In some the Light shines brightly. We are attracted to these rare souls—we know their Light’s energy as our own Source. They make us feel alive and blessed. The Light within them brings peace, joy, and love.

In others, the Light is dim, overshadowed by darkness. Many things dim the Light: negative thoughts; destructive emotions like anger, hate, pride, fear, greed, and desire; ignorance; destructive ideologies; limiting beliefs. Repelled by this primitive energy, we find ourselves resisting their presence, preferring not to subject ourselves to this field.

Our journey is about learning to allow the Light within us to shine brightly. Simple to say yet difficult to do, representing a lifetime of inner work:

1. Learn about your shadow so you’re not ruled by it. Notice when you’re projecting your shadow onto the world. When you’re upset because a friend is being stubborn, examine the stubbornness within yourself. The shadow is at work when we’re harboring resentments and grievances toward others.
2. Utilize techniques that help transcend negative emotions that lay deep in the shadow. Techniques like emotional releasing and the Emotional Freedom Technique, and programs like the 12 Steps and A Course in Miracles can be tremendously helpful.
3. Align with spiritual Truths. Notice that I didn’t say religious values. Spiritual Truths are universal, not restricted to ecclesiastic doctrines or scriptural teachings. Spiritual Truths include kindness toward others, forgiveness, gratitude, unconditional love, and surrendering to a Higher Power.

There’s no need to seek the Light; it’s always there. We need only uncover it, to step out of the shadows and let the Light shine forth.

Related posts:

1. Five Powerful Practices for a Happy Life
2. Approaching Spiritual Work
3. On Negative Emotions

We say we want one thing; but we do and act to the contrary.

We want financial stability, but we spend beyond our means.

We want to live longer, but we consume unhealthy foods and drinks in excess, rarely listening to our bodies’ needs.

We want to grow our businesses, yet we take short cuts, putting our immediate bottom-line wants above the quality of our delivery or the feedback we receive from our customers.

We want greater peace of mind, yet we stack one commitment or activity upon another, complicating life unnecessarily.

We contradict ourselves all the time. We do not perceive our own best interests.

“Not perceiving our own best interest” can be a frustrating truth, one that requires inner honesty before we can accept it.

This course lesson also tells us, “In no situation that arises do you realize the outcome that would make you happy”—another tough pill to swallow. Honest reflection confirms the truth of this statement as well.

So what can we do about our contradictory nature?

The first step is to accept the truth: we don’t perceive our own best interests. Learning begins when we accept the fact that we don’t know what will make us happy. (This is not a small step. I recommend doing Lesson 24 in A Course in Miracles repeatedly until you can accept this truth.)

Awareness of our contradictory nature leads to internal and external adjustments. We become more flexible and less rigid. Instead of trying to control life, bending it to our will, we begin to flow with life, experiencing a greater sense of inner harmony, joy, and meaning.

Related posts:

1. On the Nature of Control
2. Seven Questions for Harnessing the Awesome Power of Today

Principle #1: Take Responsibility

Take responsibility for your decisions, your actions, and your life circumstances. When you take responsibility, you come from a position of power; if you don’t, you play the role of victim and limit your options and potential growth.

Our current “Me Culture” loves being sensitive, emotional, and playing the victim. By accepting and taking responsibility, you avoid the trap of projecting your upsets “out there.” Instead, you can take moral inventory when needed, alter your path when appropriate, and continue on your spiritual journey.

Principle #2: Avoid Being Judgmental

It has been said that judgment is a double-edged sword: when you strike the object of judgment you simultaneously strike yourself. As A Course in Miracles teaches, judgment is like using a ruler to measure water—it’s simply the wrong instrument. To effectively judge something, you would need to be omniscient.

And so, we must learn to let go of being judgmental, to stop trying to control other people, and allow things to be as they are. Doing so brings an unparalleled level of freedom and great compassion for others.

Principle #3: Practice Forgiveness

Our upsets are a consequence of how we’re seeing the world. In order to forgive an upset, we must find a way to see a situation differently than how we’re current seeing it. Easier said than done. Notice how the mind harbors resentments and resists letting them go.

Even if you intellectually understand that your upsets and grievances are only hurting yourself, it is still often difficult to let them go. If you’re seriously interested in exploring the pathway of forgiveness, I highly recommend the 365-day workbook program provided in A Course in Miracles.

Principle #4: Foster Love and Compassion

It seems like love and compassion “should” be our default position. And yet a litany of negative emotions like pride, anger, fear, guilt, shame, and apathy continually mask the experience of love and compassion. While love may be the default position for our beloved pets, as humans, we require rigorous practice and training in this area.

Many contemplative traditions provide instruction of how to foster compassion and loving kindness. From acts of selfless service to smiling at your heart, the practices vary widely but the intention is still the same: make a conscious decision to foster love and compassion within yourself.

Related posts:

1. Five Powerful Practices for a Happy Life
2. Honoring Others: The Power of Compassion
3. Six Principles for Effective Communication at Work

First, there is tamas, the quality of inertia, lethargy, and darkness. At tamas, life functioning is difficult as only the bare minimum is possible.

