"Man, Know Thyself"

Our Misguided Search for Happiness

SOME INSIGHTS ON GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

FAILURE... is there really such a thing?

FEAR

"MAN, KNOW THYSELF"

Possibly the foremost requirement for active personal growth, this infamous statement has been shared by many of the best known human and spiritual development protagonists through the ages including Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras and perhaps most famously by the Oracle of Delphi.

There is arguably nothing of true value to know besides knowing ourselves, as everything else has value only in the way it relates to us. Also, as we perceive the world filtered by our unique set of core beliefs, each of us perceives it differently, assigning our own meaning to our experience.

One of t he most important things to realize is that there is nothing wrong with you, nothing missing from you or your life. The truth is you are already successful and fulfilled according to your own Hierarchy of Motivational Values, although you may not be acknowledging and appreciating the form your success takes because of erroneous beliefs and confusing outside opinions. This is the single most common mistaken belief in our modern society, and the cause of so much emotional pain and suffering. Simply put, we are exactly where we have chosen to be, whether that choice was made consciously or unconsciously. To master the external expression of life we must first master the mechanics of our own inner processes.

Your hierarchy of motivational values determines where you focus your attention and effort. Uncover your own unique hierarchy of motivational values and learn how to align your goals with your life purpose & deepest desires. Once we understand the mechanics of our values we are able to make sense of our experience and empower ourselves in the various areas of life.

SOME INSIGHTS ON GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

Growth and Development is Inherent and Inevitable
All human beings have an iherent desire to expand, and even if they do not act on this desire they still dream about it. Our growth may take on various forms at different times in our life depending on our level of empowerment in the various areas of life. The only alternative to growth is decay, there are no parking spaces along the highway of life.

Challege is Unavoidable
We may be very empowered in certain areas, but we all have areas of our lives which are less empowered relative to those that are most empowered, and we are continually experiencing challenge in those areas where we are least empowered. This dynamic makes us aware of which areas in our lives need our attention most.
Growth is inevitable, we can grow actively or passively, but we cannot avoid growth itself. If we approach it proactively, seeing out challenge that will accellerate our growth, we have the opportunity to enjoy the process and actively manage it, likely increasing our self-worth in the process. If we resign ourselve to the passive approach, which basically translates to resistance to change, we tend to interpret challenge as unfair and painful and we chip away at our self-worth, felling less and less in control.

The Mechanics of Challege in Life
The more dis-empowered we are in a specific area of our life the more obvious and severe the challenge we experience will be, and the more likely the challenge we experience may overflow to affect other areas of our life. An example would be someone who is financially dis-empowered, the more dis-empowered they are, the more their financial dis-empowerment will affect other areas of their lives. They may have difficulty supporting a family or the lack of money could cause conflict in their relationships, they may not have the money to socialise and keep in contact with friends, they may not enjoy their job or find that they are under constant pressure. People who are financially dis-empowered are often taken advantage of by employers. They may not be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle to stay physically healthy. They may not have the means to further their education, etc.

When we view the challenges we face as indicating our areas of disempowerment, we are able to focus our attention on empowering these areas. The more we avoid these challenges the more severe they become, until we are forced to attend to the underlying cause.

FAILURE... is there really such a thing?

Thomas Edison is quoted as saying he never failed once, he simply discovered very many ways how not to make a light bulb. He also described the process as having very many steps, rather than faliures. It seems that the trial and error method of doing something we havent done before has a bad rap, but as anyone who has succeeded at anything will tell you, most often we don't get it right on the first try.

Fear of faliure is the main reasons so many people are living unfulfilling lives, often suffering with depression and turning to addictions to dull the pain. Fear of failure is actually a product of low self-worth, and logically, the only way to increase it is to learn to appreciate ourselves more fully for who we are, and to attempt attaining our goals despite our fears.

We are always true to our inner most drives and motivations, so if we "fail" at something its because it conflicted with our innermost drives and we didnt put in the required effort. Most failures are the result of goals being assumed from outside influence rather than our own true inner motivation. If we don't know ourselves well enough this is likely to be a recurring irritation. When we do know ourselves (our true hierarchy of motivational drives) our goals are always aligned with our drives, failure is almost impossible, and success is almost inevitable - Graham Burwise.

FEAR is the only real factor which prevents us from being true to ourselves
and achieving our dreams and goals in life.

We are in fear when we assume that we will receive more drawbacks than benefits from an experience in the future. Fear is always based on an imagined future and associated with "negative" experiences from our past. It is no surprise that fears coincide with our motivational values. There are only a few basic fears derivative of these basic categories:

SPIRITUALITY & EVOLUTION  - the fear of offending some spiritual authority by doing what we desire to do.
KNOWLEDGE & WISDOM  - the fear of not being intelligent enough or somehow lacking the mental ability to do what we desire to do. 
HEALTH & WELLBEING  - the fear of not being physically able, strong enough, beautiful enough, etc to do what we desire to do. 
FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS  - the fear of losing loved ones, family support and acceptance by choosing to do what we desire to do. 
CONNECTION & INFLUENCE  - the fear of ridicule, losing status, influence, acceptance, etc by choosing to do what we desire to do. 
WEALTH & FINANCES - the fear of not making enough, or losing money by doing what we desire to do.
VOCATION & BUSINESS  - the fear of failing at what we desire to, or are driven to do.

As you may notice, these fears are the result of us accepting someone elses views or authority over our own beliefs and desires. Lack of self worth causes us to minimise ourselves in relation to others. The belief that we should seek the “path of least resistance” is not ideal if we intend to empower and fulfil ourselves. Avoiding experiences perceived as challenging in favor of experiences perceived as more comfortable and supporting will result in us remaining dis-empowered.

Often our greatest fears conceal our greatest opportunities for growth and are the potential source of our greatest sense of achievement. Going beyond these fears to do it anyway offers the greatest rewards and provides the greatest satisfaction and fulfillment. It is unlikely that we will enter a new situation or experience devoid of all fear, the idea is rather to understand that the fear is functionally alerting us to the newness of the experience to highten our awareness and keep our attention laser focused in the present moment, providing the greatest probability for success.