There's all kinds of people to follow, but recently I've learned listening to myself takes priority because truly, all the answers are already inside of us.
@Source Energy ;)
Whatever my "highest excitement" suggests, I try to follow up on that, and voila, life drives itself effortlessly, we just have to get out of the driver's seat.
I've definitely come across quotes of them here and there, but have yet to read their books, looking forward to it!
From a holistic POV, there are many factors determining how our lives play out, I'd always be careful with putting all apples in one basket only, LOA is just one of them so to speak.
A more complete picture might additionally factor in things like:
- Life Purpose (what's your vision?!!! the more beyond yourself it is, the more it'll inspire you, very counter-intuitive!)
- Developmental Psychology, a road map for all human development (your value system:
Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck,
Ego-Development Susan Cook-Greuter)
- Diet (the higher vibe foods you eat, the lighter your body will feel, the easier it is to flow)
- Habits: MEDITATION!!!, exercise/stretching, reading self-help books, information intake/what we watch (again, your state of consciousness determines what happens)
All of this is to show that imo it's not about one teacher/school of thought/teaching, but more about how to live a good life, you know?
If the overarching goal is to LOVE LIFE, to infect others with your PASSION, and to be able to pass with peace on the deathbed, then you'll gladly do whatever it takes, right? :)
Life is too vast and beautiful to capture it all in words, but listening to your highest excitement and letting the universe do the driving while keeping a really really open mind, might be the key.
And since we're HERE, why not make the most of it? That's the decision I've come to anyways. It's like, Yeah, I've noticed how I'm probably a lot different from the majority of the characters on this life stage, and Yeah, I've made my fair share of mistakes along the way, the consequences of which have starkly made themselves known to me, but HEY! THOUGHTS CREATE MY REALITY!
I have control over how I REACT to what's happening and MY INTERPRETATIONS and ASSUMPTIONS are responsible for how I FEEL and what I DO and finally BECOME!
CTB would be a very final decision, but there I would assume I already knew all that life has in store! See? I personally wanna tough it out simply to see how crazy this ride can get, who knows?
It's darkest before dawn and all that, so get real and take back responsibility for falling in love with life and making the most of it!
Here are some very inspiring books about all those topics that I'm excited to read/loved reading:
Success & Productivity
- Mastery, George Leonard (why we keep failing so much, how mastery is developed in any field, how to set proper expectations for growth)
- Psycho-Cybernetics, Maltz (explains the power of your subconscious mind and your self-image. )
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peeps, Steven R. Covey (principles and philosophy of creating genuine success from the inside-out, as opposed to modern notions of gimmicky success)
- Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill (bible to success)
Emotional Mastery
- Radical Honesty, Brad Blanton (eye-opening must read, must read for personal development)
- Loving What IS, Byron Katie (4-step solution to reframing ANY emotional problem!!!)
- The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, Nathanial Branden (understanding and improving self-esteem)
- Meditations, Markus Aurelius (wisdom about life and how to live a good one)
- The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, Debbie Ford (Exercises & questions to explore your shadow in a healthy way. Like doing psychotherapy on yourself. )
Happiness
- The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Heidth (how to be happy, lol!)
- The How of Happiness, Sonja (dispels many misconceptions about happiness)
Life Purpose
- The Big Leap, Hendricks (must read, powerful questions)
- Towards a Psychology of Being, Maslow (inspiring vision of where it could all go)
- Do You!, Russel Simons (redefining success!!!)
- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho (reread again and again, very inspiring)
- The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Chopra (high-consciousness approach to success)
Health & Diet
- Rich Food, Poor Food, Calton (how to start eating clean, how to shopping guide)
- Medical Medium - Cleanse to Heal, Anthony William (yummy foods & info)
Sexuality & Relationships
- The Way of the Superior Man, Deida (ultimate guidebook on how to be a man. even good for women!)
- The 5 Love Languages, Chapman (people have very different way of receiving and communicating love!!!)
- Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, Gray (differences between how men and women think.!!)
Law of Attraction
- The Science of Sucess, Wattles (One of the original books about law of attraction)
- Ask And It Is Given, Abraham Hicks (comprehensive modern-day guide to law of attraction)
- Thought Vibration, William ( original book on law of attraction, packed with wisdom)
- Creative Visualization, Gwain Shakti (detailed guidebook on visualization)
Money
- It's Not About the Money!, Kessel (for overcoming limiting beliefs and mindsets about money)
- Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert K. (A classic self-help book about how to think properly about money)
Creativity & Doing Your Art
- The War of Art, Steven Pressfield (inner blocks are normal, they guide you!)
Consciousness & Enlightenment
- The Power of NOW, Eckhart Tolle (classic introduction to enlightenment)
- The Universe Is A DREAM, Alexander Marchand (most profound comic book ever written! explains the entire metaphysics of the universe.)
- A Million Thoughts, Om Swami (a manual for how to meditate properly)
- Conquest of Mind, Eknath Easwaran (the importance of meditation)
You know, I used to know a lot too, but I'm beginning to understand that much of living a good life is simply about unknowing all of the false stuff. So let's begin, everyone!
Once, a long time ago, there was a wise Zen master. People from far and near would seek his counsel and ask for his wisdom. Many would come and ask him to teach them, enlighten them in the way of Zen. He seldom turned any away. One day an important man, a man used to command and obedience came to visit the master. "I have come today to ask you to teach me about Zen. Open my mind to enlightenment." The tone of the important man's voice was one used to getting his own way.
The Zen master smiled and said that they should discuss the matter over a cup of tea. When the tea was served the master poured his visitor a cup. He poured and he poured and the tea rose to the rim and began to spill over the table and finally onto the robes of the wealthy man. Finally the visitor shouted, "Enough. You are spilling the tea all over. Can't you see the cup is full?"
The master stopped pouring and smiled at his guest. "You are like this tea cup, so full that nothing more can be added. Come back to me when the cup is empty. Come back to me with an empty mind."