How You Can Become Much More Optimistic In Three Simple Steps

I am sure that everybody wants to become a happier person in their lives and also know the benefits of becoming more optimistic. But how do you actually become more optimistic in your own lives? Here are 3 simple steps you can take today towards become a more optimistic person:

1. Be on the lookout for opportunities to learn

Chances to learn new things are almost everywhere if you know where and how to look for them. As Napoleon Hill once said before, "With every seed of adversity comes an equivalent seed of success." Every failure and negative circumstance that appears in your life actually provides you with an opportunity to learn. Learning from these mistakes and circumstances will prevent you from making the same mistakes over and over again and will help to guide you towards being a more optimistic person.

2. Always be on the lookout for chances to grow

You cannot choose whether you want to grow in life a not, you must grow. The question is are you growing into a better person or a worse person? Are you growing into someone with a strong character or just someone whose life is being governed by fear and uncertainty? Everything around you is constantly moving forward even while you sleep, and you will need to continue to grow and adapt to it.

If you view everything in life as an opportunity to learn, chances are you will definitely take what you learn and put them into practice to grow yourself into a better person. On the other hand, you may choose to take a pessimistic point of view and learn nothing, and allow yourself to grow into someone who is fearful and timid.

Growth is something that does not remain stagnant, either you grow forward, or you advance backwards. Who you become in your life at the end of the day is much more important than what you are or what you have achieved in your life.

3. Start looking for more chances to achieve

Apart from learning and growing, having great achievements is probably one of the most rewarding things anyone can experience in their lives. As long as we always focus on treating everything in life as opportunities to train and grow instead of complaining and being hung up on them, your achievements will most of the time always come as a natural results. When this happens, you will become a good inspiration to others and also become more optimistic.

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GUIDED MEDITATION - Clearing Negativity

Love this meditation. What do you think?

How To Be More Optimistic

Research has repeatedly shown that people who think positively or those who are deemed as "optimists" tend to have happier, healthier, more productive lives.

If you are a pessimist, you possibly are pretty good at creating a worst case scenario out of any possible events.

For example, you get invited to dinner with a new co-worker and you imagine how awkward it will be and how this will turn into a tormented work relationship for the rest of your career.

OR you want to upgrade your style and look sexier but the mere thought of going out, choosing clothes, waiting in the fitting room line, changing sizes and queuing to pay turns you off.

OR your spouse and kids are excited about the summer trip to the beautiful Mal Dives but all you're thinking is about getting sunburn, food positioning and other life-threatening diseases.

While being negative can be a nice defense mechanism to avoid dangers, it will drastically deteriorate your quality of life from your relationships to your work, school, hobbies and sports. It's a depressing approach that doesn't serve you too much.

So how can we become more optimistic?

One of the tricks to changing your thought process from negative to positive is that you cannot try to be too happy.

In order to truly be happy, you have to stop trying so hard.

Instead of thinking about whether or not you are happier yet, be more engaged in things and fully present in the moment.

When you get fully immersed in something, it will help distract you from your negative thoughts.

Another trick to becoming more positive is to adjust your attitude.

Look for quick distractions to help you when you continue to have the same negative thoughts.

Try an activity that will demand all of your attention. Exercise classes such as yoga or kickboxing can be a great way to distract yourself. Exercise will help improve your attitude by releasing endorphins, or "happy hormones," into your body that can improve your mood overall.

One of the secret weapons of optimistic people is their ability to reframe problems.

When it comes to becoming more optimistic, it is about learning to reframe problems as they arise. Instead of beating yourself up when things go wrong, reframe it so that you're more compassionate and forgiving to yourself.

For example, if you are alone at a party and thinking that you are boring and no one wants to talk to you, try thinking about where the host of the party is and wondering why they have not introduced you to any of the guests.

While this method of looking for a scapegoat is not something a true optimist would do, it will give you a different outlook on the situation and can help you to find other solutions to the issue as you realise that you are not entirely to blame.

Of course, you are always 100% responsible for your life and you can't really push the onus to other people or situation. But for optimistic starters, it's a nice trick to alleviate most burdens you've been carrying for so long.

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Positive Thinking Meditation: Endorphin Meditation with Positive Affirma...

