When this happens, we find ourselves on roads that someone else forced us to walk. We have to deal with life choices that probably don’t belong to us but to others. In essence, we are living someone else’s life.

At times we find ourselves giving up, when instead we should persevere; while other times we insist, when instead it would be better to let it go.

When no one teaches us how important is to recognize and value each aspect of ourselves, we risk to live life trying to be like others define us, or worse, trying to prove them wrong.

This focuses all our energy on our supposed “imperfections”, rather than asking ourselves the most important question:

Who am I?

Everyone, sooner or later, experiences some distressing moments where everything just doesn’t seem to make sense. When these moments present themselves, you start telling yourself: “I shouldn’t be here”, “Why am I still in this relationship?” or “I don’t like my job”.

Related Read: 8 Long-Held Misconceptions People Have About Life

These thoughts can be scary because, if materialized, they can subvert your equilibrium and your life as you know it. But those are also the exact intuitions you need to follow if you want to find your own path and live the life you desire.

To know yourself better every day, you don’t have to stop questioning why you do what you do.

What makes you feel alive?

Those are your interests, your passions and everything that makes you feel fulfilled and think about future projects you might undertake, both personal and professional.

Are there things you do with ease?

You probably haven’t noticed it, but you have a talent. There is something that you are good at more than anybody else. Work hard on your talent. Protect it and use it at your advantage.

Take a pen and paper

If there were no limits of time, money or fears, what are 30 things you would do right now? What are 30 things you want to have? Voilà! Now you have a list of things you are denying yourself.

Focus

You keep filling your time with short term objectives so that you don’t have to think. Try instead to spend some time with yourself. Give yourself the chance to question your life. Answer to your questions and build long-term life projects based on what you find.

Don’t stop being curious

Of yourself, of others and strangers. Without curiosity, there is no life.

What could you regret?

Imagine yourself in 40 years. Think about it and look back at your life. What are you disappointed about? For what would you say: “If only I could go back in time, I …”?

Now go back in time and start changing the life of your future you.

Remember that you are unique and that there’s no one and never will be anyone like you. Then, why not giving you the possibility to be who you should be?

What do you think? Who are you keeping locked up inside of you?

In Ancient Greece, for example, people thought that the Earth was the center of the Universe and that all the planets, stars and the Sun revolved around it. By the 16th Century, Galileo, Kepler and Copernicus proved the geocentric model wrong.

Beliefs can be found in anything related to how we live our life; being it a relationship with a person, a thing or an emotion. Whatever it is we go through in our life, our mind can make it believable. Beliefs are also the basis for action.

Our minds can make our life experiences real even when they aren’t, and until we question our beliefs we’ll never know whether what we do right or wrong.

While I was in the process of questioning my personal beliefs, I observed eight recurring ideas that people in our society still believe to be true.

1. Other people are more fortunate than me

“I’m getting left behind. What did I do wrong?” Those are the kind of things I would tell myself and I would start comparing my life to others.

Are you so caught up in looking over to your right or to your left? How many of us go on Instagram or Facebook and stalk people? Admit it. You look at people smiling and having fun in some exotic location and ask yourself: “Why them and not me?”

Instead, be original, create your own fortune. Don’t worry about living other people’s lives, know yourself, appreciate who you are, be confident in your abilities and work hard for what you want to accomplish.

2. Life is suffering

“Life is hard, painful, you have to struggle.”

Well, that’s what my parents told me, and their parents told them that, too.

When I realized that I didn’t have to live in the “conveyor belt” lifestyle that everyone else was living, I realized that life can be whatever I choose.

When you say that life is full of pain and suffering, that is what you attract. When you say that you have the power to mold life into whatever you want to make it, that’s when you tap into your greatness and can achieve whatever you dream.

Pain is inevitable, but suffering is always a choice and the pain is temporary.

Suffering is caused by not being able to let go of the temporary pain you’ve experienced.

3. Money is a right

Some people think, because they have a lot of money, they have the right to do whatever they want.

I used to think this way, my identity and self-worth were tied to my material possessions until I lost it all.

During the rebuilding process, I realized that even though we live in a material world, material possessions don’t make me who I am. They are just things I own.

