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Listening From the Heart vs Listening From the Mind

My morning routine usually starts with me waking up at 6 am and sitting on the couch with a cup of tea.

I’m often hit by the feeling that I need to start doing stuff as soon as I wake up. There is a sense of anxiety behind this feeling. It feels like if I don’t get stuff done then something bad will happen. It’s very unpleasant.

This morning I decided I would give myself some time to just sit and do nothing with the intention of being present with myself and my surroundings.

2018 Year in Review

2018 Year in Review

A reflection of the most significant events, resources, and realisations of 2018.

So much happens in a year that it’s difficult to share it all in one post. So in this review, I’m sharing the most relevant happenings on my journey of authentic expression and included a list of resources for developing self-awareness, connection, and a sense of purpose. I also share what’s coming up for B is for Being in 2019.

This post has five sections:

1. Noteworthy Happenings

2. The Most Helpful Resources of 2018 (Books, Podcasts & Videos)

3. The Parts That Limit Me – 2018 Edition

4. Looking ahead to 2019

5. Thank You

2017 Year in Review

2017 Year in Review

It’s been a year of realisation, healing and going to work.

At the beginning of the year, I landed a stable office job with a great team of people. Very quickly, I was confronted by my unbalanced work ethic and was left trying to balance the remainder of my time between the podcast, Júlia, friends, family, exercise, and self-time. It was difficult.

But I was grateful for this situation because I became highly aware of some of the dysfunctional beliefs I hold around work, and why work takes priority over most other areas of my life.

The troublesome belief I became aware of was:

My value as a person is determined by the outcome of the work I produce. If people approve of my work, then I feel good, well and worthy. If they feel it’s lacking or needs improvement, then I feel worthless (worth-less) and need to work even harder to make up for the self-worth deficit I’ve just created.

This is a very intense belief. However, there is something I found helpful when I was deep in moments of being my own worst boss.

Every time I felt the pressure to work harder, I would look around the office and become aware of everyone else working around me. While I did this, I recalled the times they had shown their work to others and received feedback on things they needed to improve. From this, I realised that not everyone puts the same amount of pressure on themselves as I do, and they seem perfectly ok, maybe even a little happier…

I realised my workmates weren’t working for their worth. They were just working. They knew they were valuable even if their work falls flat and they have to do it all again.

Of course, not everyone in the office had this worked out. I found it quite sobering when I saw others putting pressure on themselves to produce good work or work harder.

I got to see this belief from the outside and realised it only serves to add extra pressure to perform which makes it even harder to work efficiently because suddenly my self-value is riding on the quality of my work.

Anyway, enough of this intro. Let’s get to this post!

5 Benefits of Meditation

5 Benefits of Meditation and Why You Should Consider Starting – Guest Post by Peter Fessel

Thinking about exploring meditation for yourself? Take a look at 5 of the biggest benefits my friend Peter experienced and learn how to begin your own practice.

Peter’s previous article was a yearly reflection on the biggest self-discoveries he made in 2015 which greatly improved the quality of his life. However, one of the things he didn’t mention was that he’d made most of these discoveries alongside starting his own meditation practice.

Not being able to fit all of these juicy experiences into one article he has returned with this article featuring the biggest benefits he’s experienced through meditation.

A recommended read if you’re curious about what to expect from starting your own explorations with meditation.