How many times a day does your heart sink when you tell yourself that you ought to do something in your life? Clear out that cupboard, plan your business venture, write that book, do that exercise class, read that self-improvement book, return a phone call to a friend that wants to pour their heart out to you.....etc.
Now, none of those activities are bad or wrong, and you may feel uplifted and excited by the examples above. But my suggestion here, is that if you do frequently feel drained and uninspired, as you drag yourself through the to-do list, then could benefit from being directed from a different place, thereby through a different guidance system.
You know what outcomes you would like in your life. Most of us want some or all of these:
Be
ACCOMPLISHED - so you are the best at what you do and who you are,
HEALTHIER - so your don't need to worry about future health issues and enjoy a strong fit and attractive body,
NICER - so people approve of you, so you don't feel bad about yourself and feel loved and connected with those around you.
MORE ORGANISED - to gain greater clarity and simplicity in your life.
WEALTHIER - so you don't have to worry about not being able to have the things you need and like
GROWING TOWARDS SOMEBODY EVEN BETTER - where you find deeper purpose and meaning. Have a bigger legacy to leave behind.
But.... 'silly old you' doesn't seem to be able to do it all the time! And if you manage to reach that pinnacle of at least one these goals what is the price that you had to pay? Did your drive to achieve wear you out? Or made life feel less fun and spontaneous and free?
What makes things worse, in our age of information is, that there are no more excuses: the "How to" formulas are out there on YouTube covering every niche imaginable, delivered by seemingly successful, happy and/or healthy people out there who know and do what needs to be done. Information sheets from the doctors give you life-style advice so you only have yourself to blame if your health goes wrong. Self-help gurus, give you all in insights on how to cleverly 'hack your life'. This can make you feel even more frustrated and dis-empowered, because you can't seem to seamlessly segway your activities to these simple steps. Your unconscious impulses keep taking you off the path!
The result of all this is that we start to diminish ourselves in our own eyes. Why? because we always see the discrepancy between what we want and where we think we are now. We are judging ourselves only according to our outcomes. "You are still not where you should be". We do not choose to do this to ourselves, by the way, it's the way our minds have been structured: to add things up and compare like a pocket calculator. In order for it to do so however, it can only work with factors that are already known: how other people did things, what happened in the past and where we are currently. It cannot however know the future, or the possibilities that are as yet undiscovered or created, therefore your TRUE POTENTIAL! This is the limitation of the mind. My suggestion is that there is a better source of intelligence, that actually will be able to deliver what you truly want to experience - connection, freedom, aliveness, purpose, and security.
I risk being labeled as one of these self-help gurus myself, and yet, the difference is, I'm only describing, not prescribing the way forward for you. I don't have the formula for you! The truth is....the real formula, the real guru, the real path for you that is unique, unrepeatable, yet totally RIGHT for you is inside your heart! You will know you are on the right path what everything seems obvious to where you need to go and what you need to do, and it feels totally energising, nourishing and exciting inside you. Thereby, there is no price to pay, your energy, no will-power to exert, because the activity gives you even more expansive energy!
That's because you have totally aligned to the energy that is abundantly available to you, your life-force, delivered to you through your heart.
In order to experience this new way of living, we have to listen less to our heads and more to our hearts: To do this, we need to start to dis-engage with ideas, principles and thoughts as our "nice to have to do lists" tell us, and engage more with the emotional and physical feelings that occur within us. One of my teachers and mentors, Dr Helen Ford, describes this as "Living from your inner rightness". As a medical intuitive, she has demonstrated how much we can really know and learn for example, hidden pathological states in the body from this feeling state that enables inner visioning. Many of the old-guard doctors, pre-1980's who still practised medicine as an art as well as a science used this much neglected skill with great success!
What you would be tapping into is a deeper form of intelligence called the super-consciousness that we know as instinct. This how animals are guided - for example how would birds know that they needed to fly south in winter? They're little brains wouldn't have a clue, they are guided to make the wisest choices from a source of intelligence that holds the big picture! One could say that what we are turning away from is the relative position of the mind as a source of intelligence, to the absolute position of the heart that encompasses all.
Exercise
To test this out for yourself, spend a day by asking yourself “What do I really feel like doing?” and do that instead. Allow activities that attract you naturally to become the center of your life. See how the day pans out and evaluate whether you feel more energised and have been more productive. You may surprised! When we live through our heart and not exclusively our head, we tend to experience more vitality. We all know that when you do what you love, we become energised, and it is irrelevant how much energy you put into it.
And when we have more vitality, we become healthier and happier.
How we experience life, if we continue down this route, is more like a magical mystery tour - delighting in the unexpected, reflecting on each precious moment, however ordinary to the 'mind' and feeling very connected to ourselves, being free to be ourselves 100%, feeling secure that what when we need to know something in order to protect us, we will be fully conscious of what to do (through instincts) as we no longer hold ourselves accountable to outcomes.
How does that sound to you?
In my sessions with my clients, I take them through a process, that enables them to start connecting with the guidance system beyond the mind. By logging how their senses respond to aspects of their lives, we start to create a new map or game plan that takes them into a happier and healthier place.