When it’ll be all said and done, all you’ll have are the memories you shared with the people who mattered most in your life.

The experiences, not the things. That’s what you should be focusing on more and more every day. The relationships.

4. You should get married

Society tells us that we have to get married and have children by a certain age, and if we don’t do that we are clearly doing something wrong.

Where do all of these ideas come from? Who implanted them into our minds?

As we evolve in consciousness, we realize that none of us have to get married and none of us have to have children, but we do have to do what resonates with our heart.

I think it’s wonderful to be in divine union and to have children, but don’t feel guilty if you aren’t doing those things.

5. Degrees mean success

Growing up that’s all I wanted to do. Just study, because I thought the more I studied that was a guarantee I could live a successful life.

Studying is wonderful. It opens doors and your mind, but if you don’t go to university you can still make it.

If you don’t have a degree you can still live your dreams.

6. You have to look perfect

Many people fixate on having the perfect body, the perfect shape or being the perfect size.

I used to think that I needed the perfect body image. I had a program running in my head that was the be all and end all.

How many of us go on diets just to try and fit into an image which probably doesn’t even exist, because that person in the magazine has been digitally manipulated?

What I realized is that you have to have a body, shape and size that is truthful to you along your journey, not somebody else’s journey.

Whatever you do, do it for yourself. The more you do it, the more you realize that none of us is supposed to look exactly the same. We are supposed to look how we envision ourselves in our minds at our highest level.

7. Your greatness has a limit

How many of us say: “Ok I’ve done enough. I reached my limit. Let me stop now and take a break”.

The truth is there is no limit. Many people stunt their growth, they rest on their laurels and put their tools away.

You have to have your tools out every day because, you never know when you might need them to build something.

Sometimes you are building at night and other times you build as first thing in the morning; but the more you build and the more you create, the more you perfect your craft.

But if you stop working and you wait for the perfect moment, and continue living in your comfort zone, you will become stagnant.

8. You have to have it all figured out

Enlightenment is knowing how much you don’t know. When you embark on a voyage, you must let go of the old and embrace the new.

By doing so, you’ll start to realize how much more there is to know.

If you fail, try again, dust yourself off, get back on your feet and move on. The secret is to take action and not to try and have it all figured out.

Many of the things you believe to be true, are true only as long as you think they are. As soon as you disconnect from this idea and stop being confined by it, you’ll recognize that you can achieve, obtain and become whatever you want. Most of the times, something totally different than your original belief.

Anything you think and naturally consider to be true can be defined as a belief. None of your beliefs though have a higher chance of being true than all your other thoughts.

But as soon as you tag your thoughts as beliefs, then they fall into the “untouchable” category and you stop questioning them.

Ultimately, don’t think that because lots of people believe in something, that has to be true. The number of people believing in a particular thing doesn’t increases the chances of it to be right.

The lesson?

Question your beliefs, always.

Although there are situations and circumstances you want to get away from, there are also certain things which are worth holding onto and fighting for: our dreams.

I can give you at least five reasons why dreams are worth pursuing. Everyone nowadays seems to say: “Hey you should follow your dream”. But you don’t do much, you get caught up in life, you  go to a job that doesn’t satisfy you and remain stuck at the starting gate.

I Followed My Dreams

Although you can find countless excuses not to pursue your dreams, here’s what doing it helped me to achieve.

• I proved everybody wrong.
  After graduating from University, all of my friends entered the corporate world. I, instead, decided to pursue the entrepreneurial path and started my own digital marketing agency.
  Critics and doubtful pearls of wisdom were coming from any direction, but I didn’t get distracted, I didn’t quit and after almost five years I’m confident saying that I made the right choice.

• I am proud of myself
  Proving other people wrong is just the icing on the cake, but what makes following your dreams even more rewarding is that you can actually do something you really love every day and be recognized for that.

• I got more confident.
  In pursuing your dreams, you are the one running the show and the first who witnesses the successes, as well as the failures.Being at the forefront of it all, makes you feel invincible and it skyrockets your self-confidence.

• I learned to embrace failures.
  I see failure as a key part of the process of pursuing my dreams. Once you recover from failure, you realize it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be.