Take a few moments out and enjoy this meditation

Beat Pessimism Hands Down

Pessimism is a word used by people who are afraid of putting positive efforts for a thing or a task. The negative attitude plays supreme in the character where the individual finds everything impossible and out of order. Pessimism makes the individual hesitant to take up a job and the common symptom happens to be the difficulty in achieving the work done. It is effectively the strongest lacuna to achieve success. If you think in negative before you start a job you can never be successful in the particular task. Hence, you need to change the attitude of negative thinking so that you do not become the victim of failure.

Pessimism builds evil nature and individuals suffering from such nature are harmful to society because they would never let things to progress and practically become barriers in the development of individual career or in the growth of the community as well. If you are of the same nature, you will also not like to do a thing perfectly and simultaneously the career suffers due to the flaw in the thinking process. Get out of the line of thought and engage in building self-confidence and believe in it.

If you are strong from within, you will be easily able to transform the mindset in your favor and do things perfectly well. It is just the feeling that you produce, which is most important in career building. You can do everything in a perfectly grand manner and enliven the great possibility of self active nature. You will do extremely well and be able to cut across the net of pessimism, which is a disease of negative nature. Take valid steps to change the mindset and feel that whatever things others can achieve, you will also be able to achieve. Grow this feeling in you to become successful and beat pessimism hands down.

Source

Critical Optimism | Sophia Brueckner | TEDxUofM

What's the most valuable insight in this talk?

The Importance of Being an Optimist

In this world it is said that there are two completely different types of people. There is the optimist who always tries to look on the bright side of life. Then there is the pessimist who always takes a negative view on proceedings. But it does not mean that you have to be either one or the other, you could have different feelings towards different situations.

I know from personal experience that sometimes I can look at things in a positive manner. Then there are times when I look at things in a negative way. I have a little saying that helps out sometimes and I hope it will help you too. Think of this mantra any time that you're feeling down and out, I can assure you it helps.

Always assume that things will turn out for the best until it is proven not to! Keeping a positive attitude goes such a long way and keeps your spirits up. This also increases your chances of achieving a successful outcome in whatever it is that you're looking to do. I can tell you this based on both personal experience and studies conducted to back up this point.

I believe that we can influence results by the way we feel at the time. That is to say that if we think negative thoughts all the time then there is quite a good chance that negative things will happen.

There is a premise that we tend to end up with whatever we spend our energies on. If this is true then why would we spend all our time focusing on negative things? We would be far better off thinking of positive thoughts instead. Our time is a precious commodity that we should not let go to waste by thinking negative thoughts all the time.

I am not saying that everything will always work out as long as we think positive. Sometimes things do go against you but that is just life I'm afraid.

If we continue to moan about how bad things are then we will just get bogged down all the time. We should just try to put the negative feelings to the back of our minds and just try not to give up on things so easily.

There is no point whatsoever in fretting about things that might not even happen in the first place. Try to remain positive and you will be much closer to achieving the things that you want to in life.

Source: 

Be Optimistic

Is this good advice?

What Is Optimism? The Power of Positivity

Oh the wonderfully optimistic, how happy they are. Well, until their optimism fails, then they don't tend to be very optimistic do they? So what is optimistic, really? Optimism is more than the "glass half full" approach to life, though that does have a bit to do with it.

What Optimism Is Not

Optimism is not a blind faith that everything is fine. Optimism is not a ditzy naïve view of the world. Optimism is not a bad thing. Being an optimistic person does not mean you don't understand the gravity of a situation, or that you are missing the bigger picture. It is not an unchangeable view that the glass is not only half full, but will never run out. Because eventually, it might.

What Optimism Is

Optimism is the most positive outlook on a situation. It is an attitude, an angle from which to view the world. Nothing more, nothing less. People that are often perceived as "optimistic", that are always saying everything will be fine are not optimistic, they are naïve. Everything is not always fine, but looking at a situation from the most positive angle possible often produces the most positive results. The true optimist says, "Yes, this is bad. Really bad, but what can we do about it?". You are acknowledging the gravity of the situation, but you also acknowledge that you cannot fix everything so you look at those things you can fix and make the best out of a bad situation. Sometimes the only thing about a bad situation that you can change is your own attitude towards it. This is important. Your attitude controls all that you do and how you perceive the world. Some people will dwell for years over things they cannot change, things of the past. An optimist looks at the world from a slightly different perspective, like getting the chance to see something from the ground and then from the sky. It's all the same stuff, but can look so much different, you might even see patterns you never guessed were there. Those "patterns" in life open doors, and allow an optimistic mind to be at peace with itself. An optimistic attitude can also lead to a great success after a supreme failure, when most others would have given up hope and stopped. Optimists accept mistakes and make the best out of them and do not worry about what they cannot change, only work around it.

