Self-validation and internal congruence is where the real battle takes place. Winning over your own heart and mind — not those of others — is what truly makes the difference between an unfulfilled or a purposeful, full life.

But so often we do the exact opposite of what we truly want. We have habits or addictions that hold us back. We have unwanted thought patterns stuck on auto-repeat.

A stop button, unfortunately, isn’t built into the dashboard of our minds. We’re born without a manual, so we have to do the best we can to find our own path.

Here’s the thing…

It’s not your fault. You’re not broken. There’s nothing wrong with you. You are born completely free, whole, wild, and beautifully complete. But somewhere along the line an ugly lie gets embedded into your mental software. We start to think that we need to become.

And once we eat that lie, a whole network of contaminated beliefs take root within us. We start to think we need to defend our position. We feel the urge to prove ourselves. We start looking outside for validation because we’re not getting it from ourselves.

Sometimes rebellion is a positive thing. When you’re questioning false-contexts and limiting structures, the results can be highly beneficial. But when you’re rebelling against yourself, you defeat yourself before you even step onto the battlefield.

So how exactly do you reclaim ownership of your mind? What strategies are necessary for winning this battle?

1. Examine the battlefield. The first step is to get a clear picture of the battlefield. You have to know exactly where the insurgents are hidden and where the biggest challenges will be faced. Review your current life situation. Where do you hold yourself back? Where do you defeat yourself before you start? In what ways are you hurtful or insulting to yourself? This might be hard to do. We don’t like to admit that we aren’t doing our best. Remember, it’s not your fault. You didn’t choose to eat the lies; no one in their right mind would choose to accept unhelpful mental patterns. But that doesn’t change the fact that they are there. Accept that they exist so you can do something about it, no matter how difficult it may be.
2. Enroll in mind-training. No fighter can expect to be successful without the proper training and preparation. You can’t expect to be successful at abolishing limitations with an untrained mind. In order to win the battle, you will need to engage in daily mindfulness training. Meditation practice can be one form of this, but there are 23 and 1/2 other hours in the day that we can’t ignore. We must do our best to bring mindfulness into the remainder of our day as well; our relationships with others and with ourselves. We can’t expect to change without awareness.
3. Engage in specialty training. Having a specific art that you can practice as self-development will be invaluable an invaluable tool in your arsenal for uprooting and terminating falsehood. A daily or almost-daily practice is usually best. It might be something personal like mastering the guitar, or it could be a group-endeavor like martial arts. Any way that you can specialize your training to something you’re deeply passionate about, that challenges you to grow, and makes your practice tangible will be incredibly useful in your journey to mind-ownership.
4. Create the proper training environment. You can’t expect to become fit without proper training tools and positive reinforcement. The same is true for reclaiming your mind. The more you can setup your environment to be truth-reinforcing, the more you increase your chances for success. This might mean printing intentions and putting them on a board over your workspace. It could be surrounding your space with things that inspire you, and are symbols of your passions. If you’re a writer and an anthropologist, it might mean having a nice pen and notebook always nearby, a comfortable chair to sit in, a shelf with your favorite books around you, and photos of inspiring discoveries or reports of breakthrough studies. Whatever your practice or art of self-development is, make sure your environment is supportive of your success.
5. Rally your troops. The more you can participate in a community of others in the quest for heart and mind reclamation, the easier it will be for you to stick to your goal. This might be formal, like a weekly mastermind group or meet up. Or it could mean blogging and being involved in a community of others interested in your chosen passion. By participating in a group, you tap into a source of energy greater than you could have accessed on your own.
6. Cultivate mental toughness. The crusade to reclaim your mind is a difficult one. It’s not something that happens overnight. Just when you think you’ve pulled the last weed, another one stubbornly seems to pop up. The fight for your mind is a long-term endeavor. It’s something I’ve been engaged in for much of my life. And while the skirmishes do become less and less frequent, I find there is always another level of training. In order to win, you have to be persistent.
7. Learn the art of fighting without fighting. At some point, you’ll probably realize that the way to stop the war is to stop showing up. If there is nothing to fight against, there can be no fight. Be warned, this will probably make your invisible adversary very angry at first. He will scream louder, abusing you more for your heartless ignorance of his ridicule and criticism. The best thing to do is to accept it and let him tire out. When you face things head on they lose much of their power. With the art of fighting without fighting, you will likely need to use both weapons of artful ignorance and peaceful, non-violent resistance.

