As we begin to go within and start to address the big issues, as we learn to love and to forgive, as we overcome our fears and learn to just say no, it becomes easier to create happier, more fulfilling lives.

But there will still be hurdles to overcome. The technology is not yet available that would make it possible for us to conquer our demons overnight. The process of growth in any endeavor can often seem like one step forward and two steps backward.

Sometimes I’m disconcerted when I look at my list of things I’ve wanted to accomplish. Six months ago I may have checked forgiveness off my list, only to find now that it’s back in my life again as an issue I have to deal with. It seems as though I have to start all over. But as I begin to examine it, I see how much the things I’ve previously done have helped.

Use your journal as an ongoing means of gauging how far you’ve come in terms of tackling some of your personal challenges.

Learn to be patient with yourself. Enjoy the process of inner growth for what it is—an ongoing opportunity to become the best we can become at all levels of our life.

Don’t push the river. Just let it flow.

To Your Success!
Dallas

www.dallasteague.com
www.makeyourbestimpression.com

Think of the troubles you could avoid and the stress you could eliminate if you made the decision to ignore a slight offense or a minor defamation, or an unintentional snub—or even an intentional one. Our reactions to the situations of our life are elective, and we get to do the electing.

The next time someone is flip with you, fail to notice it. It’s a choice. Or choose to laugh. (But do this later, on your own.)

This is not to say you should become a rug and let everyone walk all over you. But you may well find as you continue along your path that it’s much more exhilarating to keep your head clear for contemplating the big picture, and not to sweat the little stuff.

Ignoring an insult is a very effective way to keep from getting bogged down in someone else’s negative energy, or even in your own.

To Your Success!
Dallas

www.dallasteague.com
www.makeyourbestimpression.com

If he is your friend, he’ll understand, even if he might not be happy about it. If he’s not your friend, it doesn’t matter. If you have a hard time saying no, however, this will still be difficult for you. Practice. Role play, either on your own, or perhaps with your support group.

Remember, you’re taking responsibility for your life now, especially the time you need for your inner life. Take a close look at how much time you could save for yourself next week, if you started this week being honest with people by saying no to the things you don’t really want to do.

To Your Success!

Dallas

www.dallasteague.com

We don’t have to wait for nature to intervene. We can take responsibility for our lives and begin right now, today, to get rid of the things, and our attachments to the things that get in the way of our inner peace.

When you get right down to it, it’s surprising how little we need to be happy.

To Your Success!

Dallas

www.makeyourbestimpression.com
www.dallasteague.com

I encourage you to get out your list of fears and start passing it around. Who knows what might happen.

To Your Success!

Dallas

www.dallasteague.com
www.makeyourbestimpression.com

Set aside a couple of hours in the next few days, or take some time right now, to make a list of all the things you would like to do but haven’t done because you were afraid to. Be honest, and really think about this. No one else ever has to see this list but you.

What would your life be like if you left the town you grew up in to seek your fortune out in the real world, instead of staying home where everything is safe, cozy, and guaranteed? What would your life be like if you gave up the company job, and started your own business as you’ve always wanted to do?

What would your life be like if you quit the job you can’t stand and went back to school to get trained in a field you really love? What would your life be like if you got out of a relationship that wasn’t working, and created the space for one that would work for you?

You may be starting to realize that the things you want to do are the things you should be doing, even if the thought of doing them may be terrifying for you. They are things you came here to do and to experience and to be. Not doing them is holding you back from being the totally full and realized person you can be.

If you can’t energize yourself to do the things you fear, there are many seminars you can take and retreats you can attend that will provide you with an opportunity to do some seemingly terrifying feats—like walking across a bed of burning coals, or climbing to the top of a telephone pole and jumping off—that serve as metaphors for the real-life fears we all have to face.

Few things will liberate you faster and move you more quickly along your inner path than doing the things you fear.

To Your Success!

Dallas

www.makeyourbestimpression.com
www.dallasteague.com

This is easier to do in the heat of the moment if you’ve practiced it before the battle gets started.