• No one can pursue and accomplish my dreams if not me.
  Dreams are subjective and distinctive of each person. Also, the majority of people will never take action and go after their own dreams, so how can you expect them to pursue yours?

What do people like me, who follow their dreams and don’t quit, have in common?

1. Many Options

It all starts with allowing the possibility. People who never quit never take “no” for an answer.

They don’t believe in their own doubts even though they get them, they always persevere, they keep on going and they realize they live in a world of infinite possibilities. 

They don’t see only one way of doing things; they are always aware of other alternatives. When everyone else just sees one option they see many. 

2. Nobody Said it Was Easy

People who never quit, realize that simplicity takes great mastery.

That is why you have to gather the right tools that can help you get through the obstacles you encounter every single day. The more equipped you are, the easier life becomes.

Many people who live their dream, know that in the beginning it’s normal to have fear. This happens because you are not living your dream yet; you just have this crazy idea of following your life purpose.

There’s no guarantee and no security. You are literally diving in the deep end.

3. Power of Will

A lot of people don’t realize that if you want to move closer to what makes you happy, you have to make sacrifices. You have to leave everything behind.

And even if you think that holding on to something that makes you unhappy is better than jumping into the unknown, in reality the unknown can in fact set you free. 

With every step you take, you generate more momentum and experience. 

4. Power of Focus

If you sleep it, live it, breathe it and rise with it, then probably you really want it. 

That is all well and great, but a lot of people just want to talk about their dreams, without really doing anything about it.

If you want to achieve your dreams and live your life purpose, you have to take action or they won’t come to you.

People who follow their dreams, concentrate their focus on one area and stick with it. 

Effort will release its reward only after you refuse to quit. 

5. They  Become Healthier

People who follow their dreams become healthier, more vibrant and happier.

Once you start living your life purpose, you will start to notice that people want to be around you.

But when you are not living your life purpose, everybody around you becomes your problem, you start externalizing your power and start feeling like a victim.

You blame others, not realizing you are making a conscious decision to be around them.

6. They Know When to Ignore the People Around Them

Friends, family or the next door neighbor can influence your vision and your dreams.

Sometimes you need to ignore everyone to stay focused on not quitting. People who don’t quit, know who to listen to and who to ignore. 

When people see the results of your changes, then they want to know the secrets. If you can believe in yourself, everything becomes better and that moves you even more into your life purpose.

You don’t stop because of people’s ideas. This is a test with yourself.

Are you going to let criticism consume you or are you going to let it propel you?

7. They Create Their Own Crowd

People who follow their dreams realize that they have to make a very conscious decision of the people they surround themselves with. 

As long as you follow the crowd, you will only go as far as the crowd. You have to be extremely comfortable with yourself, and brave enough to find the right crowd.

Sometimes we say that we can do everything by ourselves, but people who never quit, realize they can’t and for that reason they surround themselves with people who remind them of who they are.

That support network helps them manifest their greatest dreams and desires.

8. Their Lives Become Adventurous

A lot of people are so used to just staying in their comfort zone.

The moment you start to live your dream, every day is new. It’s not easy, but at the same time you just embrace it more. You are not afraid to wake up early anymore.

And if you are living your life purpose right now, you never know what to expect, and that’s the best part.

9. Failure is Part Of It

People who don’t quit know that failure is just one of the possible outcomes of their trials. There is no failure if you try something new out. 

Keep in mind that your uniqueness can never be taken away from you. There is no failure when you realize this.

It’s all about changing how you perceive success and failure. When you do what you love, you can never fail.

We are all here to find meaning in our lives.

Your life purpose is all about meaning, how it makes you feel, the value it gives you and the integrity it gives you.

People living their dream acknowledge this.

F.E.A.R. is False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear is a self-created feeling created from an imaginary belief based on the illusion of separation.

Many people have fears about all kinds of things. The greatest ones may be dying, it may be rejection or it may be the commitment in relationships.

Fear, though, is never in the present moment. Fear is either in the past or in the future. To let go of fear, you have to tap into the present moment.

The power is in the now  

You have to recognize that fear is the greatest energy vampire in your life, and the more you are in fear, the more you lose your energy.

Letting go of fear is an ongoing process and you have to work at it every single day. Working on your fears for a day or two isn’t hard, but it doesn’t bring the necessary results either.