Uprooting and putting down insurgent undesired beliefs or thought patterns is the only way to reclaim ownership or your mind. I personally believe that this single, deliberate pursuit is perhaps the most important one you can undertake in your life. Because, ultimately, what this fight comes down to is a cleansing of falsehood and the embodiment of truth. When you live radically in truth, when you unabashedly go with yourself, when there is no internal division, you embrace your own power and potential.

And when you do that, some amazing things start to happen. The pieces of your life seem to just fall into place. You follow your heart and aren’t afraid to pursue your dreams. You realize your potential and hold nothing back. You create something beautiful and inspire others to do the same.

photo courtesy of just.luc

While this approach is certainly useful in many contexts, at some point it’s more beneficial to discard it.

At some point, we must decide to stop trying and deliberately choose not to fail; simply choose to succeed.

This often happens inadvertently when your back is up against a wall. If you’re hanging from a cliff, your survival instinct will kick in and you will choose not to fall. You don’t try to lift yourself back up, you don’t have a choice, you simply do. If you get laid off from your job and no longer have an income, you will probably choose not to be broke. That might mean immediately finding new work or starting a business where you don’t try to make it succeed, you will it to succeed. The greater the probability of succeeding is usually directly related to how little of a safety net is in place.

What this comes down to ultimately is no margin of uncertainty. You simply decide that it’s going to happen.

Here are some of the ways I’ve experienced this:

• In martial arts. I can “try” to not get hit, and I may or may not succeed. However, if I choose to not get hit, I most often don’t get hit.
• In business. I can try to make a decent income, and sometimes I will. Or I can choose to make a specific amount and work backward to see what I will have to do in order to make it happen.
• With health. I can try to eat right, and maybe I will. But when I deliberately decide that I will eat the healthiest food possible, I nearly always do.
• In my relationship to my wife. I can have the desire to be loving, and it may work out. However, I always seem to express love more profoundly when I consciously choose that my actions reflect love.
• With fitness. I can really have the intention to be fit, but that’s not enough. By choosing to create a certain level of fitness and determining what it will take to achieve it, I greatly increase my chances of success.

I’m not saying this always works. Sometimes it will be highly beneficial for you to fail, because often it isn’t until you fail enough times that you actually succeed. But even then, you can deliberately choose to fail, instead of avoiding it in fear of embarrassment or injury to your ego.

I’m not really sure what it is, but something interesting happens in your brain when you deliberately decide something will happen. When you decide that the outcome you want is inevitable, your mind and the universe tend to agree. When you’re internally wavering and unsure, the world will undoubtedly agree.

How you’ll get there isn’t very important compared to knowing undeniably that you will, no matter what it takes.

When you know there is no other alternative, you remove all the mental weight of indecision. You know that what you want isn’t a probability, it’s an inevitability. It’s just a matter of time.

[Note: This post was inspired by this amazing Parkour video.]

photo courtesy of will-lion

In this video, I talk about how I got on the path to doing what I love for a living, and how I sustained my motivation when I was still on that path but hadn’t quite made it there yet.

It’s easy to get excited about a new journey in the beginning, but it can often be hard to sustain that energy to create real success. Here, I share what it specifically takes to sustain that hunger or drive, and how to deliberately create it.

Also, please excuse the background noise of my neighbor rebuilding his transmission. It sounds like someone is breaking into my apartment toward the end.

If you have the hunger, and want to make getting paid to do what you love inevitable, go here to learn more:

Paid to Exist — How to Get Paid to Be Who You Are

But waking up to the possibility isn’t enough, and unfortunately, a lot of people fail at making it happen. They know what they don’t want — a 9 to 5 soul-sucking job — but they don’t know how to escape. Some people come up with a plan, a business idea and attempt to follow an obscure path. And they often fail as well.

So why is that?

