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5 Steps To Unlock Your Higher Self

Author:

Jeff Cannon

October 20, 2020

By Jeff Cannon

mbg Contributor

Jeff Cannon is a Modern American Monk and meditation teacher. He is the author of two books on meditation, spirituality and wellness.

October 20, 2020

We're all too familiar with the voice that echoes inside our heads. You know the one: the nasty roommate who constantly picks at your faults, real or imagined. No matter how hard you work or how much good you've done, you still hear the words in the background. “You’re too fat,” or, "You’re getting old," and, "You’re not working hard enough." It's the “You’ll never be able to retire well,” and, “She’s too good for you,” or, “He doesn’t care.” The list is never ending. It doesn’t matter if it is true or not; the words still find their mark with an endless barrage of putdowns that your brain creates just for you.

I say "brain" for a reason, because that voice talking is not you. That's your 40,000-year-old brain doing what it was programmed to do. It was programmed to look for things that are wrong to keep you out of trouble. It’s a survival technique. But when your brain doesn’t see anything wrong in the world around you, it looks inward, and the result sounds like a nasty, awful roommate.

You’re so used to hearing your nasty roommate that you rarely see your higher self. This is the part of you that's happy, carefree, and outgoing. It’s that 21st century mind you need to say hello to and acquaint yourself with, because while your 40,000-year-old brain may keep your body safe and alive, it's your 21st century mind that will help you grow and be happy. It will help you become the person you were meant to be.

All you have to do is learn to quiet your 40,000-year-old brain so that you can listen to it. It's easier than you think. Here are five steps:

Realize that life doesn’t have to be perfect to be great.

The more time you spend trying to make your life perfect, the less time you can spend enjoying it. Drop the idea that if the world isn’t perfect, it’s not right. The world is perfectly imperfect. You just need to learn to enjoy the blemishes as well as the gems. Even more important, forgive yourself for your own imperfections. Just tell yourself, and say it out loud: “It’s all a part of being the beautifully, wonderfully flawed me!” Then enjoy those flaws all just the same.

Acknowledge your own divinity from time to time.

Believe it or not, you were born beautifully divine. The world just never learned to embrace it, and you never learned to enjoy it. The secret to happiness is not to pursue that which you don’t have. The secret is to look within and acknowledge your own simple truth, your own divinity. All the rest can be let go.

Sow the seeds of positive thoughts.

You can't control all of your thoughts. They'll come on their own accord. But you can control how you respond to them. Many of the thoughts you have are simply the way the brain works. It is free to do what it wants. Think of your thoughts as seeds that grow within you. You can cultivate wonderful crops, or you can let the weeds grow untended. When you cultivate good thoughts, you live.

Let go and just be.

Real happiness is not about being ecstatic every minute of every day. True happiness is about being content, being in balance, and living a life that is productive, fulfilling, and enjoyable. Learn to let go of all the drama that upsets your balance. If it takes away from your contentment, then let it go. Change your point of view by not focusing on the negative, but by reminding yourself of the positive in your life.

Find your own simple truth.

Do the things you love the most, follow your heart, your passions, and your dreams. Look for meaning in your actions and purpose in whatever direction you decide to follow. Those are what will lead you to your simple truth, which is the path to your higher self and to becoming the divine being you were meant to be.

It’s no longer enough to accept the way things are and the life you have. There is a wonderful opportunity to live the life you were born to live. The power is within you. All you have to do is take the first step toward realizing it.