When one lets go of his or her resistances, tamas gives way to rajas, the level of activity, effort, and passion. Whereas at tamas, a person may be apathetic or simply lack the energy to take action, at rajas, the person is now fueled by motivation to improve his or her life. Here, there is a focus on both internal and external esteem needs.

Finally, the determination and dedication of rajas gives way to sattva, the state of being, harmony, and peace. At rajas, there’s a focus on material things: the car you drive, the size and location of your house, designer clothing, the latest technology, and so on. At sattva, the emphasis turns to who and what you are—and to experiencing a sense of balance, compassion, and peace.

Ultimately, all three qualities of consciousness are around us at all times. We can observe people and businesses stuck in tamas, seemingly unwilling or unable to grow and adapt, barely surviving. In others, we can notice an unquestionable drive to succeed in the world (rajas)—individuals committed to “making it to the top” and businesses focused on creating dominant market share. And in some individuals (but rarely in businesses) we can admire a state of balance and centeredness (sattva)—those that have transcended both rajas and tamas.

Perhaps you can even witness all three gunas within yourself—within different roles or Areas of Focus in your life and business.

When you observe resistance within yourself, say to completing a project or doing a household chore, the state of tamas is present. When driven by constant activity, rajas holds sway. When you enter a state of allowing—when things just seem to flow—you are in a sattvic state.

Become aware of these three qualities in your daily life. With greater awareness comes a greater range of choice. You will come to notice your resistances (tamas) more quickly, enabling you to transcend into rajas. Through the course of one’s inner evolution, sattva will begin to emerge on its own.

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1. Our Love for Busyness
2. Seven Qualities of an Effective Coach
3. Elevate Your Consciousness

The mind likes things as they are (even if it’s not happy with things as they are) and has sophisticated programming to ensure that they stay as they are. This programming, unfortunately, blocks us from our personal development and spiritual growth.

To circumvent the mind’s programming, we need only ask ourselves a simple question: “Where am I being dishonest with myself?” To give this process more focus, you may ask this question in the context of each area of your life.

For example, you can look at your finances. Signs of a lack of integrity with your finances include spending more than you earn, running up credit card debt, and not saving effectively for the future.

A lack of integrity with one’s relationships can manifest in not telling the truth (not “being real” with your friends or loved ones), playing games, or avoiding confrontation or difficult issues that are slowly draining your energy.

Looking at your business, are there areas where you don’t honor your word or agreement? Are there areas of your business where you know you’re cutting corners?

It can often be difficult to notice when our integrity is out of check. Again, the mind is sneaky; inner honesty is required. Do you, for example, have a project or a creative endeavor you’ve always wanted to do but have always found an equally justifiable excuse not to do it? When you identify your excuses and lack of commitment in a given department, it’s time for an integrity check.

Taking personal inventory of the various areas of your life can be an enlightening process. When you consciously own the places where you’re misaligned, you instantly put yourself on the road to higher integrity. Safe travels.

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1. Integrity in Business
2. A Sign of Integrity
3. Four Signs That Your Brand Has High Integrity

Consciousness is your primary—and only—capital. Your consciousness—your sense of presence—defines what you are. Without consciousness, all the money in the world is meaningless (as there’s no one to spend it).

Psychiatrist and consciousness researcher David R. Hawkins, author of the bestseller Power vs. Force, explains that consciousness is the hidden determinant of all human behavior. Consciousness is stratified into levels like a step-down transformer where higher levels have more energy than lower levels. Every level of consciousness has an energy field aligned with specific qualities like dominant emotions, world views, views about God, attitudes, and belief systems.

These energy fields hold varying levels of power. Some energy fields are life affirming: courage, willingness, acceptance, reason, love and joy. Others energy fields are destructive: shame, grief, apathy, fear, anger and pride.

The single greatest thing you can do in your lifetime is to elevate your consciousness. Elevating your consciousness will intrinsically change how you perceive the world and positively-impact everyone around you (even if you don’t notice it).

How do you elevate your consciousness?

Live by basic spiritual dictums:

• Be kind to everything and everyone, including yourself
• Revere all life in all its forms
• Approach life with humility
• Devote time to something greater than yourself—your family, a loved one, humanity or divinity.

Hawkins provides a list of ten tried-and-true basic tools to help advance one’s consciousness in his book, Transcending the Levels of Consciousness. You can also review all ten spiritual tools here.

Related posts:

1. Three Qualities of Consciousness
2. Power versus Force in Business

I’m not suggesting that you escape and hide from technology or the internet; the digital wave has its place in modern life. But you don’t always have to ride the wave. You can choose to let a few waves pass you by.

Instead, swim out to calmer waters, past the digital mayhem, sit, and be still. Let nature’s current guide you. Listen carefully to the silence. You can learn more from this primordial silence than you’ll ever learn mindlessly racing around in the digital world.