I’ve found that the answer usually has to do with one of these three things:

1. Lack of value. This one comes first because if you get everything else right, but don’t absolutely nail this, nothing else really matters. It doesn’t matter if you think cocoa butter shaving cream is fan-fucking-tastic if no one else cares. So ultimately, you have to put value above everything first and foremost. Of course, follow your heart, but make sure what’s in your heart can correlate to someone else’s wallet.
2. Not wanting to run a business. A lot of people want to work for themselves, but when they find out they have to run a business, they are surprised. When you work for someone else, a lot goes on behind the scenes that you’re probably unaware: administrative, accounting, and other management work needs to be done. You can of course outsource or hire someone to do a lot of this stuff, but usually when you’re a first starting out, without a big budget, you have to handle this alone for a while.
3. Not wanting to be a marketer. Many people want to make a living doing something they’re passionate about, or create an income from their art. But not a lot of people like actively selling themselves or promoting their work. A lot of people see this as sleazy, dirty, or even unethical. But in reality, products and services don’t sell themselves. It takes learning ethical marketing practices to truly be successful at making a living doing what you love. In reality, integrity-based marketing is merely the effective communication of value to the right person. When you see things from this context, it’s easier to become accustomed to marketing yourself and your business.

These are the three main pitfalls people tend to get caught up in, and cause them to never successfully make a living doing what they love.

If you’ve ever tried to, or wanted to create an income doing something you’re passionate about, maybe you’ve been afraid of facing these things too. I know I was when I first started out on this path.

It’s time for a new paradigm.

Paid to Exist is a step-by-step 8 week intensive program that will guide you from having no idea whatsoever on how to start, to becoming confident and equipped with all the tools you need to make getting paid to do what you love a success. I’m excited about re-opening the doors to Paid to Exist. We had a lot of success with the last 75 members and we’re making it even better this time.

Enrollment is now open, but it is limited to 75 people. And the enrollment will close on Sunday, February 21st.

If you want to make sure you get in, and actually make this happen for yourself, once and for all…

Go here to see what it’s all about.

If you have any questions about whether or not the program is right for you, I’d like to you to email me and let me know. I know a lot of people so far think this is a great program, but they’re not sure if it’s right for them in their specific situation. So, if you have any questions or specific concerns, I’d like to answer them for you.

Institutionalized training and schooling has changed that. You can now get a degree or certification in just about anything. And there are certain professions where this is a necessity (doctor, dentist, therapist, etc).

But this isn’t the only way you can build authority. Where there is a traditional, obvious path, there is always a less obvious, hidden path.

So, you can get someone to qualify you (degree, certification), or you can qualify yourself.

Qualifying yourself is what I like to call the backdoor method.

A lot of people will never take this approach, because it’s unconventional; it’s unorthodox. Not only that, it’s messy and requires a lot of self-initiative. Not that the conventional path doesn’t require self-initiative, because it does. It’s just that the unconventional path is not so neatly laid out. Without such a clear road map it can be hard not to get frustrated and give up.

I’ve pretty much taken the “self-qualified” or unqualified path my entire life. I’ve always been self-taught. I dropped out of high school. I went to college and didn’t follow a set course (I only took classes I was interested in). I’ve found ways to establish credibility and authority that don’t involve a set of credentials or transcripts.

Backdoor strategies for self-qualified success

1. Find someone who’s done it. Seems obvious, right? If you want to learn how to write for magazines… contact some editors. If you want to learn how to be a firefighter, make a trip to your local fire station. Whatever you want to do or become, there’s a pretty good chance if you ask enough people, you can find someone who’ll be willing to answer some of your dumb questions. This is not necessarily done with the intention of being apprenticed, but to get a road map from someone who’s been there. Once you know what it takes, the mystery and scariness of the unknown diminishes.
2. Get a mentor. After you’ve found someone to bug, the next step is to find someone that will actually take you under their wing. I personally found several mentors when I wanted to get into coaching. Finding someone to teach you can be as easy as being in the right place at the right time, or doing a lot of leg work emailing, calling, or showing up at events. The best way to find a mentor is to be where they always hang out. If you’re really interested in finding a mentor, my friend Jared wrote a whole ebook about how to do it.
3. Get a library card. Books can’t teach you everything, but they’re a good way to go from not knowing your ass from a hole in the ground, to having a decent grasp of a subject. Books are great supplementary education. They’re essential for refining and exploring different approaches, and they’ll help you get started. They won’t take you completely to competency, but they’re a good, obvious place to start.
4. Have conversations. Did I mention that this is a messy path? “Having conversations” sounds awfully ambiguous and imprecise. However, it can be highly effective. Simply starting conversations about the topic that you’d like to become an expert in will often lead you to unexpected insights. The more conversations you have and the more diverse group of people you talk to, the more you’re likely to learn. They will lead to gaining new insights, building relationships and making new connections.
5. Tap into your tribe. Find out where the people in your industry hang out. Then go there. A lot. Go to meet-ups, conferences, summits, special events, workshops, parties, or whatever other kind of group meet-up you can find that relates to your pursuit. You can do this online as well, by hanging out in social media circles.
6. Give yourself away. Once you’ve got a decent handle on whatever you’re trying to establish yourself in, try giving yourself away. Create a service and offer it for free. Whip up a mockup product and give it away. Hold a contest where the prize is consulting time with you. This serves two purposes: a) You get more experience and b) If you do things right, you’ll get free testimonials.

