purpose is doing the work that you do is to provide for your family. Nonetheless, there is a purpose behind every goal. In other words, earning a certain amount of money per year is your goal, but your purpose is to create the life you want. Purpose is what motivates you toward your goals. Therefore, your passion and your spirit are what compel you. Expressing your passion motivates you to be fully engaged in your work and life.
Your reason for doing whatever you do can be specifically tied to your goals in your job, even if your job may be somewhat mundane compared to your worldly concerns. For example, if a business is marketing an item to a certain group of consumers, the purpose behind any goal the company sets is to provide the best product that will make their customers more satisfied. This is so that people will prefer their products to some other companies’ products and their customers’ reasons for using their products will surpass companies whose product designers are simply competing among them for what appears to be the
best idea. Having a clear purpose keeps us on track in the right direction and motivates us with a passion.
The human element can never be left out of business. This is why businesses seek innovation from the spirit and passion of their employees. They know that without it, their businesses could not survive and thrive in these highly competitive times. Individually, your passion and spirit make you the best you can be. Your uniqueness is what makes you a valuable contribution to any purpose or organization. Your Greater Self is your asset. Your purpose is your Greater Self-desiring to express itself.
Values Align Your Purpose with Your Goals
Purpose brings us clarity about where we are going and what specifically we are doing on a daily basis in order to accomplish that end. Commitment to a purpose larger than ourselves gives us meaning. Purpose make us feel inspired and empowered. We feel like there is always something we can do that can make a difference. Purpose toward something larger is what has driven the great achievers of the world. The larger picture is never merely about larger amounts of money; it is about what we value.
One of the most successful Hollywood talent agents and movie producers, David Geffin, cited this quote in a recent television interview. “The man who says money will make him happy doesn’t have money.” David Geffin is known to have more money than most people do in Hollywood. He worked his way up in his field from being an usher at a television studio to representing some of the greatest names in Hollywood and the world (such as Elton John). Most recently has formed a movie studio that is equal in stature to MGM or 20th Century Fox. Geffin has all the money and success he could possibly want, and yet
he chooses to continue to work hard, take risks, and pursues intense challenges.
Early on, Geffin realized his passion for television and the movies, and was attracted by the powerful effect these media, had on people. He realized it was his passion from his first job as an usher for television audiences in the early days of black-and-white TV. From there, he worked in the mailroom at the William Morris talent agency. He was flexible and able to make changes quickly when he saw opportunities. When he saw one of the agents talking on the telephone one day, he thought he could do what he saw, and achieved this goal within the agency. Later, he built his own top-drawer talent agency. David Geffin did not know how great he would eventually become. He did not set goals that were unrealistic. He simply kept working in the field that was his passion and became great by his own dynamics. Geffin said that, at first, he had no vision beyond making $1,000 per week and wanting a certain car that he dreamed of. In a television interview he said it was easy once he followed his passion.”
Geffin felt that he was carried along his career path by his passion and dedication to his work. He certainly fulfilled all he committed himself to doing most effectively. Although he worked hard on tasks and goals on a daily basis, he did not set out to be the greatest film producer. Instead, he became a great film producer as a result of his accomplishments as a passionate and productive individual. Money was not his top priority; his work was.
Ancient wisdom tells us that if our desires are based too much on material things because we want to have more than others do, then we may become easily frustrated and angry when we do not get what we want. Those who have visions of grandeur and yet hold those visions with good values and good pleasure can enjoy themselves while they
journey toward their ideals. Having a wholesome view, filled with dreams of enjoyment, allows us to be happy along the way.
This is not to say that hard work isn’t necessary. At times, we might have to muster up every ounce of our strength to get what we want. There are times when we might need to be like a warrior, fighting to get where we want to go. Only we can know which methods are best at any given time on our journey or mission. Purpose generates strength and courage around our deepest satisfactions.
If our desires are also based on winning, and in turn defeating others, we lose the depth of meaning and strength we need to conduct ourselves successfully and happily. For example, people who are too involved in winning during a sticky divorce will exhaust themselves in the battle rather than turn over matter to professionals who can more competently handle all the problems. We must certainly take care of overseeing critical details, but we can destroy our happiness by thinking that our value is about winning, which includes an emphasis on defeating others.