Then, when you’re more centered and wise, ride the next wave—if you choose.

If you engage with technology from a grounded perspective, your experience of the digital wave will be radically different. The wave won’t have such a strong hold on you. You will no longer be pulled in the direction of the current, unable to make effective, meaningful decisions.

Now, you’ll ride the wave with a sense of nonattachment, engaged with the wave, but not at the effect of the wave. Herein lies your freedom, as David R. Hawkins says, to be in the world, but not of it.

Related posts:

1. Dying Virtues in the Digital Age
2. The Digital Addiction
3. Sacred Mornings Sans Technology

But there’s an inherent flaw in this pervasive belief system as Watts points out: “It should be obvious that action without wisdom, without clear awareness of the world as it really is, can never improve anything.” And sitting still can lead to greater awareness and a heightened understanding of the nature of things.

Wisdom, arising from introspection and personal discovery, is difficult to attain in an age wired for speed and the accumulation of information. Wisdom, like sitting still, is elusive in the digital age. Corporations make decisions based on the short term, often overlooking long-term consequences. Individuals hold ideologies and take actions without first clearly evaluating and apprehending what’s in the common Good of all.

We’ve heard it said that wisdom comes with age. Without conscious intention and effort—without fostering the capacity for sitting still—we grow older but not wiser.

Make a practice of sitting still on a daily basis. Wisdom will ripen through this powerful practice.

Related posts:

1. The Zen of Business
2. Riding the Digital Wave
3. Whatever You Do, Don’t Wobble

Psychiatrist David R. Hawkins’ consciousness research illuminates the truth about desire. Desire, according to research, is only useful for the unmotivated, apathetic person who lacks the necessary energy within him to take action.

The reality is that most people pursuing goals, personal development, and self-growth—the higher needs on Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs—are already self-motivated.

For us, desire actually tends to block the manifestation of our goals. Why? Desire represents a destructive level of consciousness governed by a weak energy field. Think about what a truly starving person is willing to do to get food. Animalistic urges and primal programming run desire. These impulses don’t bring out the best in the human condition.

We need not feel guilty about having desires—they are innate to our humanness. Harnessing the energy of desire for the attainment of our goals, however, is counter-productive.

We all have had the experience of really wanting/desiring something, but giving up on it, only to see it materialize in our lives. The job or the relationship we wanted presented itself when we let go of the desire for it. And this is key: Identify what you want, but then let go wanting it. It may sound paradoxical, but try it and see what happens.

Here are a few things you can do to help transcend desire:

1. Let go of wanting what you desire by realizing that you’re okay if you have it and okay if you don’t.
2. Release your resistances around desire itself. A book like Patricia Carrington’s The Power of Letting Go can be a helpful guide.
3. Come from a place of gratitude for what you have now. The energy of desire masks gratitude so we forget that we are complete and total at every moment.
4. Instead of vilifying desire, identify and accept its presence as part of ancient programming. With total acceptance, you’ll find that you won’t be run by it anymore and will naturally begin to let it go.

You don’t need desire to attain goals or realize inner growth. Simply set your intention on what’s important to you and get out of your own way.

Related posts:

1. Goal Setting Revisited

Why should I need to be nice, considerate, gracious, or supportive to these people? After all, they are paid to do a job so that’s what I need them to do!

Yes, employees and contractors are being financially compensated for the work they are hired to do, but there’s a good reason to offer positive recognition and honor your team members as human beings. You’ll find that graciousness raises the quality and standard of people’s work. People will do more and better quality work when they feel they are being respected and appreciated—when they know they matter.

There’s another benefit to honoring humans as humans: Your work and interaction with others becomes more positive and uplifting. A positive work environment raises the entire field—everyone benefits. A destructive work environment where people are viewed as automatons produces lackluster results (and isn’t much fun either).

Honoring others is an inner choice available to each of us in every moment. We may slip up from time to time, get self-involved, and forget how our moods and attitudes affect others. That’s okay. We’re human. Once we notice our negative mental state, we can take a deep breath, go for a quick walk, cool off, and readjust. Compassion for others requires compassion for ourselves.

Judgment is a double-edged sword. When you judge another, you end up striking yourself. Judgment is the ego’s default position. It’s easy to be judgmental and critical of others. Compassion takes willingness, effort, and training.

Compassion in the workplace, where each person honors each other, helps breed trust and lays the foundation for effective team building and open communication.

When you’re having trouble being compassionate toward a co-worker try this: Look at him and silently acknowledge that he has a difficult life (like the rest of us), filled with challenges at home and work. Realize that, yes, this person has defects in his personality (like the rest of us), but he is doing the best he can. Socrates noted over 2,300 years ago that man can only do what he perceives to be the Good.

Compassion and judgment are opposites. At all times, you are feeding one or the other. One destroys communication and creates a negative work environment; the other leads to trusting, empowered relationships. Which will you choose?

Related posts:

1. The First Stop Toward Building an Effective Team
2. Five Habits of Highly Effective Team Leaders
3. Do you run an Enlightened Business?