Once you’ve started to gain a foothold as a budding expert, you’ll need to find a way to demonstrate that authority to others. That’s how you’re going to build trust, create relationships, and ultimately… make money.

So, here are some “renegade” methods for creating social proof

1. Create a blog. The word “authority” comes from the root word “to author.” By demonstrating knowledge and giving away content for free, you demonstrate your authority. Pretty simple, right?
2. Borrow someone else’s authority. Authors do this all the time. They write a book and cite a bunch of other established authors. And in doing so, they borrow the credibility of others. You can do this, too. Write for other established blogs, get reviews by a-listers (or even b-listers to start out), hang out with leaders, write for a well-known magazine or website. There are plenty of ways to do this.
3. Get recognized. This will eventually happen in some way or another. Someone might talk about you in an article, newspaper, website, or an event. You can then (with permission) use what they’ve said as an endorsement. This isn’t something you can directly control, but you can indirectly control it by putting yourself out there a lot. The more you put yourself out there, the more likely you are to be recognized.
4. Give yourself away again. I know I mentioned this previously, but it’s worth saying again. Do something to give yourself away. Hold a contest and give the winner a consulting package in exchange for a case study or testimonial.
5. Help others. The best way to generate social proof is to be a good person. The more you help others, the more generous you are, the more value you provide, the more people will talk about you. Word of mouth is the best credibility, because you don’t have to do any convincing; someone else is doing it for you.

This is a quick-start guide. The more you follow this course, the more you’ll discover ways to qualify yourself and create authority.

This route isn’t for everyone, though. For those who prefer a more established, secure approach, the conventional path may be the right choice. For those that prefer a more messy, self-taught path, this will work incredibly well for you. Of course, you can also create your own mix of both.

In our society, this is illegal. You can only have one (legal) love. But what about other pursuits, like our work? I think being professionally polygamous is often equally frowned upon. We’re supposed to have one specialty. One niche. And perhaps a micro-niche on top of that.

I think this type of narrowly defined niching leads to serious imbalance because in reality, all things are interconnected.

I’ve decided to be polygamous in my career, having commitments to multiple loves.

Professionally, I write about and create products related to self development (my first love). And now I’ve started to pursue writing about bodyweight exercise and am in the process of creating a product to help people become fit without going to the gym (my second love).

I love both of these paths equally. In fact, I don’t see them as necessarily separate and distinct. They are simply different expressions of my purpose.

Within my personal, non-business pursuits, I also have two marriages: one to music and the other to martial arts. So far, they’re both okay with that, and no jealous brawls have ensued.

A lot of people will tell you that that’s not okay. You have to be hyper-focused, they say. You have to make a choice. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. (To be honest, I’ve never understood this saying. What’s the point of having cake without eating it?)

I think that’s bullshit. You can find a way to integrate your various interests, without any one of them getting jealous. But it requires a serious paradigm-shift. One that moves from separation and exclusivity to integration and unity. It’s about finding the connections and similarities, not simply the differences and disparate qualities.

This is important if you want to learn the art of…

Living two lives in one

Unsuspecting journalist by day, dashing superhero by night. That would be cool, but not exactly what I’m talking about here.

If you want to master the art of living two lives in one, you must embrace the path of the polymath, the person that excels at many things. Not just a jack of all trades and master of none, but a master of many pursuits. Someone who seems to excel at so many things that it almost seems like she has superhuman powers.

I’ve been experimenting with a way to do this that anyone can learn from. It’s a habit called embedding.

This is a concept I learned from gymnastics strength training. It’s not uncommon for gymnasts to embed different types of training within one workout. A simple bodyweight movement on the rings could incorporate dynamic active flexibility, maximal strength training, skill development, balance, coordination, and mental (focus) training, all at the same time. It’s these types of movements that are incredibly powerful when it comes to their practice because they’re able to incorporate many different types of training at once. Since a gymnast needs to develop a large number of physical proficiencies, embedded training is highly optimal.