Is Your Life about Meaning or Matter?
Is your life about being a consumer? There is little time for meaning when your life is spent in getting, consuming, fixing, repairing, and maintaining physical matter that you cannot take with you when you leave this planet.
Unfortunately, most of us have little understanding of how valuable it would be for us to have meaning in all we do. We should ask ourselves, ‘Why am I doing this?” “What do I want to accomplish?” “Why is this task more important than another?” “Why is this person approaching me?” The last question is good one to ask yourself often, or to ask the person
who is approaching you with conversation, especially if he or she rambling on and not getting to the point.
You don’t have to have a crisis in order to make more meaningful choices in directing your life. A university study of sixty students who had attempted suicide was asked why they did so. Eight-five percent stated that their reason was because their life seemed meaningless. Surprisingly, 93 percent of the students were having good social and family relationships, and they were doing well academically. Viktor Frankl has said, “People today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.” When our lives have meaning we are not just enduring life and surviving, rather we will hold an enduring light of true satisfaction and happiness.
The only thing we can take with us when we leave this planet is the knowledge or meaning we have given to our lives. The matter, the physical stuff, must be left behind. Our focus should be on those things that will be with us forever. Relationships, love, helping one another, creating a better world, and cooperating with the perfect pattern of our unfoldment as extensions of the one mind as our Greater Self has infinite value.
Mental Assets
Mental assets include our attitudes, perception, knowledge, problem- solving ability, and style of thinking (linear vs. creative thinking, which is right-brain/left brain thinking). It is no great secret that by controlling our thoughts we can control our attitudes. This is the single greatest asset because attitude determines action. Our attitudes determine whether we are going to take responsibility or complain and blame others. The choice is always ours and ours alone. No one can influence an individual’s attitude. We are the ones who ultimately decide what we are
going to think and those thoughts form our attitudes about who we are and what we are capable of accomplishing. This is why the capacity for choosing our thoughts is our greatest power.
People go to therapists for weeks, months, and years only to find out that if they change their perception, they can change their thinking. If they change their thinking, they can change their attitudes. If they change their attitudes or outlook, they can change their outer experiences. You can save yourself all that expensive therapy by coming to the same conclusion and accepting this truth.
Rediscover your true self by reviewing all of your feelings, hopes, fears, desires, and values to find out what matters to you, not what matters to someone else or what matters to certain groups of people. Not only are we creatures of habit, but we are creatures of social habits, and social habitats. There are times when others’ judgments will, if we allow them, creep into our behavior. The more you honestly and clearly explore yourself in relation to your inner desires and values, the more self- directed your life will be. To a great degree, you can control your own destiny if you are not afraid to take risks.
Rolling the Dice, Taking Risks
If we think of life as a game, we surely have to take some risks, or we will not get anywhere on the playing board. Life is fair; the game is fair. All is perfect in the end. This you will see by just welcoming, or at least accepting what comes your way and openly and honestly looking at what is really happening to you, and most of all, seeing the purpose of things, the reason why everything happens as it does. The reason why unpleasant things happen is not only because we must make a change that we may be resisting, but also because of the beauty found in the lesson we can learn from the experience.
As the song goes, “For every season, there is a reason, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” The word purpose and the answer to the word why are almost synonymous. It is funny though, that as children we may have often been told not to ask why so much. Yet asking why of yourself and others more often could be quite interesting. For example, just asking a person, “Why did you call?” especially if that person is rambling, could make your time and the time of the caller much more efficient. Asking yourself why you are working on one thing rather than another can make a difference in setting priorities in your time management.
“But,” you might ask, “if everything has a reason, why would we lose a loved one?” There is always a reason. It may have been best for that person to go on elsewhere, whether you like it or not. After all, who said this world is paradise? Some wonderful people are only here for a short time, or what seems like a short time. Why were they taken from us so early? Why then, would a wicked person be given a long life? Who knows? Since we can’t change what happens to us, our only choice for sound mental and spiritual health is to change how we feel about what happens. This is something we have control over.
Physical Assets
In order to actualize our thoughts, we must be able to take physical action at the appropriate time. This is accomplished through physical energy, movement, sex drive, health, strength, stamina, and fitness. If we are not in balance in any of these areas, we will sabotage our success because we will have to compensate for lacking in these areas of physical well being.
