Become all you can become by raising yourself higher on the Tree of Life

The pull and push system of growth… How inspiration is proving to be stronger

I have been ‘playing’ this self-improvement, self-development game for 35 years. It germinated and grew into a full ‘tree’ in me, while in others it remained stunted, or maybe even died.

What was the difference between those others and myself?

The main difference was, I thought, is that I saw going up incredibly inspiring, while others focused on protecting their egos. We call it precious I in my work.

I had a precious I too, but I could see that what it had given me is grief, so I was willing to think and do things that offended or scared my precious I, because what I saw was available was inspiring enough for me to do so. Continue reading “The pull and push system of growth… How inspiration is proving to be stronger”

Another wrinkle in authenticity and your strengths

We’ve spoken about authenticity before. My definition of authenticity, I borrowed from a note on someone’s desk I saw some 35 years ago, is this:

Authenticity means: there is nothing in the unsaid. There is nothing that you should say that you don’t.

That doesn’t mean you should say everything… No, no, no. The one who says everything is not authentic, he is a bore. Or she is. And often seemingly saying everything is a smokescreen that covers up what you are not saying.

This topic came up because some of the people I coach are in the middle of starting to use their strengths… or about to start. Continue reading “Another wrinkle in authenticity and your strengths”

Main issues in this lockdown environment… What are yours?

My experience with people, you, during this pandemic is that you have too much time on your hands and you become unfocused… no time constraints, and nothing gets done, and you waste the rare opportunity to grow, to learn and practice a new skill, to become the person you were meant to become.

Another experience I have is that their vibration drops, much like during 3-day holidays: too much social influence. Don’t forget that the average vibration on the planet is now 100, and people influence you and your vibration, in subtle ways.

When you spent eight hours away from these people a day, you had other influences, and you gave actually more time to yourself than you do now. Continue reading “Main issues in this lockdown environment… What are yours?”

Soul correction: your only way to raise your vibration

“The planets may impel but not compel” say Rob Brezsny, and, if in nothing else, we agree on this point.

If the planets compelled, then soul correction, as a trajectory, would be an oxymoron… leopards don’t change their spots.

My soul correction is “Forget Thyself” which impels me to place myself higher than anyone else, including any authority, including Source.

Today that soul correction, that behavior, that attitude only shows up about 10% of the time. I say this in celebration of free will… how I behave, what attitude I bring to life is up to me: I can bend even though the planets impel me to be rigid.

According to Kabbalah, somewhat the bedrock of my mindset, free will is what created the physical universe. Continue reading “Soul correction: your only way to raise your vibration”

It is time to grow up…

As people do the 67 step coaching, it becomes obvious to me that they have a very small social circle of people who they can count on.

Yes, some people have family, but I would not count on family, or only family if I were you.

When you have no one to call who is happy to take your call, you go through bouts of loneliness, aloneness, and maybe even depression. Even if you are in a position to have a lot of students, like I do.

You can’t and should not call your students when you are lonely… that would be using them for something they didn’t sign up for.

When I look, all the friends I have are from some course, program, that was long enough for me to build a relationship. And when I say ‘build’ I mean blood sweat and tears… Continue reading “It is time to grow up…”

Without strategy your knowledge is useless

I wrote this article four years ago. But it fits well into the series on becoming someone who can produce, who can stand out… so read it.

I am doing the 67 steps program… not once, but with every student of mine…

This article is a revelation to me. It’s on the importance of strategy, through what I see about myself and about all of us underachievers. It’s a long article, and slightly disheveled… please forgive the meandering.

I’ve started to get up early in November of last year.

I have noticed on myself that this step (Poor man/rich men) made me look if I am really into growing, or if I am secretly holding back…

How interesting… I have a lot more time, but I am not doing much with it. Continue reading “Without strategy your knowledge is useless”

You need skills… But how do you get skills, Sophie?

A few weeks ago I had an idea to pair two of my Playground participants to do a project that would benefit them both.

One is a skilled and prolific ‘Idea Machine‘ who is really lousy in communication. He was writing 10 new ideas for his customers, all business owners. But he was not able to ‘sell’ the ideas, even though they were free: he did it for practice, to keep his brain in top shape, for his own reasons… to get better at it, to reduce his about-me score… lots of reasons to do things for other people that take effort.

The other has an aspiration to write letters that sell… so he can leave his menial day job.

My idea was that they could team up and one would write the ideas, the other the emails that sell the ideas.

It was a non-starter. Continue reading “You need skills… But how do you get skills, Sophie?”

The edge effect, using resources by having them overlap

Last Wednesday, in my Talk to me webinar, we ran an impromptu workshop on seeing what are your strengths, so we can see where you should invest most of your energies, instead of spreading yourself thin.

There is a distinction, called the ‘edge effect’ I learned from the 67 steps, that is very important if you want to stand out in a world where eight billion people compete with you for resources. Continue reading “The edge effect, using resources by having them overlap”

How to gain an unfair advantage in life?

There is another reason you want to learn as many skills as you can: in today’s competitive environment, with eight billion people, it is hard to stand out. And if you don’t stand out then you are competing with everyone… and that, my friend, is not a good thing, unless you are satisfied with crumbs.

“Success isn’t about being perceived as the best at what you do. It’s about being perceived as the only one who does what you do.”

Now, that is a tall order, when there are eight billion people on the planet… and many of them are probably smarter than you are… And yet you want to get as close to that idea, being the only one who does what you do, as close you can….

So how is that possible? By coloring over the lines… not inside.

We are all trained as kids to color within the lines… But…

Everyone can have one thing they do well. Many people do two things well. Some people do three or more things well. Most people don’t do anything well.

Only a few people think of combining what they do well into a unique skill-set. They have the mindset of either/or… doing either one or the other.
Continue reading “How to gain an unfair advantage in life?”

Find the Growth Method That Matches Your Personality

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

There are two big categories of humans from the aspect of personal growth.

sheep, victim, the effect… not in action, hoping, praying, visualizing, etc.
the climber

Climber can be someone who climbs the Tree of Life… and can be the type of person I want to talk about in this article. The politician. The ruthless user. The win-lose type of person. The either/or person who cannot even imagine, tolerate, or stomach the you AND me model of thinking.

Why do you want to know them? Because you need to know evil intimately to fight evil. Both outside and inside.
Continue reading “Find the Growth Method That Matches Your Personality”