What would it mean to become a “new you?” If the idea of this is a little scary, or if it sounds like a massive personal change project, it’s important to note that, in fact, you will always be you. We’re not talking of inventing a false persona, we’re referring to the best version of you.The thing is, we are the product of just two things – our blueprint at birth and our subsequent environments. These environments comprise a mix of “unchosen” as well as deliberately “chosen” experiences. Since our original blueprint is beyond our control we need to focus on environments – both our internal environment or state of consciousness and our external environment or our life situation and circumstances. The way to a “new you” then, or simply the best version of you, is to consciously create new environments and experiences for yourself, something that you have considerable control over.
Creating an enhanced state of consciousness: Being in touch with your breath and animating presence while living mindfully in a state of appreciation, are conducive to raising your consciousness and energetic frequency. We can live each day in totality with whatever is before us, each moment, with trust that the Creator who created us, continues to create through us. It’s helpful to let go of dis-empowering emotional baggage, refusing to blindly believe all of our thoughts, thereby enabling us to live our lives with much greater peace and clarity. Operating from higher degrees of presence, and correspondingly higher energetic frequencies, sets us up to attract more joy and happiness into our lives. Presence is the arbiter of real happiness and joy.
We each need to move away from fear, drama, separation, resistance and lack to becoming a harmonious, loving presence, full of abundant life. In presence, we can channel our energies into authentic, heart-based missions that contribute to quality of life while doing no harm.
Creating an enhanced life situation: Hopefully you have a nice family but imagine for a few moments that you had been born into a much wealthier family, with wiser, kinder and more loving people around you, and where success was always encouraged and expected. Wouldn’t you hold different and more empowering beliefs and expectations, than you have now? On the other hand, what if you had been born into a caste system of untouchables? What then?!
As children, our choices of environments or experiences were somewhat dependent upon our caregivers, but as adults we have a lot more control, both over our experiences and the meaning (encoding) that we give to them. Sometimes our learned programs from childhood are simply out of date and may have been more rooted in self-protection and fear than in love and acceptance – for example, the admonition “don’t talk to strangers” might no longer be relevant to you. As an adult, (if you haven’t done so already), why not arrange your environments or experiences to fully support you, your happiness and your growth?
We have the opportunity to develop the empowering beliefs, habits and behaviors of peak performers, living with high personal effectiveness, fulfillment and well-being – with emphasis on the latter. So, while on the level of “Being,” you can reach for higher levels of presence and consciousness, at the level of “human” you can develop more human capacity; this includes developing your talents, beliefs, habits and behaviors in accordance with your preferences, strengths and aspirations.
We need to be a little playful and not take this brief sojourn on Earth too seriously. This is not a license to overly engage in bad habits though, as these will come back to bite us (and others). We can all benefit from a degree of moderation – consistent with what the Buddha has called the Middle Way. Indeed, the Buddha noted that pleasures often have a hook – like a fish that swallows the bait along with the hook! The trick is to enjoy the pleasures without getting hooked and so avoid the pain. Exercising moderation, as we have just referred to, is one way to achieve this, although complete abstinence may be necessary to avoid addictions.
Generally, we need to enjoy our lives as we extend our repertoire of inner and outer experiences. We might conclude that we are here to experience and express the universe – each of us a small piece in the giant jigsaw of the Cosmos – the collective whole.
A practical approach to living a good life is to mix a certain amount of routine with some variety. We can set our day off well with a morning ritual that includes setting a few key intentions – “today’s top tasks.” Intentions can include some variety – perhaps, three times a week – to help avoid the mundane and prevent us from falling into ruts or comfort zones that become stale and inhibiting.
Imagine waking up one day and suddenly realizing that you really are a spiritual Being! What an absolutely, enormous treasure as you step out of societal conditioning into your authentic self!! Perhaps, you’re familiar with the expression that “we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” If so, while you understood this intellectually, and perhaps believed it, perhaps it’s not yet rooted within you at a visceral level.
Yet, might such deeper “realization” of the truth, seeing yourself as a spiritual being, simply be your ego having a field day?! (Well it could be, unless you see that it applies to everyone, without any ego-driven “me or mine” exclusivity). In any event, you might want to keep it to yourself, rather than run around shouting Eureka!
Some characteristics of a “new you” could include:
1. Being in touch with true self and living from your heart-space
2. Being surrendered, (unfazed), still, present in the here and now
3. Knowing that you’re the awareness, the perceiver, the experiencer
4. Knowing that you’re not the object, the perceived or the experience
5. Knowing that you are existence (life) not ego
6. Living one day at a time in alignment with longer term purpose
7. Feeling safe, still and serene
8. Freedom from cravings, aversions and delusions (CAD)
9. Freedom from judgment, attachment and resistance (JAR1)
10. Freedom from jealousy, anger and resentment (JAR2)
11. Freedom from unnecessary conflict and drama
12. Observing nature … and the nature of life
13. Feeling the stillness, love and joy arising from complete acceptance
14. Allowing life to be fresh, new, creative and spontaneous
15. Spontaneous love, joy, gratitude and inspired action
In place of “surrendered” you could use the term “unfazed” – nothing has the power to bother you – that’s how strong, confident, imperturbable and resilient you are … in essence, you’re indestructible.
Further characteristics of a “new you” could include:
1. Aspirations and goals that align with an abundant life
2. Priority scheduling – setting 1 to 3 daily intentions (after grounding yourself in presence), in alignment with your goal, mission or purpose
3. Attention to diet, sleep, exercise and physiology
4. Managing time and energy
5. Managing habits, beliefs and imagination
6. Trust in the universe and the unseen
Some things that you might need to STOP or let go of:
1. Neediness, lack, separation, time, “me and mine,” “happy when …”
2. The need to be liked
3. The need for approval
4. Reliving past pain
5. Believing in, and being a slave to, thoughts
6. Attachment to being right
7. Any habits, thoughts, beliefs or situations that don’t support you
8. Unhealthy diets or nutrition
9. Unhealthy news, and distractions such as obsessive social media
10. Non-forgiveness, resistance, drama, conflict and judgment
11. Fear, uncertainty, doubt and worry
Some things that you might need to START or maintain:
1. Simple morning ritual that sets you up for a great day
2. Support – master mind team, coach; delegation, personal assistant
3. Working on the pre-set 1 to 3 “Today’s Top Tasks” (Intentions)
4. Living in a State of Appreciation/ Oneness/ Abundance
5. Experiencing and expressing true self
6. Radical self-acceptance
7. Surrounding yourself with supportive people
8. Spending more time in nature
9. Targeted affirmations, visualizations and hypnotic scripts
10. Simplifying every aspect of your life
So, you can consider some of these ideas and manage both your internal and external environments to provide for an outstanding life of freedom, love and adventure or any other lifestyle that best suits you. Onwards and upwards to living out your dreams in the New Year ahead and beyond!
The above was excerpted from “Peak Performance!! Awaken and Achieve,” (written by the author of this article), and is available on Amazon.