It’s always a paradox.

For example:

You don’t need to know right now because you will see when you need to know. And, if it is time for you to know right now, then do the uncomfortable work of getting clear and knowing.

There is always a truth that meets you where you are, and you are always somewhere different.

Growth is not linear, clean, comfortable, or standardize-able. It is dynamic, messy, uncomfortable, and completely unique and individual.

If you want to give yourself, other people, your organization, or your community space to grow, the number one skillset you need to cultivate is the ability to hold space for the unpreferrable and uncontrollable. If you can learn to allow yourself and others to be uncomfortable, frustrated, confused, or any other sort of emotional as things change, you will be able to see almost anything through.

People, ourselves included, don’t always see the benefits of growth that are waiting for us. Part of our job in holding space can also be to remind people of the big picture by continuing to envision it.

Progress is unpredictable. What if you gave up control and instead practiced trusting the process?

When you are at the edge of what feels easy and comfortable, you are really getting started. Everything else was just the warm-up.

The warm-up may take the majority of the time, and the time spent in the breakthrough zone may be a fraction of the warm-up duration, yet your next level of growth is likely past what your mind considers your edge.

What if your mind’s resistance point is the beginning of your purpose?

There is something that comes naturally to you that doesn’t come as naturally to others and also contributes to others. This thing is part of your genius.

Imagine if you spent just a bit more time being intentional about bringing your genius to life. What structures might you put in place? What might you practice? What else might you take into consideration or share?

The world is in need of more of your unique magic, and with just a little more effort, you can play a significant role in making that a reality.

What would it take to gift yourself some more time to support your inherent brilliance?

Work is meant to be a wonderful thing, not a dirty thing, and there are all different types of valuable work.

The grind and hustle culture of “work” these days can certainly be harmful, yet as human beings, we are meant to spend much of our time contributing to one another. When we can shift our context of work from taking and hoarding for ourselves to contributing to the world as a way to take care of ourselves and others, the discipline of showing up and going above and beyond our lower personalities’ desires is extremely rewarding and fulfilling. This is why we are designed to do it.

Whether you receive money for your work as an employee, entrepreneur, or artist or you do unpaid work at home or for others, it is likely that your happiness will skyrocket when you remember that you get to work; you don’t have to. And if you are currently working on something that feels like it undermines the human experience, remember, you are not trapped. You are free to make a change.

How might your day feel different if you shifted to being grateful for the opportunity we have to serve and contribute to one another each day?

The joy we seek, whether it’s the quiet joy of every-day life, or the unignorable joy of the extraordinary, will reveal itself to us when we take our focus off of adding more stuff in, and instead practice eliminating the things that make us feel heavy, dull, and scattered.

When we are willing to experiment with releasing habits, patterns, beliefs, and vices that that block our vibrancy, our natural wellness and contentment will start to emerge. Happiness is part of our natural state and it will come more to the forefront of our experience when we let go of our distractions, forcing ourselves to focus on what truly matters.

Joy does not live in the energy-draining hustle towards something outside of ourselves. It dwells in the life-giving practices of presence and meaning.

What might you be willing trt letting go of that you had previously thought was essential to your happiness?

Your power to create your life has everything to do with your relationship with distraction.

Distractions will always grab your attention. The discipline is in how much or how little energy you give them once you notice them. The more powerful your goal is, the more plentiful the distractions will be; both internal and external.

When you use the appearance of a distraction as a signal to refocus rather than an opportunity to abandon your commitment, you are gifting yourself the freedom to create.

What are you giving too much energy to, that you could simply move attention away from?

Each time you choose to perceive your current circumstances, the present moment, and what may or may not unfold in the future as portals to your expansion and fulfillment, you are aligning yourself with the creative energy available to you.

Nothing is guaranteed, and so much more is possible than your mind can predict. Possibility lives in your willingness to trust that life reveals the most fulfilling path for you and your discipline to take action toward the next unknown portal.

You are designed only to grow and thrive long-term if you are willing to perceive it that way.

To know what you want, you need to spend time with you.

If you spend time with the Internet, you’ll know what the Internet wants for you.

If you spend time with your friends, you’ll know what your friends want for you.

Make sure you’ve got space to spend time with you so you can listen for, be curious about, and know what you actually want.

Seeing both sides and holding space for two seemingly conflicting ideas can sometimes be a radical practice. It often feels more complex or vulnerable to create space for both rather than the simplicity of choosing a side.

