Awareness, Skillfulness, and Determination
Three thoughts:
As your self-awareness grows, the internal debate that occurs when you have an important decision in front of you becomes simpler and the decision you should make becomes much clearer. The struggle about which way to go and what to put your time into becomes less intense and time consuming when you are no longer a mystery to yourself. Since you know your aspirations and have ample practice being your authentic self, whatever comes near you that does not align will not be able to stay around for long. Your self-awareness gives strength to your intuition. As you make more progress, you will know what is for you and what is not for you.
Maturity is realizing that you don’t need to jump into every argument or give your opinion on every matter. Saying less will make what you stand for much clearer and it will save your energy for moments when you know your words will have a great impact. Often, the urge to speak is ego driven and may even bring greater friction to the situation. Being skillful and taking the time to understand where you are coming from before you speak is valuable. Is it from a place of impulse and reaction that seeks dominance? Or is it from a place of curiosity that seeks to build understanding between two people? Sometimes you need to speak up whether they will understand you or not, in cases of self-defense, reaffirming boundaries or when standing up for someone else.
When I look back on my life, one of the practices that made the biggest difference was having a strong determination. There are a lot of ways to grow, but whenever you want to take a new path seriously there will be a point where you have to put your foot down and say to yourself, “no one and no situation will stop me from moving in this new direction, moving this way is what is best for me and I will no longer compromise my wellbeing.” Personally, taking that firm stance has helped me become a daily meditator and a writer. Individuals come to this moment on their own time, but ultimately it is a threshold we all cross when we are serious about evolving and experiencing a great transformation.
Clarity & Connection
The release of my new book is getting closer and closer. It will be available everywhere on April 27th. Many people have been showing their support by preordering the book ahead of time. I am grateful to those who have already made preorders, they really make a huge difference in the reach and success of the book.
Writing this book took a lot of inner and outer work. Most of it was written during the pandemic, especially a lot of the pieces on relationships. During the lockdown my wife and I got to really test all of the lessons we had learned from our 13 years together. We met pretty young, she was 18 and I was 19. The first half of our relationship was like a hurricane, quite chaotic and very little harmony. Our connection was strong but it did not fully flourish until we both started meditating and taking our personal inner work seriously.
We aren’t perfect, we still experience challenges and miscommunications, and we still have much to learn, but now we have the tools to engage each other in a healthy manner and know how to support each other through the ups and downs of life. The pieces I wrote on relationships in my new book come from direct experience. I hope they serve you well as you move forward in your personal transformation and enhance your connections. Below I will include links for different places to preorder from.
Journal Prompt:
In what area of your life are you ready to have a strong determination? What are you ready to let go of and what positive habits are you ready to build? Is there anything in your life that you need to rearrange so you can feel more supported in your flourishing?
Links:
Clarity & Connection - Barnes & Noble