Motivation is a combination of physical energy and mental energy. Actually, since the mind controls our physical body, it is our mind that truly drives us to take any action. If our attitude is negative, we won’t be motivated to go anywhere or do anything. Motivation is having a positive attitude about doing things that we may not always feel like doing. When our purpose and passion are tied into our mind-set, we’ll do almost anything to get where we want to go. Finally, all we need to do is believe in what we are doing. We can enable this to happen when we realize that we will do almost anything it takes to get what we want.
Only you can motivate yourself. No one can be motivated by others. The important factor is that you are motivated to do the most positive and constructive activities rather than destructive activities such as laziness. To overcome negative motivation, it is essential that you change your awareness of what you desire and how you can achieve it. Once you focus your desires, you will be motivated to do the right thing for yourself. You must be convinced that any change you make will bring about the gratification of a particular need or desire.
Increasing you awareness of the potential benefits of taking any given action can elevate your motivation. People can attempt to motivate you, they can even threaten you, but unless you desire to make changes and take actions for which you can see rewards, you will not do it, no matter what the consequences might be. Without being aware of it and in touch with your positive inner desires, you could sabotage your own success by making the wrong choices due to lazy and self-destructive motivation.
The criminal, alcoholic, overeater, or drug addict have all gone through the same process and, based on their levels of awareness, decided that addiction is worth whatever price they have to pay for it. Once their awareness changes – usually under tragic circumstances – they realize that the cost of escaping from reality and a self they have come to hate
is too high for what they are receiving in return. Their motivation then sets them on a more positive course.
People can only change through their own conscious decisions. Until their awareness is changed, people will not do what you want them to do. You can try every method you can even try to scare them into action, but their action will only be temporary in order to get you off their backs. People will only change when they align their passion and spirit, setting their motivation in gear toward their own positive vision.
Skills Assets
Along with our personal inventory, we need to review our specific skills in relation to the work we are doing and our basic professional skills, such as communications and interpersonal skills. Make a checklist of your skills and particularly note which areas of expertise you have not brushed up on lately. Continuing education is vital. There is always more to learn; yet we tend to know it all.
How are you at handling conflicts, negotiating, persuading, giving directions that someone else can clearly understand, building partnerships and team mates, prioritizing, time managing, and making decisions? Many people do not realize that there are actually seminars specifically on the subject of decision making. Have you ever taken a course in decision making? How about an entire course on listening skills?
If you want to double-check and see what skills you might enhance, take a look at a good role model and see what that person does. Ask the role model questions, and then pursue the skills and techniques he or she uses. Have you ever asked someone if you could spend a day with him or her to find out how that person does what they do? This is not
something just for students to do; a seasoned professional can do so and, if anything, you will actually impress the person you are interviewing.
The Asset of Persistence with Flexibility
Persistence receives the category of being an asset on its own. The following quote of President Calvin Coolidge says it all:
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved, and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Although the essence and drive of persistence is the bottom line in accomplishing great things, being persistent to the point of ignorance and stubbornness is just plain stupid. And disappointingly, we see people and businesses resist adjusting their plan because they think they will lose their plan altogether. The internationally renowned business advisor and syndicated columnist, Tom Peters, who wrote In Search of Excellence, also wrote another best seller called Thriving on Chaos. Peters elaborates throughout his books that flexibility and quickness are keys to success in these fact-paced times. Nonetheless, the key here is the balance between action and inaction, knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.
During my first efforts as an entrepreneur, I constantly examined my capabilities by observing myself and measuring myself against all the qualities I needed to be successful. What I discovered was the most valuable quality I needed was persistence. I needed the persistence to
perform most consistently the tasks that brought me income, and it was important to realize that I should not get too caught up in perfecting other things that were not producing an income. Of critical importance was getting these nonproductive tasks out of the way and performing the tasks that brought real revenue. Sounds like simple prioritizing, but once you get caught up in managing a business, you can easily lose critical production time that brings you income. Entrepreneurs start wearing lots of hats, depending on the growth of the business and available staff. I found President Coolidge’s quote to be the important one to keep in front of me.