If you are serious about letting go of your fears, then you have to be focused and consistent in following these seven habits.

1. Face Your Fear

   Look at your fears straight in the eyes. Feel the fear and do it anyway. You have to embrace the challenges fear offers to you, because fear always makes you raise higher.

   Fear never takes place. Fear is when you are waiting for something to happen. Fear is the anticipation, and when something you fear happens, then you start looking for another fear.

   What is the worst that could happen? And when it does happen, how bad was it? How did it make you feel?

   You see, the way most people deal with fear is by dodging any experience, place or circumstance that evokes the emotion. By dodging these “fearful” situations, they essentially inhibit themselves from getting used to them instead. In essence, the fearful situation remains unknown.

   Additionally, when we start to avoid a particular experience or situation, we are more inclined to generalize it in the long run.

   If you have a fear of your next door neighbor’s dog, you’ll soon start to be scared and have fear of all the other dogs that you’ll encounter in your life. A by-product of this continuous escape from your fears is a growing feeling of defeat.
   
   (Photo: katiew)

   To let go of fear, you have to expose yourself to those fear-provoking experiences. Yes, it can be annoying in the short-term, but that’s the small price you have to pay to live a life free of draining and enervating fears.

   You will see that once you’ve overcome one fear, you’ll want to overcome another one.

2. Do Not Externalize Your Power

   Being fearful means giving away your power to someone you feel is superior to you.

   Whenever you externalize your power, you start seeing yourself as a victim and whenever you see yourself as a victim, you will always remain in fear.

   You have to take back your power to overcome fear. Once you realize that you are the architect of your own reality and that you are creating your life based on your thoughts and feelings, then you’ll be free of fear.

   You turn into whatever you are tuned into.

   You have to remember that you must not let anyone place value over your own life. You have to give yourselves your unique value system. Not externalizing your power is all about taking responsibility for your feelings.

   You chose how you respond to everything that happens to you.

3. Do Not Justify Your Fear

   You are fearful because so and so happened to you in the past.

   When you rationalize your fear, you always become a prisoner of your fear because you are having a reason for holding on to them.
   
   (Photo: Mitzo)

   When you no longer have an excuse for your fear, when you no longer justify it, you can move past the fear.

4. Self-Love

   Self-love helps you build a greater self-esteem, it helps you face challenges hence, expand your comfort zone.

   Self-love allows you to look at things from different angles and put them in perspective.

   Self-love makes you more flexible so that when something unpleasant happens, you are able to manage the situation without letting the fear get the better of you.

5. Change Your Belief

   Once you can change your mind, you can change your world.

   Essentially, you change your relationship you have to fear. In fact, many of our fears emanate from not feeling good enough.

   Beliefs are powerful. If you say, “I can overcome this fear” then you are right. If you say, “I cannot overcome this fear”, then you are also right.

   You have to look at the words you use. Words are powerful vibrations. By changing the words you use, you can overcome certain fears.

   Use words as positive affirmations to heal yourself. Use words to uplift you and to inspire you.

6. Let Go Of Judgement

   The more you judge, the more you separate. Separation is the foundation of fear. Separation is the cause, everything else is the effect.

   Why do we judge other people? It is because we feel intimidated by their presence.

   So long as you have fears in your heart, you can never be free. You have to be aware every single second of the day where you are directing your energy.

   Are you focusing on what you want or are you focusing on what you fear?

   The only thing to fear about fear, is fear itself.

   Is this feeling of fear that you create serving you or is it taking away your energy?

7. Love Your Body

   To overcome fear you have to release tension within the body, that way you release the tension within the mind.

   Alignment within your body creates alignment within your mind.

   Much of your fear is muscle memory; it’s stored within your body. How you carry yourself externally, it’s how you feel internally.
   
   (Photo: Matt)

   To overcome the fear of a certain experience, you must change your reaction to that experience before you change the interaction with that experience.

   You don’t have control over what happens to you; you only have control of how you respond. Everything is based on how you respond; that determines how long the fear will stay with you.

Fear breeds a whole host of other negative emotions such as guilt, anxiety, panic and stress. It builds up to a crescendo until eventually you become stuck.