Borrowing from gymnastic training, I’ve started incorporating this approach in my personal fitness, but I’ve also found that it can be applied elsewhere.

One way I’ve done this is with hiking. If my wife and I go on a hike together that incorporates or embeds a lot of other things at the same time. We’re not just exercising together, we’re spending quality time together, and getting in touch with nature. Say we’re both interested in learning a new language; we could utilize that time to practice together, embedding yet another activity. If I’m hiking alone, I can embed walking meditation as well.

Another way to incorporate embedding is by using triggers. Every time I open up Wordpress to start writing, I create a mental trigger to remind myself to be mindful while I write. After a few weeks of practicing this, it starts to become automatic. Now, I’ve just embedded mindfulness practice as a part of my writing.

These are just two opportunities for using action more meaningfully and being more effective. The more you explore this concept, the more you’ll find ways to make use of it.

If you look closely, you’ll find that one benefit of pursuing multiple interests is…

Uncommon connections

Often the greatest innovations come from the most unexpected intersections. The more you can find these uncommon connections within the various loves or arts you practice, the more you’ll find that doing one benefits the other.

For example, in martial arts I’ve learned that playing the drums has given me an advantage in knowing the importance of rhythm. Because I know the differences in timing, cadence, and broken rhythm, it’s been easier for me to incorporate this awareness when sparring. I’m able to incorporate this experience to make me a better martial artist. Practicing self-development has also made me a better martial artist, because I know the importance of going with myself and self-empowerment. Reversely, martial arts has improved my practice of self-development by giving me a physical, palpable measurement of how well I am staying present and conscious.

I could continue illustrating the different ways the paths I’ve chosen are interrelated. There are many obvious connections, but also a lot of uncommon connections and benefits that can be found when a closer look is taken.

What all of this comes to down to is…

The importance of integration

The polygamous (or polymath) life is about integration. Without it, rifts and divisions will poison the well. This whole idea ultimately leads to integration and breaking down the boundaries between the different activities in our lives. Sure, we could aim for balance between work and life, but I think it’s better to obliterate that distinction entirely. They should be one and the same.

Our lives aren’t meant to be compartmentalized, neatly divided portions of time allocated to specific isolated activities. Life isn’t meant to be lead in a linear way like that.

I think the more we can break down those boundaries, embed and integrate the various, & seemingly disparate aspects of our lives, the more we can find freedom.

Our work shouldn’t have to be distinct from our recreation. Our health shouldn’t be seen as separate from our relationships. Our passions shouldn’t be separate from our contribution.

Whenever we do one thing, we do many. The goal of life then is not to see how well you can partition, label and taxonomize. That leads to separation, disparity, disconnection and suffering.

The aim of the master of life is to galvanize, unify and integrate to the point where you can no longer tell the difference between one pursuit and the next.

photo courtesy of eqqman

In December last year I also finally released the long-awaited worksheets that accompany Reclaim Your Dreams. The response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

Largely in part to my free blogger review campaign, Reclaim Your Dreams has received a lot of reviews. I haven’t yet shared them (I have no idea why), so with this one year anniversary I thought I’d take the opportunity to do that.

Here are a small handful of them (you can find a lot more by searching “reclaim your dreams” on Google).

• Hunter Nuttall
• Young Successful Entrepreneur
• The New Man of Action
• Productive Flourishing
• Man Vs. Debt
• Serene Journey
• Live Collar Free

I wanted to give you an outside opinion on whether or not my ebook is worth buying. Well, now you have it. Don’t take my word for it. Read one or two of the reviews and see for yourself.

If you were on the fence before, I encourage you to check out some of the reviews and see for yourself if this tool can help you start living your own dreams.

Special note to bloggers:

If you’re interested in reviewing Reclaim Your Dreams, and receive at least 1,000 page views a month, I would be more than happy to send you a review copy for free, providing that you will review it on your blog.

If that sounds cool to you, send an email to jonathan@illuminatedmind.net with the subject “Reclaim Your Dreams Review” and include a link to your blog in the body.

curiosity
–noun, plural

1. the desire to learn or know about anything; inquisitiveness.

Curiosity is over-valued in our society, and one of the top causes of distraction in our increasingly information-saturated world.

Mind you, I’m not completely opposed to curiosity. Children are curious about the world, and that’s usually a good thing! Indeed. What I am proposing, however, is a proper understanding of curiosity; what it is useful for, and some things that it is not useful for.