Most people think of optimism and pessimism as the "glass half full, glass half empty" way of life. While those are basic characteristics of those viewpoints, it doesn't define them very well. The views of an optimist and a pessimist are direct opposites, and those personalities do not often work well together. So what does define the difference between optimism vs. pessimism? No matter what remember that motivation matters when it comes to being optimistic.

Source

The Power of Optimism | Man on the Street

What does optimism mean to you and what challenges do you have when trying to be optimistic?

Leadership and Power

Leadership, for many, means power - power over the actions of others, power over the direction of the business, power over conversations and decisions, power over results. As people climb the corporate ladder and gain power, they begin to use it more and more to influence the results that they want. And then one day, if they are lucky, or if someone cares enough to help them learn it, they learn about the paradox between leadership and power. Exerting power does indeed influence results, but the impact is negative. Those who want to become successful leaders for the long term find that they essentially have to make a choice between leadership and power, between control and results. A recent study by Leigh Plunkett Tost from University of Washington, Francesca Gino from Harvard and Richard P. Larrick of Duke takes a much closer look at the negative impact of power on achieving results and leading teams. Their research uncovered many negative impacts of power including the two related points below taken directly from their research:

• Power leads individuals to dominate social interactions and to engage in greater amounts of talking, which inhibits input from others.
• Leader power decreases perceptions of leader openness and diminishes team performance.

Essentially, what they learned from their research is that leaders who try to direct the outcome of a situation end up influencing the outcome to the point that they cause it be less successful. In our effort as leaders to drive results, we can easily end up driving the wrong ones. Teams that listen to all of the available ideas, communicate effectively and work collaboratively come up with better solutions. As leaders using position power, we make a mess of that successful process. This doesn't mean that we have to be power hungry dictators with evil intentions to compromise the team's efforts. It's often done with the best of intentions in mind. 

Usually we just want to help the team get to a great solution and, naturally, we have an idea what that great solution should look like or we probably wouldn't have the job of leading that team. The problem comes when we help too much by dominating the conversation, exerting our influence or not listening well enough to competing ideas. We have to remember that as the leader, people see our ideas as having more authority, more experience behind them and, because we are the boss, are the most likely to be implemented. Most people jump on the boss's idea bandwagon pretty quickly and abandon the competing, and sometimes more effective, solution. People like being on the side of the winning solution. So if we want to help the team, or even an individual, reach the best solution, and we don't want to influence the process to the point of destroying it, what do we do? Well there are many ways for us to guide others without imposing our will. For starters try these:

• Ask open-ended questions that don't convey your preferences or ideas. Things like "what will help us solve this problem effectively and also prevent it from happening again?" "What if there were no limits to money or time, would we think about this differently?" "Who has thoughts that we haven't heard yet on this subject?"





• Challenge them if they are settling for an easy fix or a quick but less than optimal approach. Use questions like "have we considered all of our possible options here?" Or "who else might have some information or experience we need to make the best decision on this subject?" These kinds of interactions also position us as someone who cares about the best solution and not the one we come up with on our own.


• Push the group to come up with great solutions or ideas and then support the ones they settle on. If you end up changing their ideas into your own version of their ideas it simply tells them that next time it doesn't matter what they think, you're going to do what you want anyway. If that happens, count on solving most of the problems your self from here on out.

As leaders we have the power to help others become their best. We lose that when we want them to simply duplicate our best. We work hard to hire, coach, train and develop people who can help our organization move into it's better future. Let them do that. Let them do it with all of the energy and engagement that they can muster and understand that your leadership enables them, your power competes with them.

Source:

How to understand power - Eric Liu

How do you think power is used in your work situation?

What Is Your Leadership Style?

The study of leadership is certainly not a new one, and there are almost too many theories to count. A quick internet search, however (psychology.about.com), identifies that most of the different leadership theories that have emerged over the years can be classified into a handful of major types:

"Great Man" Theories
Trait Theories
Contingency Theories
Situational Theories
Behavioral Theories
Parcipitative Theories
Relationship Theories/Transformational Leadership
Management theories/Transactional Leadership.