You eventually turn into the very things you are afraid of. You have to realize that you are powering your own reality and that you are the glue that holds everything in place.

You ultimately came here to discover who you are and to live free.

Fear less!

There are people who have a passion or a vision for themselves, but they keep procrastinating. They are afraid. They want to do it, but then they tell themselves, “I’ll do it tomorrow”. And then, when tomorrow comes, they tell themselves, “It’s way too hard”.

How can you deal with mental obstacles when your heart desires to overcome them?

1. Do It For Yourself First

The reason why so many people stop at the first hurdle is because they think they have something to proof.

You want to show the world that you are a certain person and that you can achieve big results, but what you are really doing is wearing a mask. That creates a lot of problems because now, you have to live up to other people’s expectations.

What happens if they don’t like you, if they don’t like what clothes you are wearing or even if they don’t like the look of your face? You are going to be hurt and this in turn creates a lot of fear in your mind.

Doing the thing the you love for yourself first, doesn’t mean that you have to isolate from the others and stop sharing your progress.

Many people stop at the first hurdle when in the process of pursuing their dreams, they only focus on themselves. By only focusing on yourself, you build up a lot of anxiety, a lot of panic and heartache because nobody will be there to support you and encourage you.

2. Focus On The Message

You have to focus on the message you are transmitting to the world. That takes the pressure off you, but more so you have to stop allowing yourself to justify where you are or where you are not. That’s what so many of us do so well. We give ourselves an excuse every single day for why we have these challenges.

You say to yourself, “I can’t do it”. But have you tried first? The truth is that you really can do anything with the right attitude, but the question is, how bad do you want it?

You are going to have people whispering in your ears – “Hey you better stop. You better slow down. You can’t do it”.

You have to give yourself a chance to show yourself what you are made of. Everything you are doing is to test out your infinite potential. Don’t look at the like or the dislikes, that is irrelevant.

What is most important is the message, because it is the message that can transform not only your life but the people you are connecting with every single day.

3. Take One Step At a Time

What makes it so hard and why most people stop at the first hurdle is because they compare themselves to someone else. They are looking over at someone else’s fence and saying “Oh my goodness gracious, their garden is so beautiful and I only have weeds”.

When you are starting out, when you have a dream, when you have a vision, things get hard if you don’t accept who you are 100%.

Be confident in your abilities. The longer you do something, the more you get better at it and the more the way you perceive yourself changes with it.

We get easily discouraged because the perception we have of ourselves is greater than the perception other people have of us.

Why do we feel nervous? Why do we feel ashamed? Why do we feel anxious? The reason is because we are not 100% happy with who we are. We don’t accept who we are 100%.

Once you start accepting yourself 100%, everything will start to flow, abundance will start to generate and new people will come into your life by changing it for the better.

Once you have a solid support network, once you have great friends around you, it becomes a lot easier to overcome obstacles and challenges.

But first, you have to become your greatest friend. Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not about your destination. There is no finish line, there is only the process.

Once you begin to respect the process, then you step into your true potential. Everything starts with the mindset you have.

The thoughts you have of yourself will either imprison you or set you free.

Related: Simple Personal Changes To Overcome Self-Doubt

Once upon a time you used to share your food with your friends. Do you remember that? You were probably 5 or 6 in the playground, and you used to say, “Here! you can have that!”. Children don’t really have the concept of “mine” and “yours”. There is no separation for children.

Everything is one

As we grow up we become very possessive of our things.

Many people growing up ask themselves whether it’s worth being nice and generous to other people. They think it’s hard to find honest people these days, and being nice will only get them hurt.

There is a great story about two monks, who are washing their bowls in the river and a scorpion is drowning. One of the monks notices it, he scoops up the scorpion and gently lays it on the bank, but in the process he gets stung.

The next day the two monks go back to wash their bowls in the river and the same monk finds another scorpion struggling with the water. He decides to save it, but in the process he gets stung again.

So the monk next to him says, “Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know its nature is to sting?”. And the other monk replies, “Because it is my nature to save it”.

That’s a powerful story which teaches you always have to be authentic. It’s not about being super nice or super miserable, it’s about being authentic to yourself.