We are, in fact, multi-dimensional beings. This has been my experience. We have a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspect to ourselves, and so on.

Curiosity comes from, and largely works within the level of the mind. It is a desire to learn new information — to help create a framework, or frame of reference — that our minds can use, to make sense of the world we find ourselves in.

This can be very helpful, especially when one is studying a new domain of knowledge, like a child learning about the basics of life in the physical world. For example how gravity works, the fact that even if someone face disappears behind their hands (in the case of peekaboo) they will look to see if they’re still there …Surprise!

Where curiosity can be not-so-helpful, is that of being curious… about irrelevant information, that can serve as more of a distraction to your task at hand. That doesn’t mean that the curiosity, or the object of it is bad per se. it just means that perhaps it’s not the most appropriate time to view (and think about) a certain topic, item or information. In my case, I enjoy practically anything about traditional Japanese hobbies, works of art, and martial arts. Even so, it not the most useful use of my time to pore over the latest model of this uniform, or that tea set, or … (you get the idea)

So instead of curiosity, try wonderment!

wonderment
–noun

1. the state of being in wonder

2. to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; marvel

While curiosity exists at the level of mind, being in a state of wonderment, enables you to “see” and be receptive to the mysteries of the universe. This is what you may feel looking up at the sky in a moonless night, away from the city, with millions of sparkling stars and the milky way, stretched gracefully across the center… or the amazement of looking at a delicate buttercup, perched on a tuft of moss, on the side of a trail… It is that openness to the divine mystery, both the visible, and unseen, what is spoken, and the silence behind it all.

We are moving to a time in our planetary evolution where the distinctions between dimensions are blurring. This process could also be described as Heaven, coming to Earth. ; )

No Time to Wonder…

Another interesting aspect of curiosity; is that it usually pulls the attention of our mind out of the present, and into the future, or the past “I’m curious what’s around the corner…” “I wonder what would have happened if…” our mind can weave an alternate future, a fantasy of it’s own choosing.

When this happens, we can tend to overlook what is happening, right now, because we’re so excited about what will happen… next! From an energetic standpoint, you may find that the energy of curiosity, has an outward, explosive, expression to it. This can be well and good, especially if the goal is increasing knowledge, or it’s framework, as mentioned above.

Wonder, on the other hand, gives us the experience of having all of our senses completely in the present. It is very difficult if not impossible to truly be in a state of wonder, and be thinking of something else. Wonder is immersive, and allows us to surf the crest of the wave of experiencing the present moment. You may notice, that when you are in a state of wonder, that you are in a receptive mode – as if the energy of your attention is like that of a bowl, willing and receptive to experience whatever the present moment offers you.

While building “a bigger (mental) framework” can assist, at this stage of our human evolution, it will not be the most helpful to us. As we tune into the other multidimensional aspects of ourselves, it allows us to access our intuition, and our inspiration, to flow through us. These are not aspects and faculties of the mind, but of our higher selves.

…Except in the Present

When we experience wonderment, and it’s close counterpart, appreciation, we allow ourselves to be open to the goodness in our lives, and the abundance we have yet to fully comprehend. Being in a state of wonderment, can then truly be a multi-dimensional experience.

As each of us do this, we invite the wonder, marvel, and beauty of the divine in every moment that we choose. That said, I invite you to sell your curiosity, and purchase wonderment.

About the author: Jeremy Bennett is a Soul Realignment Practitioner, and helps healers and innovators know who they truly are (and find their purpose)t, to fulfill their unique role with joy and service to the planet.

Our practice is supposed to hurt, seems to be the unspoken, unconscious mantra that we operate by. We believe that we need to come to our art begging and praying that our muse will show up. And if it doesn’t, we curse our work as if a hex or evil spell has been callously wished upon us.

But our art shouldn’t have to be a painful struggle. It shouldn’t be something where we only experience joy after we’ve created our final masterpiece, completely used up. The majority of our time logged shouldn’t be drudgery sprinkled with fleeting moments of joy and inspiration.

I’m not sure where this idea came from; that our work should be married to pain.

I just know one thing… I’d like a divorce.

Art + physical expression

One of the biggest underlying causes behind this stigma comes from the way we approach our work. If we think we must do something, we resist. But since we think we should we do it anyway, that causes resentment. Resentment = pain.

The only way around this is either choosing different work, or changing the way you approach the work you already do. Usually, it’s a combination of both.