There are various theories and models listed under each type, and they're well worth looking into. The style of leadership you adopt can either be a success or a failure, depending upon a myriad of factors: what works with one personality in one environment may not work in the next. Understanding the theories listed above (and any others floating around out there) can help you clarify what you believe to be true about leadership, and how you might best approach your own leadership development.

Within any of these theories, however, the individual leader and his or her preferences also need to be taken into account. In addition to the leadership theories that have been studied, there are also many leadership "styles" listed in the literature. Again, a quick internet search identifies some of the more common ones discussed:

Autocratic or Authoritarian Leadership
Participative or Democratic Leadership
Laissez-Faire Leadership
Servant Leadership
Transactional Leadership
Transformational Leadership
Situational Leadership

Again, these appear to be some the most prominent; but there are other leadership styles identified in the literature that would be worth researching for yourself. I've included these ones in particular for two reasons: one because they seem to have the most written about them; and two because these are the styles I see most often in my own leadership coaching practice.

Unfortunately I see examples of Authoritarian Leadership more often than I'd like; where the leader makes decisions unilaterally and often unfairly. And outside of military or paramilitary organizations, this never works. The other styles listed can be more or less effective depending on the environment, culture, and people involved; and you'd be wise to know the difference.

Transformative Leadership is one of the more contemporary styles to be identified, and is often touted as one of the most effective. It is about inspiring others and sharing a greater vision. This type of leadership is great, of course; but it's often best balanced by a Transactional Leadership style based on role compliance and incentives for achievement. Of the styles listed above, my own bias falls toward Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership; where the leader is able to adjust his or style in response to the unique situation or task at hand.

So what is your leadership style?

Source:

Ten Leadership Theories in Five Minutes

A rapid blitz on leadership theories. Which theory do you think is most accurate??

How To Develop Good Leadership Skills

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. The skills of a leader can developed in any individual who is willing to learn these skills. Granted that it might take some people more time to develop these skills, but it is not impossible to be trained in leadership skills to enhance business or character.

An individual can take several programs to develop the capability to lead others effectively. Learning various aspects of leadership skills development, like leadership training, leadership coaching, and especially work shadowing can enable any individual to be a successful leader.

A good and successful leader is required to have good confidence, listening skills, and effective interpersonal communication. A trainer will focus on these aspects while also helping you improve your overall character. Different individuals have different requirements in a leadership skills program. Good trainers will evaluate the individual's profile, draw up a good 'action' plan and hone in on his needs and personality.

Even though different people might need different training programs to develop leadership skills, there are similar objectives and manners in which trainers concentrate. Some focus more on enhancing confidence, while others sharpen the individual's listening and speaking skills.

Some skills take a lifetime to develop and refine until they become perfect. This can be acquired by learning to handle different situations in the appropriate manner, wherein the various leadership abilities that one has learnt come to play. A trainer can help you hone and enhance these skills so that you can handle these situations with ease and in the process, move a step closer to becoming a good leader.

Leadership skills training programs are usually conducted in sessions or group seminars. These programs are conducted in groups to enhance your communication skills in front of an audience, and also, to eradicate stage fear and develop good interpersonal speaking and listening skills. Practical learning is the key to become a good leader. Real- life exercises, like delivering prepared speeches, impromptu speaking etc are vital elements that are included in training.

Keep in mind, that after finishing a course in leadership skills, it is important to keep refreshing the learned skills and their valid application. All good courses function to achieve certain objectives and aim to develop an individual's confidence as he prepares to take on new and challenging roles and responsibilities.

Source:

Steve Jobs Leadership Skills Breakdown - How To Motivate People

Is having a vision a skill or a quality? What about your ability to communicate?

Leadership Qualities List - Top 10 Qualities Of A Good Leader

I've put together this leadership qualities list because I feel it is very important for anyone aspiring to lead people to success to know and understand the exact type of person that people consciously and unconsciously desire to follow. Pay attention to how a lot of these characteristics fit together and impact the others.

I've been on a personal mission to master these qualities to achieve greater success within the network marketing industry; however the characteristics on this leadership qualities list will apply to great leadership in all areas of life.

Self-confidence & Belief- I feel this is the most important trait on this leadership qualities list, because without it most of the other qualities on the list wouldn't be possible. If you don't yet believe in yourself, begin to change the way you feel through the use of positive affirmations and incantations every day.