However, being foolishly stubborn and rigid about having your plan implemented one way – your way – is not what persistence is about. Referring to David Geffin again, a variety of celebrities were interviewed and asked to speak about Geffin. They repeatedly described the same asset about Geffin: “He can change on a dime.” Geffin had plenty of perseverance, but when new information or opportunities came his way, he instantly made changes. Many of us resist change to our own detriment. We miss the opportunity. Being hit with problems and making chances are the challenges Geffin thrives on. Problems are not something negative. Problems are our barometers for knowing when and how to change or adjust our course, yet we must keep our eye on the overall vision of what we ultimately want and then persist again.
SETTING LIFE GOALS
Your goals don’t start in the brain; they start in your heart. If you set goals from a personal perspective in the six major areas of your life, you will find your purpose will be tied into your career and all your daily activities. You can break these goals down into long-term and short-term goals and knowing your values and purpose can set priorities. The six major areas are:
CAREER: What do you want to accomplish as far as your work is concerned?
FINANCIAL: Realistically, how much money do you want to have?
PHYSICAL: What program for physical fitness do you want to develop?
MENTAL: In what areas of your life do you wish to study and obtain more knowledge?
FAMILY: What relationships do you want to have and maintain with your family?
SPIRITUAL: What are you striving for spiritually?
Set your goals with a vision of the new and improved you. Don’t get caught up in the trap of living in the past. Recognize your current reality and then move on. It’s OK to dream of good and reasonable things happening in your life. Let the dreams roll into your thoughts. Do you know people who seem to actualize their dreams often? Look at how their positive thinking works for them. A little optimism is fine, but keep your feet on the ground at the same time. It is only when dreaming takes us away from what we need to do on a daily basis that we could get into trouble, and I think most of us regularly hear, loud and clear, the constant reminders of all our basic and essential responsibilities.
Have reasonable expectations. Give yourself a frequent reality check. If you are faltering, admit it and find out why. Your present tasks and responsibilities are the most important things you have to do. There is a universal principle that states that you will not be given greater
opportunities in life until you have proven that you are more capable than your present work demands. Failure to perform your present actions efficiently and successfully will delay success and may actually set in motion a situation that will cause you to go backward. Do not try to escape from the present for a better future that does not yet exist. Do what is important, and then eliminate or delegate the rest.
EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS ALONG WITH YOUR SOUL
Hold on to your negative thoughts and your world will unfold as those values, inner beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions become reality. Change your thoughts, and your world will unfold in new and more positive ways. In other words, if you don’t change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that good news?
Fortune favors the bold. Wishful thinking will not make your dreams come true. Bold action will. He who hesitates is lost. You won’t ever have to be a loser again if you take bold action. If you want to be free, realize that your resources are unlimited. Your mind controls your limitations or freedom from limitations, so don’t let your limitations control your mind. If you think the latter, you have declared yourself a prisoner, and you will be a prisoner. Once you are fed up with that kind of thinking, you can move yourself into a kind of freedom greater than you have ever known before. You will remain where you are only as long as you wish.
You don’t have to be superman to break through your barriers. As you may know, a certain sports shoe manufacturers ad says, “Just do it!” As Richard Simmons once put it, “Get that paint brush in your hand and sit down with your canvas. This is your life. You are the artist and creator of your future. All you need to do is to paint the picture of your life on your
imaginary canvas. Paint it the way you want it with positive brush strokes and watch it begin to unfold.”
Expanding our Greater Self requires awareness, wisdom, courage, and action. The more we know, the more we realize that there is more to learn. That’s the true adventure of life. You can do it with the following ten steps to actualizing your Greater Self:
- Identify what is not working for you and choose to get rid of all that undermines your success. Know your current reality.
- Get in touch with your Greater self, your soul, your values, your purpose, and align your true essence with your talent.
- Clarify your vision by aligning your values and purpose with your goals. Everything you do, no matter how mundane, has meaning, a purpose.
- Check your vision against all your personal assets. Conduct a reality check, for delusion is the enemy of the winner. Be realistic about your assets and liabilities.
- Check your skills. Get more information, seek advice from others, and get more training. Continuing education is vital.