I’ve recently experienced this quite powerfully with fitness. A little over a year ago I used to see exercise as something painful. It was a chore. Something that had to be done; something to get over with. Going to the gym was just another required fixture in my routine. Not something I intentionally, or joyfully placed there.

That has changed completely for me now. I stopped going to the gym, and stopped lifting weights. Gymnastics, hiking, and martial arts are now my primary means of exercise.

I changed the type of exercise I did. A typical workout for me now might be include a 2-3 hour hike (mostly barefoot, or wearing minimalistic shoes) and strength training on gymnastic rings (hung from a tree on the trail). The ring training might consist of planche, front lever, back lever, pull-up, and handstand work. On some days I’ll do more strength training and less hiking. And on other days I might do very little strength training and go for longer hikes, trailrunning, and flexibility.

In that way, I changed the content of my practice, but I also changed my approach. I now see exercise as not a chore, but a practice. I think about it as the art of expressing the human body. It’s become more then something I should or need to do, it’s a practice in the physical expression of self development.

In this way, I changed both the type of exercise I was doing and the way I approached it.

Needless to say, this has been very liberating for me.

No more discipline

To practice our arts, we often think that it requires a lot of discipline and self-control. I’ve found this to become less and less true. When I do what I love (the content of my practice) and love what I do (the way I approach my practice), I find that discipline usually becomes a non-issue.

Sure, effort is still involved. There will always be that. I always have to make the effort to show up. I always have to make the effort to do my best.

But I desire to show up, and I desire to do my best because I do what I love and love what I do. Love for my art, love for my practice, is my greatest motivation. The word workout has been removed from my vocabulary. I don’t see it that way anymore.

Any practice can be made into an art if we follow what we are attracted to. And any art can be made into something joyful if we show up with gratitude and come from a place of love.

I’ve started to apply this approach to all areas of my life; seeing each aspect of my life as an art that can be met with love, instead of a duty of sacrifice. We don’t need to suffer to be great.

Right now, I know I am exactly where I need to be, on exactly the right path.

When I meet my art as a celebration, things unfold naturally, with energy and aliveness. When I try to control and obsess over it, I suffer. My aim is to move more in the direction of celebration and to divorce art and pain.

I’ve found this path to be very rewarding. I’d love for you to join me.

So when I found Headway I was pretty blown away. For the first time, designing your site in Wordpress could be controlled within an easy to use interface, without changing any code. You could actually rearrange everything within a drag-and-drop interface. Every element, every section of your site, could be reorganized without touching code.

I was impressed. And I bought it immediately.

This time, though, Headway has done something even better. And what they’ve done is game changing.

Headway 1.0 was pretty awesome, but Headway 1.5 is light years ahead of that. Before, you could change everything within a panel on Wordpress in the admin area. You would save changes, and then reload your page in another tab or window to see the effect. Not anymore.

The new Headway visual editor allows you to edit everything live.

Within the visual editor, you use a drop down to select each element — header, navigation, sidebar, post title, etc. — and all the CSS options appear for you, without the code. Once you change them, you see the results immediately. And if you like what you see, you can save it to lock it in.

I’ve been using this tool to create a new fitness website [details will be released soon] and it has allowed me to cut down development time to one tenth of the time it previously took. It’s really ridiculous how easy it is now.

Here are some of the features in the new Headway Wordpress theme:

• Drag and drop every element on your blog (sidebar, navigation, header, and custom areas)
• Eliminate repetitive effort when creating pages by linking page designs
• Decide on your fonts for everything—without CSS
• Improve your search optimization by simply activating Headway
• Make your blog stand out with animated transitions for featured content
• Create photo galleries with no extra plugins
• Add your tweets to your blog with no extra plugins
• Written and video tutorials to get you going
• A helpful, friendly support community
• Free upgrades to all new versions of Headway for life

These are just a few of the features that I’ve borrowed from the Headway website (they could tell you why it’s amazing better than I can, after all).

At the risk of sounding like a total webdesign geek, Headway 1.5 has changed my life. It makes creating highly effective websites in Wordpress for my business amazingly simple.

If you’re looking for a new Wordpress theme, or want to switch to something that will make you actually want to work on your website (wouldn’t that be nice?), I highly recommend it. I don’t affiliate with products lightly, so it has to be pretty amazing to get my endorsement.

If you want to make Wordpress design easy, check it out. Change your Wordpress experience forever.