What were you born to do?

Abraham Harold Maslow described self-actualization as a person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do." What were you born to do?

What is your vocation in life, your calling, your destiny?

"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write." - Abraham Harold Maslow

Life is precious, what makes yours worth living?

How do you express who you are? What is your voice?

Is your life authentic, or are you living a lie?

How aware are you of your inner self, the essence of your being? How clearly can you hear your authentic inner voice? Or is your inner dialogue a negative script that is automatically replayed endlessly?

"If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." - Vincent Van Gogh

How conscious are you of your own inner nature? Are your choices and decisions alighned with your nature?

Before you answer this, you need to know who you are and where you want to go. What is your vision?

Find your passion. This is the fuel that will propel you towards your worthy ideal. Where there is passion, enthusiasm, inspiration and motivation follows.

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enthusiasm originated from the Greek word enthousiasmos, which comes from the adjective entheos, meaning “having the god within”. Enthusiasm is inspiration from God, Source.

So how can we be enthusiastic? Start by rediscovering your passion. Then, follow Dale Carnegie's advice, “Act enthusiastic and you become enthusiastic”.

“No one keeps his enthusiasm automaticalty. Enthusiasm must be nourished with new actions, new aspirations, new efforts, new vision.” - Papyrus

“A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited
enthusiasm.” - Charles M. Schwab

“If you are not getting as much from life as you want to, then examine the state of your enthusiasm.” - Norman Vincent Peale

Inspiration arise from within. The word inspire is derived from the Latin inspirare which literally means to breath life into another. It is a breath of life, an impulse or energy that carry us into a state of flow. A driving force inside of us that cannot be stopped. It is a reconnection with our source of life.

To be inspired is to be infused with life. To inspire is to recognise, respect and create meaningful opportunities for others to express their unique essence.

Motivation come from without. It is of an external source. Motivation was derived from the Latin word, motivus, which means “a moving cause”. It is not the cause of movement but movement itself. Motivation starts with action. We do not wait for motivation to appear before taking action. We choose to take action toward worthy goals and that creates motivation. Positive results further energizes and directs our attention towards the pursuit of our goals. It is our desires and purpose that promts our action. Motivation is the process of directing our energies towards the derivation of desired benefits.

Peak experiences are simply moments of love, understanding, or happiness, in which a person feels more whole, alive, and a part of the universe. In harmony, synch and in the flow. When you are doing the work which you were born to do, you will have many such peak experiences.

"Don't die with your music still inside you." - Dr Wayne Dyer

What if you choose to transcend your conditioning and go beyond possibilities?

There are times when we wanted to disappear and hide away from the world. To be invisible rather than give other people any opportunitity to notice our mundane existance. This desire usually happens when we are feeling disappointed, hurt, angry, or simply weary of life.

We may do all sorts of things to make ourselves invisible and pretend that no one sees us. But all we did was to bury our own heads in the sand.

When we live our life inconspicuously, we shrinking from our responsibility to share our a unique gifts and talents with the world. We are not contributing our inner brilliance that is meant to illuminate the Universe. We not only deprive ourselves of the greatness that we deserve, but we also deprive the people around us of the unique expression our vision and voice brings to their life.

We are all beings of light and we are here to light the way for each other. When we open up and be vulnerable, we allow ourselves to shine and we give others the permission to shine. We become an example in whom others can begin to see their own brilliance. One day, they too will express their vision and voice. They too will reveal their brilliance and allow their inner essence to shine through. They too will be beacon of light for their community.

"Namaste" is a Sanskrit word that acknowledges the inestimable value of each individual. It is used to greet and honor others. "Namaste" means "As I acknowledge and honor the Spirit within myself, so do I acknowledge and honor the Spirit within you."

The extended meaning of the word has been written as:

"I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you which is love,
of truth,
of light, and
of peace.
When you are in that place in you, and
I am in that place in me,
we are one."

--
Namaste,
@lex Chua

"The road is long, my heart will go on" - Mark Lee

Is Your Ladder Leaning Against the Right Wall?

Don't Quit

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
when care is pressing you down a bit - rest if you must,
but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow - you may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;
often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor's cup;
and he learned too late when the night came down,
how close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out - the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and when you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems afar;
so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - it's when things seem worst,
you must not quit.

by Anonymous

What Are Your Assumptions?

"Every age, every generation has its built-in assumptions — that the world is flat, that the world is round. There are hundreds of hidden assumptions, things we take for granted that may or may not be true. In the vast majority of cases, these conceptions about reality — which belong to the prevailing paradigm or worldview — aren’t accurate. So if history’s any guide, much that we take for granted about the world today simply isn’t true." — John Hagelin

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein

Processionary caterpillars are an unusual species. They blindly follow the one in front of them, in their search for food. It is because of this behavior that John Henry Fabre, a French naturalist, conducted an experiment with some them.

Fabre filled a flowerpot with dirt and carefully arranged some Processionary Caterpillars in a circle around the rim of the flowerpot, so that the lead caterpillar actually touched the last one, making a complete circle. In the center of the flowerpot he placed some pine needles, which is food for Processionary Caterpillars.

Around and around the circular flowerpot these caterpillars walk. Through the hypnotic force of their habits, the Processionary Caterpillars continued in circles, hour after hour, day after day, and night after night. Eventually, they dropped dead of sheer starvation and exhaustion, one after another. They died with the food they were searching for just inches away.