Many of us feel that other people treat us very badly. By having this thought we end up copying their behavior. In essence we end up becoming their clone.

Related: How To Stop Negative Thoughts

The secret is to never change who you are just to make other people feel comfortable, because if you do, you fall into people pleasing. Ask yourself if you are really being nice or if you are just trying to get something in return. Is your kindness coming from an authentic place?

What happens when you are around miserable people? You feel bad. You almost feel like it’s your responsibility. You also feel it is really dangerous to show who you really are, to be open, to be caring and to share yourself.

Once again you become a vibrational match to the very thing you oppose.

Growing up you start up as very free and very open, but going through life you get hurt by certain situations and experiences and so you put up a shield to protect yourself. Growing up you tell yourself that in order to make it life you have to struggle, you have to go through the fire. That’s wrong.

Being nice and authentic is about being vulnerable and not being weak.

When you want to speak your truth to the world, you may end up offending some people. Does this makes you a bad person? No, but you are remaining true to who you are.

You have to brave. You have to be bold to speak your truth and eventually you will connect with people who appreciate you for who you are.

The whole point is not about being nice. Contrary to popular belief, being nice is about being authentic and not being always very positive.

Being authentic is the equilibrium that keeps you grounded

Live in the now. Don’t let your past experiences affect your present decisions. See the world with new eyes every single day. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in the next second.

Lastly, treating people with compassion and respect can take you a long way because you connect to their heart. Therefore, it allows you to connect to your authenticity.

It is worth being nice, but at the same time don’t feel your nature is someone else’s. Be who you are, authentically, and allow people the freedom to experience their own reality.

Can’t we all just get along?

How do you follow your dreams when you suddenly realize that your heart is no longer aligned to everything you’ve been working for, training for and studying for? What happens when you feel the light at the end of the tunnel is a train coming?

These questions might sound very negative, but the truth is that a lot of people don’t have a clear desire towards their dreams. The big secret is to know what your true desire is. If you don’t know what your desire is, then you’ll go down many roads.

But when you know what your desire is, every single day you just work hard, you build it and it becomes fruitful. You’ll then be able to reap the benefits of the seeds you have sown.

Focus

You will encounter many roadblocks and distractions along the way. There is the path of righteousness which is where only a few people live and is not extremely popular. And then there is the other path which is highly popular but you may have to sell your soul. Which one are you going to choose?

If you want to follow your dreams you have to stay focused. See what you do as a walk in the park. Effortless living. Simplicity is the highest form of sophistication.

Environment

You have to ask yourself: What kind of environment are you placing yourself in? Is it simple? Is it helping you to elevate or is it stressful and taking away your energy?

You have to find your own voice in the choir. Your parents know what is best for you. Your friends know what is best for you. They all think they know what is best for you, but in reality only you know.

All this becomes clearer once you reconnect back to your true authenticity.

How you feel affects how you think. You become what you think and that affects how you act, which in turn affects what you attract.

Belief System

Who makes up the rules? We create our own prison by how we interpret what goes on around us, which is based on our belief system.

In following your dreams, you have to reevaluate your belief system, you have to change how you see yourself.

Confidence

Confidence is like any muscle, you have to exercise it. Following your dreams means doing what you love. When you do what you love, there is no separation between work and leisure. In essence, your work becomes your own leisure.

Following your dream is not about you just becoming your greatest version, but it’s also about sharing with the world what you discover along the way.

When you offer value to those around you, that same value comes right back to you. It’s called “The Law Of Exchange”.

The pursuit or achievement of your dreams doesn’t happen overnight. You have to invest. Passion is the unit of currency you use to pay for the price of your dreams.

Network

Early on, you might find yourself without friends. You might only have acquaintances.

That’s what happens when you really follow your true desires. You see who your real friends are and who your acquaintances are. Sometimes it is better to be alone than with a group of people who don’t care about you.

You’ll start to connect with amazing people once you will see yourself as worthy of being in their presence.

During this journey you might find yourself tired and you want to give up. My message to you is, “Hang in there!”. Everything happens in cycles. Life is not easy. But as you raise in your level of awareness, following your dreams becomes easier.

Embrace change, be open to change and prepare for change.