It is only when you have self-confidence that other people will begin to follow you. If you don't believe me, ask yourself if you would follow someone who was unsure of themselves?

Self-Awareness & Self-Mastery- I like to refer to what I've learned is the "warrior awareness" to describe this trait, because you must truly be able to master your inner game.

This means that you must be able to control your mind, your thoughts, your feelings and desires at all times. This self-awareness and mastery is essential especially in times of conflict or confrontation. The best way to gain control when your mind or emotions start to take over is to breathe deeply.

This is #2 on the leadership qualities list because you will often have to deal with people or situations that would make someone who's not in control of their mind and feelings absolutely curl up and die. Also, it's essential to master this to maintain your focus so that you can accomplish everything that must be done in a leadership position.

Patience- This quality will grow much stronger only after you've truly mastered yourself. When you can control your emotions and thoughts, you will be able to maintain patience even in the most stressful situations.

You often hear the phrase "patience is a virtue", and this is very true. Having patience will allow you to be more understanding of another's situation or position, which will ultimately allow you to better lead that person toward their goal.

Understanding & Empathy- Notice how this leadership qualities list ties together. Having patience will allow for better understanding and empathy towards a team mates thoughts, feelings, situation, etc... Only when you truly understand someone can you truly help that person. Reason being there is no 1 solution that is the fix-all. We cannot use the "Duct-Tape method" when it comes to fixing people's problems.

Attentiveness- This leadership qualities list would not be complete without this important trait. Gaining "warrior awareness" will lead to you paying close attention to everything going on around you in the moment. It is only what is happening right here and now that is important for everything to move forward, especially when you're dealing with people. If you're un-attentive you'll never be able to have a true understanding of what your team needs to succeed. This is also going to play into the power of influence, because you will not be able to influence a person without knowing what they really need.

Integrity- I almost can't put a rating on any one trait in this leadership qualities list, because they all are equally important. You would be able to lead people and become successful, but if you want to maintain your position for an extended period of time you'll have to gain your team's trust. You must do things for the over-all good of the team and not just think about yourself or the here-and-now. Sure you can make a quick buck in network marketing or any form of sales if you don't care about others, but it will never last.

Decisiveness- This is perhaps 1 of the easiest and most difficult qualities to master. The leadership qualities list wouldn't be complete without decisiveness. You must possess all 9 of the other qualities in order to achieve this trait, or at least to effectively be decisive.

Pay attention to that last sentence, because you can be decisive and reckless at the same time. A leader can and will make decisions quickly based on intuition, and will usually sticks with that decision long enough to know if it was a good decision or not.

If you're someone who takes weeks to make a 50 cent decision, opportunity will certainly pass you by.

Takes Initiative- Once you've made a decision in your mind the next step would be to take action. A leader is willing to take initiative with a total uncertainty of success or failure. Again this doesn't mean that you should be reckless, but you must be willing to lose some battles in order to learn how to win bigger battles.

Taking initiative also means that you don't procrastinate in all areas of your life. Followers sit back and wait for the leader to tell them it's safe to take the action. What do you want to be?

Responsibility- Nearing the end of this leadership qualities list is responsibility. You alone are responsible for your success, and when you understand this and can admit to yourself and others when you're not doing what is required, you'll be able to push harder and further to achieve greater success. That being said, you're only partly responsible for the success of your team. You can show them the way, but if they choose not to follow your path, they are responsible for their failures.

Power of Influence- This power is not to be used immorally, which is why I've waited until now to add it to the leadership qualities list. Having a deep desire to truly help other people become successful will increase your power of influence greatly. People can sense if you're someone who wants to help them or not. Therefore the power of influence can only be harnessed after you are able to understand people at their core, and show them that you care about what happens to them.

When you have harnessed the awesome power of influence by developing this awesome leadership qualities list within you, you will not have to convince people to do anything or buy anything. They will simply take action because they desire to.

In closing, take note that it's important for you to begin with self-mastery, so that you have the mindset and control to properly develop the rest of the qualities on this leadership qualities list. It's also essential to develop all of these qualities in order to become a leader. Lastly I want to mention that the power of influence will develop naturally as the other qualities become greater. Work through developing these qualities or characteristics in order, and you'll truly become a great leader.