The pressure to choose "either-or" can be unhelpful and isn't even really a proper choice, which would require three or more options to be available. The burden we take on when we believe we need to decide between two things, which means we cut the other thing off, can block us from being the multifaceted, dynamic, creative, connecting, and healing people we are meant to be.

There is a time to know when to say "absolutely not" to something harmful. This is a powerful time to make a decision. Then, there is the richness and beauty of life that becomes available when we allow it to be a bouquet of different flowers instead of just one on its own.

If you feel the pressure to take one position and it doesn't feel right, be radical and hold space for something bigger.

I often experience guilt when I feel like I “should” be doing something I am not doing or “shouldn’t” be doing something I am doing.

As I learn new ways of working, living, loving, and contributing, I am letting my old “shoulds” go, so guilt often creeps into the space of the old shoulds. My practice is to replace this un-useful guilt with humble pride and appreciation that I am willing to grow and change, holding space for myself to be uncomfortable while I change.

Don’t let the discomfort of something new scare you into hiding behind guilt. Instead, could you use the sensations of discomfort to remind you to appreciate yourself enough to endure the transformation?

You do not need to waste your time scattering your energy to prove your worth. You are inherently worthy, and honoring your self-worth means saying no to many, if not most, things.

Consider what unique contributions you make that bring you fulfillment. Is it your attentive listening? Your intentional words? Your special brand of genius? Your deep-rooted passion or curiosity? Recognize and appreciate these personal contributions.

You are worthy of focusing your energy on what you give that fulfills you. Would you be willing to permit yourself to say no to everything else?

The point of knowing what you want is to stay clear on where you are going as obstacles inevitably arise, not to ensure a path without obstacles.

The newer the route you are traveling, the more obstacles there will be. Go around, over, through, or under; whatever is required. Just keep your focus on what you are doing, and you will astound yourself with how far you go and how strong you become along the way.

Might you experience more creativity and endurance if you keep refocusing from what you don’t want to what you want?

Forgiveness lets you decide how you use your energy in the present moment instead of letting someone else, something else, or the past decide for you.

You can forgive without agreeing, getting on board with, or condoning what happened. Once you forgive, you can retake ownership of your life and make it about the solutions you want to create versus the problems you can’t control.

How might your life change, and how might your life help change the world, if you went all in on what’s truly important to you by discerning yet forgiving?

To get great at something, you have to do it a lot and be totally willing to suck at it for a while.

To get better at something you are great at, you must also be willing to feel like you suck at it again because it is always awkward and uncomfortable to expand your capacity.

If you are committed to getting better even after getting great, that means new challenges await you. Getting great feels different than already being great. Don’t feel discouraged if you are in a learning phase. The feeling of a new level of excellence is on the way.

The point of playing a game is not to win or get to the end, it’s to play the game.

The point of living is to live. Today. Not someday when you get to Point B or have accomplished Thing X.

If you believe there’s another point to life besides living you’ll miss it.

How might life feel if you stopped complicating it?

Figuring it out is not a one time event. It is a moment-by-moment discipline to stay present and choose what we sense to be best right now. Sensing is the type of knowing that comes from the heart, not from the certainty the mind craves.

Figuring it out takes work because is requires us to become comfortable in the unknown. It might feel easier to “wait” until the one-time event when the whole path reveals itself, yet we’ll find ourselves waiting forever.

If you trust yourself to figure it out, there’s a chance you might not get exactly where you want to go, yet that’s better than missing the adventure.

You are the only one who can see exactly what you see from your perspective, so you need to let go of the need for other people to understand or agree with it- they can’t even see it.

The same is true in reverse. We are not meant to agree with one another fully. Your job is to gain as much clarity as possible from your unique perspective and then take wise action, knowing you are acting on what only you can see.

What would you do if you let go of others seeing it from your vantage point?

It only develops you if you go take action on it and experience moving through the (sometimes extreme) discomfort of integrating the learning into your body and life.

Anything else is just thinking about ourselves, which is nowhere near as valuable as we might like to believe it is.

Where is it time for you to shift from thinking to developing?

If you suddenly start to doubt yourself, it might not be a doubt at all. It could be someone else’s discomfort, disappointment, or fear disguising itself as your issue.

People have their agendas, which often don’t include you expanding out of the expectations and labels they have for you. Our job is to practice being present enough to discern when someone’s reaction to us is based on their aversion to discomfort instead of a response from their love for us. Then, we can offer compassion for everyone, freeing ourselves from spending our energy fighting a losing game.

Before you react to their reaction and create your life based on their agenda, could you check and see whose issue you are tending to?