Are you so caught up in your daily activities that you fail to recognize what really matters in your life? Are you blindly following the crowd, your leaders, past experience, tradition, precedent etc., doing things the way they have always been done? Are you unconscious of and limited by your habits, instincts, assumptions, beliefs etc? Are you literally working yourself to death, accomplishing nothing meaningful or lasting in the process? Are you assuming that those you are following are right? Perhaps. Or perhaps they are also following someone else, unaware of their own habits and assumptions, and you are all going in circles. Are you constantly pursuing material possessions and chasing after the latest fad while neglecting your deeper needs and aspirations?

A man without a purpose will always feel that something is missing in his life. He is like vulnerable to despair and find no meaning in life. But even more depressing is the man who is pursuing goals that do not belong to him. Spending his life fulfilling someone else's purpose.

First ask yourself what really matters to you. Affirm your intention by writing your statement of purpose and printing it with a symbolic graphic and hanging it someplace where there is high visibility. Then put in place a plan of how you will manifest these goals into reality.

“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” - Albert Einstein

My Book... Workshop & Company :-)

More on Aligning your Work with your Passion

“When you can give yourself to work that brings together a need, your talent, and your passion, power will be unlocked.” – Stephen Covey

“I know this now. Every man gives his life to what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and so they give their lives to little or nothing.” – Joan of Arc

“Conscience often provides the why, vision identifies what you’re trying to accomplish, discipline represents how you’re going to accomplish it, and passion represents the strength of feelings behind the why, the what and the how.” – Stephen Covey

“The inspiration of a noble cause involving human interests wide and far, enables men to do things they did not dream themselves capable of before, and which they are not capable of alone. The consciousness of belonging, vitally, to something beyond individuality; of being part of a personality that reached where we know not where, in space and time, greatens the heart to the limit of the soul’s ideal, and builds out the supreme of the character.” – General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

For a Dancer by Jackson Brown

For a Dancer

Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I don't remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must've always thought you'd be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you're nowhere to be found

I don't know what happens when people die
Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It's like a song playing right in my ear
That I can't sing
I can't help listening

I can't help feeling stupid standing 'round
Crying as they ease you down
Cause I know that you'd rather we were dancing
Dancing our sorrow away
(Right on dancing)
No matter what fate chooses to play
(There's nothing you can do about it anyway)

Just do the steps that you've been shown
By everyone you've ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours another's steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you'll do alone

Keep a fire for the human race
And let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know will be coming down

Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily, it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don't let the uncertainty turn you around
(The world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound

Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive and the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive but you'll never know

by Jackson Browne

Brian Tracy's distillation of the Essence of Napolean Hill's Think and Grow Rich

"Any thought, plan, goal, or idea, held continuously in our conscious mind must bebrought about into reality by the Super Conscious Mind… Do you have the discipline, the control, the perseverance, the persistence, and determination to hold your goal or ambition clearly in your mind long enough for it to come about into reality? This is one of the most important summaries of the Laws of Success that you will ever identify." - Brian Tracy

“The visionary leader thinks big, thinks new, thinks ahead – and most important, is in touch with the deep structure of human consciousness and creative potential. You must gain control over the patterns that govern your mind: your world view, your beliefs about what you deserve and about what’s possible. That’s the zone of fundamental change, strength, and energy – and the true meaning of courage.” – Peter Koestenbaum

Earl Nightingale said it best in a short & simple statement... ...
"You become what you think about." - Earl Nightingale

Stephen Covey on Synergy

“The Third Alternative isn’t my way, it isn’t your way – it’s our way. It’s not a compromise halfway between your way and my way; it’s better than a compromise. A third alternative is what the Buddhists call the middle way – a higher middle position that is better than either of the other two ways, like the tip of a triangle. The Third Alternative is a better alternative than any that have been proposed. It is a product of sheer creative effort. It emerges from the overlapping vulnerabilities of two or more people – from their openness, their willingness to really listen, their desire to search. You simply don’t know where it’s going to end up. All you know is that it’s going to end up better than where it is now. The Third Alternative usually starts with oneself. But it often takes the force of circumstances like some person opposing you before it really begins to take place within you.” – Stephen Covey

Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.

"It is good to be a seeker, but sooner or later you have to be a finder - and then it is well to give what you have found, a gift unto the world for whoever will accept it." - Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard D. Bach

"Learning is finding out what you already know.
Doing is demonstrating that you know it.
Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you." ― Illusions by Richard D. Bach

Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.

The current of the river swept silently over them all -
young and old, rich and poor, good and evil,
the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self.

Each creature in its own manner clung tightly
to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom,
for clinging was their way of life,
and resisting the current what each had learned from birth.

But one creature said at last, 'I am tired of clinging.
Though I cannot see it with my eyes,
I trust that the current knows where it is going.
I shall let go, and let it take me where it will.
Clinging, I shall die of boredom.'

The other creatures laughed and said,
'Fool! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you
tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks,
and you will die quicker than boredom!'

But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go,
and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks

Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again,
the current lifted him free from the bottom,
and he was bruised and hurt no more.

And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried,
'See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies!
See the Messiah, come to save us all!'

And the one carried in the current said, 'I am no more Messiah than you.
The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go.
Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.'

But they cried the more, 'Saviour!' all the while clinging
to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone,
and they were left alone making legends of a Saviour.

― Illusions by Richard D. Bach