Source: 

7 Essential Qualities of All Great Leaders

Are there any qualities that you think should be added to Brian's list?

Leadership Skills - Are Leaders Born Or Made?

What leadership skills do the most successful people posses? Are leaders born or made? The age old nature or nurture debate takes centre stage. Regardless of location or culture, the list is similar: Respectful, Deals well with stress, Perceptive, Optimistic, Professional, Inspirational, Embraces change, Team player, Team builder, Sensitive, Not afraid to show and share emotions, Goal-setter, Equitable.

Now, picture someone you consider to be a leader. It may be Colin Powell, Mother Theresa, your 5th grade teachers, a parent, or the shop owner down the street. With delight, after this issue was drafted, Daniel Goleman's article popped up in the Sunday paper on just this subject. Uncanny? Perhaps. He found that hundreds of studies revealed that there are about 20 characteristics that distinguish the best leaders. Many are listed above. We tend to recognse leaders by their behaviours and attitudes and the way they carry themselves - over time and with different audiences.

In addition, leaders also seem to display a strong set of convictions, beliefs, and degree of authenticity. Are these people born with these qualities? Aside from a few random exceptions, the answer is absolutely not! All of the characteristics can be learned and developed. Everyone has an opportunity to be a leader somewhere in his/her life. What leadership qualities do you possess? Which areas could use a refresher course? How do you plan to get there? Some leads from the leaders.

1. Read books and listen to tapes
2. Attend Workshops
3. Hire a Personal Coach
4. Create a personal & professional goal plan
5. Get involved - Join an association. Volunteer
6. Develop new habits

There are many ways to develop your leadership skills. Find a combination and lead on! And never forget your sense of humor. ""Research shows that business leaders who achieve the best results get people to laugh three times more often than mediocre leaders." (Daniel Goleman - Could you be a Leader? June 16, 2002) 

Source:

Peter Senge: Are Great Leaders Born or Made?

Peter Senge is one of the world's though leaders in leadership. Are great leaders born or made? What do you think?

New and True Benefits That Self-Study Brings

Often, when we first set out on the path of self-study, we begin with unrealistic or just plain mistaken expectations about what it will do for us. The unconscious wish that fuels this early stage of self-study is simply to become a better "old" person, rather than to become a completely new person.

Perhaps we have visions of suddenly becoming capable of handling with ease any set of troublesome circumstances; or that our newly enlarged self-knowledge will enable us to control other people, or at least to no longer be bothered by what anyone does to us. We hope or believe that in this imagined self-mastery the universe will shower us with gifts such as money, relationships, and good fortune. Further, we may believe that these are the things we need to guarantee our future happiness. But can any of these exterior conditions deliver the inner contentment we want? No, they can't. See the following fact and let it reveal the path to higher and higher levels of inner freedom: even when these desires are fulfilled, they do nothing to expand the restricted world of our self. To the contrary, these trappings only tighten the secret grasp of the thought-self that now is strengthened in its belief in its own power. If we do what we call spiritual work for these "self"-ish reasons, we simply remain in our tiny world, seeking the ends that that world calls valuable. The only way out of that world is through self-study, which begins with showing us that devoting our lives to the never-ending agenda of the never-satisfied false nature will never lead us to lasting happiness.

When people approach their self-study with wrong expectations, they can quickly become discouraged when those expectations are not fulfilled. They then claim that self-study does not provide anything valuable in return for all the effort it requires, because it does not bring them what their minds tell them it should. Wanting only to feel good about themselves, according to their own worn-out ideas of what that means, they never enter into the realm of real self-study at all. Sadly, without knowing it, they close the door on a world that could have rewarded them beyond anything they even knew to ask for, which brings us to a surprising paradox along the path of self-study.

The purpose of our inner investigation is not to feel pleased with ourselves -- and certainly not to feel good about ourselves because of some new noble self-image as someone aiming to lead a better life. The true purpose of self-study is to invite something Good into our lives that then provides us with the unshakable goodness we were previously unable to give ourselves.

We can only benefit from self-study when we use it correctly for self-discovery -- and not just as one more ineffective attempt at self-creation. True self-study is not an exercise in confirming what has been, but an opening of ourselves to what is and to the always-becoming unknown. We can use it to illuminate the tiny world our false natures have held us captive in, allowing our discoveries to throw open the door to the larger world within that is our birthright.

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