- Be self-aware and observant. Honestly check your psyche for neediness, greed, fear, jealousy, and self-righteousness. Improve your mind, with counseling if necessary. Emotionally detach from all that is negative. Also, avoid being too emotionally attached to the result you want.
- Be dynamic and innovative in how you create what you want. Remember, purpose is why you want something, goals are specifically what you want, and creating what you want is how you will accomplish getting what you want.
- Recognize which are winning patterns and which are losing patterns. Recognize failures, correct them, and get on course – an adjusted course. An airline pilot is constantly changing the setting of his controls of the aircraft in order to remain on course to get to the final destination. If he gets word that there is an overbearing storm, he will instantly change his course. When the red flags of warning are there, it is time to change promptly.
- Set up your own rules for success and failure and know that possibility thinking will bring you what you want no matter what challenges arise. You have the power to make the impossible possible.
- Solidify your commitment to yourself and others. Always stick to your word. Consider a win/win environment for all who are around you. You don’t have to gobble up others to get what you want. As you build your own success, build your Greatest Self along the way, for this is your most finite purpose on earth. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, “The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
Have you ever heard the joke about a man, who kept praying every day, “Please God, please, let me win the lottery, oh please.” On and on, day after day, he kept praying, and finally God said, “Hey Joe! Buy a Lottery Ticket!”
Eastern philosophy tends to believe that everything is predestined, and that you have little to do with what happens. Western philosophy tends to be in overdrive about making things happen. Americans particularly tend to think they can control everything. To get it right, it takes a balance between these two philosophies.
We are born with our own innate capacity to create our own life dynamics. No one has the same capacity as another. Clearly we are as different as our fingerprints. No one else can make things happen for us. Not even talent agents can make the talent, they discover the talent. You can discover your own talent and then market it in your life.
Discovering our own talent (or further discovering it) involves expanding your Greater Self as opposed to your Created Self. Our gateway to expanding our sense of our Greater Self is affected by how we perceive what is outside us, within us, and all around us. Our ability to create is constantly affected by our sense of self.
Our Created Self has been developed by all the outside stimuli that make us has a contracted sense of self. Below you will find a list of influences that affect our sense of self. They either make us constrict ourselves unfavorably, or we can build them up in order to expand our Greater Self.
GATEWAYS TO EXPANDING YOUR GREATER SELF
Outside You
Sense of Safety
FROM: Fear of taking risks, of rejection, of self-rejection
TO: Focusing on where support can come from, and supporting yourself with positive affirmations
Sense of Self-Protection
FROM:Letting others bring you down or interfere
TO: Self-nurturing, allowing yourself to be nurtured, setting boundaries with others
Sense of Strength
FROM:Feeling overwhelmed, controlled, weak, helpless, like a victim TO: Seeing all problems as perfect messages that you can resolve,
knowing your Greater Self is your power.
Within You
Sense of Compassion/Love
FROM:Not loving yourself and others, feeling all used up, drained that all you do is drudgery.
TO: Loving yourself, others, and loving what you do.
Sense of Identity and Autonomy
FROM:The self that everyone else created for you, being jealous of others as a mask to keep you from embarking on your own endeavors.
TO: Recovering your self-identity, your Greater Self, by getting in touch with your inner self, knowing that everything that happens has a purpose:
Sense of Power
FROM:Giving your power away to others who criticize, control, blame, or cause chaos; having no vision.
TO: Following your intuition and letting it guide you fearlessly,
from anger and separation to synchronicity, freedom to dream.
Around You (Universal)
Sense of Possibility
FROM:Resistance, impossibility, and rigidity
TO: Going with the flow, being receptive and creative
Sense of Connectedness
FROM:Fearing to take risks, having to be perfect
TO: Resourcing Universal Intelligence for all your needs.
Sense of Abundance
FROM:Sense of lack, limitation
TO: Sense of unlimited resources that are attainable.
Sense of Faith
FROM:Disbelief, “should” or “have to” thinking, lack of belief in self TO: Knowing that universal intelligence is abundant
Remember, whatever we give our attention to, we create more of. By giving attention to your Greater Self, you will expand the capacities of your Created Self. This will allow you to handle with confidence and power any and all impossible situations you many encounter.