Whenever you find yourself going through a particularly difficult time, make a point of taking five or ten minutes at the end of the day to practice detaching.

Perhaps you’ve had an argument with a coworker, or a disagreement with your spouse. As soon as you have the opportunity, sit quietly and do some work at the alpha level.

Imagine being back in that scene. See in your mind’s eye the inner you stepping away from the fracas and simply observing what’s going on. Run through the entire argument in your mind with the inner you not being part of it, simply watching from the sidelines.

If you do this consistently, not only will you find that it relieves some of the tension of the current problem you’re dealing with, but it will become an automatic response you can fall into when you find yourself in the fray again.

Detaching releases the tension, diffuses the negative energy, and helps you to see the insignificance of this event in the whole scheme of things. It also gives you a chance to see what lessons you might need to learn from this encounter.

To Your Success!

Dallas

www.dallasteague.com
www.makeyourbestimpression.com

Be prepared for the possibility that the first person you see won’t have all the answers for you. When I got into counseling several years ago, I made a couple of false starts with inadequate or inappropriate though well-intentioned therapists. I was lucky: I found the right person on the third try. Don’t hesitate to look around until you find a therapist you’re compatible with. You can’t get to the core issues without a basis of trust.

Compatibility isn’t the only consideration. You also need someone who’s competent and well trained. If you’re having trouble finding the right therapist, ask your friends and associates if they know from their own experience who is good. Interview several before you make a decision. Trust your intuition as to which one will work best for you.

Also, don’t be put off by the therapy jokes that say you’ll have to spend the rest of your life on the couch. If you’ve found a competent therapist, you should be able to get to the heart of your issues in a couple of sessions.

If you don’t get an “ah-ha!” or two fairly early on, think seriously about trying someone else. Once you have a clear understanding of the issues you have to deal with, then the real work begins, and it’s not unreasonable to expect to work closely with a good therapist for six months to a year.

Most of us have some kinks that can be straightened out more speedily with professional help than if we attempt our own therapy. Though it may be frightening at first, working with someone who is professionally trained to deal with our wounds and defenses is an effective way to eliminate outmoded patterns that no longer work.

Therapy is one of the many tools we have available today to speed us on our way to understanding ourselves. If you feel you need therapy, don’t put it off any longer. It can go a long way toward helping to free you up for the inner business you came here to complete.

To Your Success!

Dallas

www.makeyourbestimpression.com
www.dallasteague.com

It’ll be helpful to stay open to new interpretations of the world and how it might work. Often we get stuck in our current thinking because, like an old shoe, it’s so comfortable. Move out of your comfort zone from time to time, and keep an open mind.

To Your Success!
Dallas

www.dallasteague.com

Some people spend years feeling angry and bitter about the restrictive, small-minded thinking they’ve spent their lives overcoming. And many continue to feel adversely affected—sometimes unconsciously—by the dogma and the belief systems that permeated their minds as children.

There are also those who never had a childhood religion to leave behind, and who still basically believe in nothing. And there are those who have allowed the predominant conclusion of pseudoscience—which says if we can’t prove it, it doesn’t exist—to rule their thinking.

If you’re beginning to take a look at your life, this might be a good time to examine any feelings you may have about the teachings of your childhood that could be holding you back from questions you really want to explore.

All the great philosophers and thinkers of the world, from Plato to Monty Python, have wondered about the meaning of life. If nothing else, you’ll be in good company.

As you start to slow down and enjoy the silence and the solitude, as you learn to listen and begin to trust your intuition, as you start to make the changes in your lifestyle and habit patterns that will enable you to connect with your own truth, you’ll begin to experience a new way of looking at life and the world and your place in it.

The answers to the age-old questions may not come overnight. In fact, you may have to spend some time in the condition of not knowing. This can be unsettling if you’ve spent years thinking you knew the answers, or believing there were no questions.

But if you keep at it, the time will come when you’ll form your own answers to the questions thinking people have asked from the beginning of time. And these answers will be based not on faith, not on dogma, but on a deep understanding of your own experience.

To Your Success!

Dallas

www.makeyourbestimpression.com