There’s an old myth that holds a lot of people back. That myth is that if you don’t start off on the right foot, you are doomed for failure.
While starting on the right foot can be helpful, it is certainly not the only determining factor for success. In fact, it is not even the most important factor.
Far more important than how you start is how you finish.
History books are full of stories of people who seemed destined for failure, but somewhere along the way they turned it around and finished victorious. Every day, many times a day, individuals and organizations of all types are faced with what seem like insurmountable obstacles. But how they rise to the challenge is EVERYTHING.
The key to recognizing that every perceived obstacle as an opportunity in disguise is your choice of core energy. When I became serious about uncovering the roots of my own consistent frustrations and disappointments, I finally realized that there are two fundamental types of core energy: love and fear. When I examined the primary energy underneath any thought, feeling, word, or deed, I found love, fear, or some combination of the two.
Love is constructive and moves you forward. Fear is destructive and holds you back. Love is the author of truth and reality. Fear is the author of lies and illusion. At first, I didn’t always recognize them as love or fear because they didn’t always show up in my life with those specific labels. I found the terms to be nebulous, tricky, and easy to misunderstand. With awareness, persistence, and unflinching honesty, over time I was able to recognize love and fear masquerading under lots of other masks.
In trying to get a more concrete grasp on what constructive core energy might look like, I realized I understood its opposite, fear, much better because I had fueled myself with it for so long. With mindfulness and curiosity, I recognized that the many faces of fear could be synthesized into a four-part pattern that captured the most common guises in which fear showed up in my relationship with myself—contempt, judging, shame, and lack. I then employed one of my favorite writing technologies, the Microsoft Word thesaurus function, to find their opposites—respect, curiosity, compassion, and gratitude. With the help of the insight and clarity provided by those particular attributes of love, the light dawned, and I began to make real progress. Focusing on these four constructs helped me more easily answer the eternal question in every situation: “Is this what unconditional self-love looks like, and if not, what would bring me closer to that intention?”
The formula for making constructive core energy a way of life is simple to explain. In every situation, love yourself enough to pay attention to every aspect of your life. Respect everything you are experiencing—what you are thinking, feeling, deciding, saying, and doing. Determine whether the energy underneath is love or fear. If it’s love, you are probably on your authentic path. If it’s fear, demonstrate compassion for yourself. Foster gratitude by reminding yourself that everything is an opportunity. Then further neutralize the fear by bringing curiosity to bear. Explore every aspect of the situation, especially your internal landscape, and identify all of the opportunities available to you through this unique experience. As with any new skill, practice will help this way of being become a healthy new habit—your automatic response to every situation.
In summary, figure out what you want, understand whether it’s fueled by fear, transform any fear into love, set your intention, and then get ready to receive it, because it will happen.
Whatever your circumstances, love, respect, curiosity and compassion reveal and advance the highest good for all, in all, through all. And an attitude of gratitude fosters a life of generous, effortless, gracious flow filled with faith, hope, prosperity, peace and joy. Constructive core energy generates the optimal winner’s mix of discernment, perspective, flexibility, creativity, persistence and a whopping dose of humor.
Every time you encounter a seeming challenge, quiet your mind, relax your body, open your heart, connect with your soul, respect and release your fears, embrace love, set your intention and step boldly into your greatness. Whatever path you choose, you will always finish a winner.
What MINEFIELD will you transform into a GOLDMINE with a shift in your energy today?
Here are a few tips to help you in this process.
In your attempts—large and small—it’s essential that you give yourself wholeheartedly to the task at hand, knowing that you may not reach your goal on the first (or even fiftieth) time.
Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life! 