I admit it — I have moments when I doubt the value of everything I do in my life.  I doubt whether I’m really interested in my work.  I question whether the relationships in my life are worthwhile.  I seriously consider whether I’d prefer a life of solitary, cave-dwelling meditation.
I think doubt is wonderful.  If [...]

 
(This is an unofficial sequel to my piece at The Change Blog called “What To Do When Meditation Gets ‘Hard.’”)
Nearly 100% of the time (and it happened again last night), when someone asks me a question about meditation, it goes like this:  “I can’t meditate because I can’t empty my mind.”  Because this seems like [...]

For a few years, I believed that what we often call “the rational mind” was my enemy.  I have a powerful rational mind, and most people would see this as a plus, but to me that was part of the problem.  I thought all the analysis, judgment and criticism my mind did was holding me [...]

After my last post, I thought of a few more things it’s helpful to consider when deciding whether to pursue a career that strongly interests us.  Like I said before, I’m not specifically coming out for or against seeking the work you love — that’s a decision each person must make for themselves based on [...]

I think most of us, at some point in our lives, have had moments when we felt almost infinitely powerful, peaceful, directed, or some other uplifting feeling.  We got what we wanted effortlessly, our work seemed to do itself, and our self-doubt melted away.
 
These moments are wonderful, and they can also be a source of [...]

(Inspired by a comment I left on Stacey Shipman’s great post about me-time)
One common complaint I hear from people is that they don’t get enough “me time.”  That is, they spend too much time doing things for others, and not enough serving their own wants and needs, and they feel tired and resentful as a [...]

 
One reason many of us are holding back from doing what we really want, in our work and elsewhere, is our desire to be “modest”—to avoid boasting, taking up too much space, and demanding too much attention.  Modesty is usually seen as a virtue—no one likes a bragger, and blessed are the meek, right?
But there’s [...]

 
One thing I’ve learned about blogging is that, whenever I tell myself I “have to” write another blog post, that’s basically a surefire guarantee that I won’t finish one that day.  Or, maybe I’ll end up churning out something that feels second-rate to me.  Whatever happens, I probably won’t be happy with the end result.
I [...]

Like many people, finding happiness used to be my goal in life, and as an avid consumer of personal development products I learned a lot of techniques for getting there.  You’ve probably heard many of these:  think positive thoughts, force yourself to smile, take a warm bath, and so on.
For a while, I diligently used [...]

I want to share a powerful exercise that’s been a key part of my personal growth journey.  The exercise is very simple—just sit in front of a mirror and look into your own eyes for ten minutes.  No matter what thoughts and sensations come up for you, see if you can hold your gaze on [...]