We are constantly bombarded by information from all angles of the world. It is overwhelming. There is panic. There is anxiety. We need to understand what is going on.

The unexamined life is not worth living

However there is a problem. What happens when you are in bed shaking attempting to go to sleep and you can’t? You get stuck in rumination and this in turn affects your equilibrium.

To stop worrying you have to become honest with yourself. Think less and live more.

In the past few years I have found 6 ways that have helped me to stop worrying, to stop excessive thinking and start living more.

1. How to stop worrying – Tip 1: Live in the present

   You have to bring your emotions into the present. Many people think about the past or the future which has not even taken place yet, therefore there is panic and anxiety because they are caught up in the anticipation.

   Worrying will not change the outcome. You have to tap into the power of now because that is where the energy lies.

   Thoughts can block you from the present, so to reconnect back to it you have to let go of all your preconceived ideas.

   You have to go to the places where you find your greatest power. When you do what you love you don’t think.

   Too many people are caught in their minds, they analyze every little detail. You have to start observing children again and you will notice that they are always in the now. You have to get back into the present moment.

2. How to stop worrying – Tip 2: Let go of control

   We are always attempting to control the world that is outside of ourselves, without seeing that we are the world. The world is a reflection of what takes place within your mind.

   You have no control of what anybody thinks of you. Put yourself out there. People can judge, people can say whatever they want, but the only thing that matters is that you know who you are.

   You have no way of controlling how other people act towards you, only how you respond.

   By realizing this, you take a huge weight off of your shoulder. This is how to stop worrying, to think less and live more.

3. How to stop worrying – Tip 3: The big picture

   Putting things in perspective helps you deal with anxiety and panic.

   How big is your problem?

   Open your eyes. Go outside. You have to see how other people are living. Talk to people. Open your mind and see that your problems are not as big as you think they are.

4. How to stop worrying – Tip 4: Honor your experiences

   Once you can honor your experiences, you stop judging them. Through honoring your experiences, you can learn from them. You can grow.

   Many people don’t want to think certain thoughts, but resistance makes those thoughts stronger. Therefore the same thoughts that they don’t want to think about, are the same thoughts that multiply.

   You have to ask yourself, “how is this thought serving me?”.

   Realize that you are the creator of your own reality, therefore there is no one else to blame. You are not a helpless victim, you are a co-creator. You are the architect of your own life.

   You have to become neutral in honoring your experiences.

   If you feel fear, experience the fear. If you feel happy, experience the happiness. Let the emotions flow through you like the waves in the ocean.

5. How to stop worrying – Tip 5: Who cares

   You have to let go of perfection.

   Too many of us have been locked in this 3D world of matter. Is it really worth it stressing and worrying about one tiny problem which in the grander scheme of things is so insignificant?

   Many people have so many “problems” going on simultaneously, but you have to remember that thinking does not change anything. Only action. You have to put your thoughts  into action.

   Nature is a great healer. You have to be in nature. Sit next to a tree and listen to yourself.

   Many people have become disconnected on social media networks. You have to remember to reconnect back to the elements, in nature.

   You have to meditate. Meditation is letting go of who you think you are. Meditation is stepping into being.

   Body, mind and spirit are interconnected. All the power lies within your hands. If you don’t do what you love than you are not living enough.

6. How to stop worrying – Tip 6: Embrace your uniqueness

   Stop comparing yourself to other people. That is a great way to stop worrying and start living.

   Many of us are stuck in our minds because we want to be someone else. You have to be yourself. The danger of competition is falling into the illusion that someone is playing the same game as you.

   There is nobody in the world like you. You are unique. Embrace your uniqueness

   Many people over think because they want to be someone else. But you have to see that you have all the tools you need right inside of you.

   Create your own path. This is how to stop worrying.

Whenever you are worried or over thinking, ask yourself, “how do I feel right now?”. It is only when you try to escape the present moment that you become worried.

Remember that there is no need to live a life full of misery. We all came here to shine and be magnificent beings. Go out to the world and stop worrying.

Related: 12 Simple Steps That Can Change Your Life

Desires are all about expansion.

How to Discover What You Want – Step 1: Pause & Rest

So many people live their lives on autopilot, they work in a job, they don’t know why they are there and everything just becomes a habit. But your habitat is where you live.

