Finding Inner Strength

by JR Kuo  l  June 08, 2019  l

According to U.S. News & World Report, 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by February. Roughly 65% of Americans dream of opening a small business, but only 14% of Americans actually do it.

Like many people, I struggle to find my strength.  I often succumb to my fear, laziness, indecisiveness, uncertainty, lack of focus, lack of clarity and purpose.  Even when I had goals, I struggled to stay motivated and keep the energy up, to be consistent and persistent in chasing after my goals and dreams.

After years of researching and experimenting with different methods and techniques, I came up with 5-Steps that I practice on a daily and weekly basis to stay focused and motivated.

1. Vision Quest – Every day I spend at least 15 minutes reflecting on myself and asking what I really want.  I do this as part of my daily meditation.  I literally visualize the type of person I want to be in 5 years, the lifestyle that I want to live, and the work that I love to do.  While I am meditating, I filter out all the voices of external expectations, such as “this is impossible,” “it’s too risky,” “let’s the take easy routine,” “I need an 8 to 5 job because of financial security,” “happy hour is more fun than working,” “I will be alone,” “I will never make it,” “no one will hire me,” and many other fear-based noise.

2. Daily Gratitude – After my Vision Quest, I recollect and remember 3 things that I am grateful for, specifically from the day before. I could be grateful for a simple thing such as I have running water in my apartment to the people I’ve met who have given me business referrals.  And I say thank you to those things.

3. Mindfulness – Every morning I start off by setting my intention for the day and I decide how I’m going to live out my day. Before I end my meditation, I ask myself what would make today great.  I plan out my day with a clear intention and mindfulness.  If my day involves a lot of writing, I would tell myself that today I am going to be productive and I am going to write my heart out.  If my day has a lot of scheduled meetings or sales calls, I would tell myself that today I am going to give each and every person my 100% attention and we are going to have fun and meaningful conversations.  The whole point of this practice is that I determine what my day is going to look like and what I want to accomplish.

4. Embrace Fear – Fear is part of our existence. According to Psychology Today, “Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger; it has strong roots in human evolution.  If people didn’t feel fear, they couldn’t protect themselves from legitimate threats, which in the ancestral world frequently resulted in life-or-death consequences.  In the modern world, individuals often fear situations where the stakes are much lower, but their body and brain still treat the threat as lethal.”  Fear has its purpose in our lives, but uncontrolled fear can incapacitate and ruin our life.  I have slowly learned to acknowledge and embrace my fear by facing it head-on.  The tool I have been using is writing.  Throughout the day or week, whenever my fear or self-doubts creep in, I write them down immediately or wait until I am physically and emotionally available.  I have Google Doc on my phone that I use to write these down.  By writing these emotions down and going back to read them, I start having more understanding of my fears. Thus, I can have more control over them.

5. Repeat – Be Consistent and Persistent – Finding our inner strength takes effort and time. It doesn’t happen overnight. I have been practicing these steps consistently for years now.  Every day, no matter how tired, happy, depressed, excited, and chaotic my life and day are, I spent 15 minutes on these steps.  I consider it an investment of MYSELF.  I guarantee that once you have found your inner strength, you will have this amazing clarity with a powerful purpose.  At that moment, nothing can stop you from achieving your dream!

 

 Your Inner Strength Awaits YOU.  I Have a Way to Help YOU to Unlock IT.

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