Did you know that for most people, much of what they do in life was not consciously chosen by them? And many times we have done these things for so long they now do seem important to us, but deep down they really are not. At least not as important as what truly is deeply important. This is because doing so requires us to take command of our thinking and analyze the state of our life. But letting our minds just run things is easier, efficient and more comfortable.

And then there are those few that seem to be able to actively keep moving forward on their life path. Why? They allow their thinking to focus on their enlightenment, on how they think and act on a regular basis, not just once in a while. They are able to let their mind calm down and get quiet, allowing the chatter to fade away. They are willing to allow their fears, doubts and worries to be present in their thought, knowing that these thoughts can’t actually harm them - knowing that avoidance just postpones not
eliminate.

There are different reasons why we all don’t actively participate in our own personal enlightenment, but one of the main reasons is due to distraction. The human mind can actually do only one thing at a time, those of you that think otherwise are just good at rapidly switching from one focus to another. So what we choose to think about determines much of our life experience. In relation to distraction, when we think about is something that helps us feel comfortable or think we should be doing because of our life responsibilities we are not focusing on growth and self realization.

Now I’m not here to tell you what is and is not important in your physical life, but I know that you need to apply some of your time and attention to your inner growth which includes how you think and act. So what keeps you from doing this you may not even be aware of. Since it is normal for humans to seek happiness, which we equate to comfort, we tend to avoid uncomfortable thinking and feelings. And we do this in many ways, some are our daily activities. We may not be aware of how our daily activities can be getting the way of our growth and self-realization

Things you may do to avoid discomfort:

Listening to music
Listening to talk radio
Watching TV
Playing video games
Reading
Games
Hobbies
Cleaning
Tinkering
Socializing
Hold on! You say, “these are normal things.”

Yes they are, but they can all be used as a distraction. And only you can know what role they play in your life. Like anything, moderation is usually the best.

There are two situations you may be avoiding.

1)If you tend to go to any activity when you feel uncomfortable, you are probably escaping. Sure you will feel better doing something you are familiar with, but this behavior can just postpone what you are avoiding or even make it worse. What I’m referring to here relates to more discomfort than simple relaxation and enjoyment.

2)One of the biggest things you may be doing without knowing it is avoiding real thinking. This is when you are uncomfortable with allowing your mind to run through the incessant mind chatter, which shakes your worries and doubts in your face, to the point where your mind is clear.

Life requires balance, and what I have found is that for most, any self-growth is pushed into a small corner receiving only spare time attention - sometimes. Are you running in circles doing the same things each day and not seeing any change? Are you frustrated with your life? There could be an initial feeling of discomfort when you choose to allow yourself to think freely and not choose a distraction, but this will pass. Using methods of relaxation and meditation will help.

If you want more for yourself take a look at what you do and why you do it. Take a look at what you do everyday towards your own personal growth and development, to what you are doing towards self-realization.  Only you can know if you are using activities to avoid something that is actually more important. Choose to set aside time to just relax and think - this is how you can get in touch with your inner self on a more regular basis.

The choice of how you spend your time is yours and the result is your life experience.

John Halderman,
Tips and tools for daily personal growth, increased happiness and
self-discovery. http://www.effectivepersonaldevelopmentblog.com

When actually, it?s not a matter of finding out ?how? to have success in your life, but rather how and where to
direct your success. The problem is not, not being a success. The thing is you actually already are very successful every day, but maybe not at what you would like.

You are successfully living your life, your body is functioning and you are thinking about something every day, all day. Now if you weren?t having any thoughts at all, I would be concerned. And since you are thinking about something, you are receiving the fulfillment of those thought requests without fail.

The universe doesn?t fail itself, and since you are a part of it you will not be failed either. Just as a plant seed always gets what it requests, so do you. So then why don?t you get everything you think you want? You want it so you must be requesting it right.

Well, again you actually are getting everything that you are requesting. I know it seems like I?m taking you in a circle here but think about this for a moment, how do you know what a tulip has requested from the universe? Well, the tulip would not be a tulip if it had requested something else. The way to tell what has been requested is by the evidence that is present.

Now, a tulip can?t request anything else, it is programmed into the bulb exactly what it is to request from the all providing source. But you and I are a little different, we have two different aspects. One, like the tulip, your physical self, has been programmed much the same way through your DNA and this is just as automatic as with the flower. You don?t need to think to keep your body running as it was designed, including all your uniqueness.

Then, the other aspect you have is your mental capacity to reason, think and choose. Sure some other creatures have a little of this aspect but nothing like we do. A cat can decide to seek out a warm sunny spot to lay in, but it can?t learn a new trade or change the way it perceives things like you can. This second mental ability is one where you decide what is in the seed - your seed. You have the ability to design what the seed will request from the universe, let?s call it your ?creative seed?.

Now this part is important to understand, just like the tulip seed and your physical body, your ?creative seed? is always activated with the universe. This means the universe is constantly reading your request within your ?creative seed?, thus it is always responding in kind. Here is the scary part, your thoughts, all of them, are the ?creative seed? which is a continuous active request link to the intelligent universe. So everything you are thinking is your ?creative seed? whether you are or are not consciously aware of it.

This is why it is so critically important to make it your main objective all day every day to discover what you are thinking and adjust it to be congruent with that which best serves what you want in your life. When you may say that you want something, but all the while your inner thoughts are pointed elsewhere and your behavior is reinforcing something else, your ?want? doesn?t hold much weight in the request seen by the universe. Your predominant thoughts and actions are so strong; the universe can?t hear what you really want.

You are right now completely successful at what you have invested your thoughts and energies to, even if you are not totally aware of them. Your experience in life has a direct correlation to what you think about and feel strongly about most of the time. There is an exact relationship to the percentage of time you allot to any thoughts and your life experience.

So if you want to be successful at something other than what you are successful at today, you will need to devote a higher percentage of your thoughts, feelings and energies in ways that are more in alignment with these desires. Just occasional lip service will not do.

All of your thoughts combined are what is included inside of your ?seed? that the universe works to fulfil for you. So ask yourself, ?How much of the volume or space in the seed is taken up with what I deeply want and how much of it is what I don?t want, don?t like, put up with or just complain about?? You are constantly creating this seed, and from this you are completely successful based on what?s in it.

To change this, you will need to take command of your everyday thinking, choose to have more of your thoughts, feelings and actions be congruent with your deep desires. Using your valuable thought time to complain, ridicule, doubt, worry, feel angry, resent someone, and many other negative type thoughts, just steal time you can be filling your ?seed? with what you really want. Plus, you will just get more in your life to complain, resent, worry about and all the rest - is that what you really want?

Some people have actually kept track, in time, of their thoughts all day long in order to discover what percentage of time they devote to certain ideas. With this you can discover what undesirable thinking you want to replace with the aligned thinking you want.

Take command of your thinking now by aligning more of your thoughts with your deepest desires, you will see your feelings and actions follow suit, then your life experience will too. Choose what you are successful at by redirecting the same tools and power you now use to get what you now have.
John Halderman