• Are you comfortable living where you are?
• Would you be comfortable if someone was to take a freeze-frame of this moment and hang it up on your wall?
• Would that define who you are? Would you be proud of that picture?

Stop whatever you are doing. Go into nature. Mediate. Mediation clears the mind. Meditation improves your cardiovascular system, it brings radiance, it makes you smile again.

Many people are desensitized on the planet. When you are desensitized you can’t feel anything. You block everyone out. So now, how do you know what you want?

By going into nature you reconnect back to the elements of Earth and this helps you discover what you want.

How to Discover What You Want – Step 2: Find the meaning

What is the meaning of your whole existence? Once you ask yourself that, then you will see why you came here. 

It’s all about your own personal meaning. That is how to discover what you want.

How to Discover What You Want – Step 3: Beliefs

Where do we get our beliefs from? All of the ideas that you have in your head are not you. They are handed down to you from your family, from your friends and from the society you live in. Therefore all of these ideas shape your perception. 

To discover what you want you have to question your belief system. You have to question your thoughts.

How to Discover What You Want – Step 4: Visualization

You discover what you want when you are not thinking about it, but the thoughts come.

Life is what happens when you are making other plans.

How to Discover What You Want – Step 5: Take action

Every path you take will lead to another road. There is no destination. The whole of life is a process. We are free to make mistakes, we are free to even try it out. 

When you are not afraid to experiment, to let go of everything holding you back, to let go of people who are telling you can’t do something, to stop caring what other people think, that is how to discover what you want and that helps you become the greatest version of yourself.

Stop waiting. Why are you waiting all the time? Stop waiting for everything to be perfect. Letting go of perfection is where perfection begins.

How to Discover What You Want – Step 6: What if money was no object

When you stop worrying about the external and focus on the internal, things become clearer.

So many of us have conditioning from our society. We have this expectancy of what we think we should do, when that may not be what we authentically want to do.

You can only discover your true wants by tapping into your true emotions. 

How to Discover What You Want – Step 7 : Surrender to Fear

You discover what you want when you make fear your ally, because fear is the gatekeeper to your wildest desires. Embracing your fears is the only way to see what your heart is beating for. What you are most afraid of holds a tremendous power. The mere fact that you are afraid of following a passion, means that it holds a deep significance.

What are you focusing on most during the day? That is how to know what you want.

When you become mindful you start discovering your wants and you start seeing that the mind created all the rules and boundaries to how you live your life.

We are here on this planet to always push the boundaries, to change how we see ourselves. Many people say they are only good for a certain job, but in finding your true desires you must go back before you had the concept of who you thought you were.

Who you think you are becomes a limitation and dictates what you desires.

How do we deal with people who are violent towards us?

In life there are only two emotions: love or fear.

We can end up copying what these people are doing. If someone is horrible to you, you can copy them. But by doing so, you become like them, and it doesn’t make sense because you end up becoming like the very same people you are opposed to.

In dealing with toxic people, wisdom is power. It’s all about looking for a peaceful solution to any violence you incur, but it’s also about finding ways to stop absorbing other people’s energies.

Whenever you deal with toxic people and they are rude to you; ask yourself, “am I going to take the highest stand?”. So, the only way to deal with toxic people is to rise in consciousness.

How people treat you is not a reflection of who you are, instead it is a reflection of what they are experiencing and how they deal with the world around them.

The greatest friend and enemy lies within yourself. If there’s no enemy within you, there will be no enemy coming from the outside.

When you are enemy to yourself instead, when you don’t like who you are, then everyone becomes an enemy because they mirror back to you something that you are not ready to look at.

Always, once you create more harmony, it’s almost as if everything trying to come your way to harm you just vanishes.

Whatever you put out into the universe is what comes back to you. If there are toxic people or toxic friends in your life, you have to realize that if they are toxic they are not friends in the first place.

Friends act as a support network to you.

3 Final Steps for Dealing with Toxic People

• Become more conscious of who you surround yourself with. Connect with those who remind you who you are.

• Become more conscious of how society perceives you.

• Become more conscious of how you perceive yourself.

Further reading: How To Not Offend People