Personal Evolution

Continuing from my last blog post, I believe that we can crawl out of the hamster wheel of life, look at it constructively and evolve ourselves to a better adapted version of our authentic selves. Personal evolution, as I said in my last post should be differentiated from personal development. Personal development is simply stepping up what you are already doing and how you are already behaving to another level of achievement. Personal evolution is an alteration; a deviation from habitual and often destructive patterns of behavior and/or identities we have taken on. Depending on the circumstances and your objectives, either can be beneficial. However, personal evolution can often produce more positive long-term development. So how do you go about practicing evolutionary thinking? Here are 10 ideas to get you started: 1. Surround yourself with new ideas instead of recycled beliefs. Beliefs can limit your ability to experience life as it unfolds 2. Be aware. Evolution occurs as you respond to your surroundings and environments. 3. Actively choose and design your sources of energy. You can then operate at a higher, more effective frequency. 4. Become a superconductor. Reduce the energy you consume by 90% by decreasing your resistance to life, yourself, and events. 5. Get over yourself in every way possible. Release the ego binds that keep you stuck. 6. Get to know every element of who you really are and how you tend to operate. This process of discovery and integration allows you to better handle whatever life throws at you, keeping you from getting constantly distracted from your purpose. 7. Take your gifts very, very seriously…and design your life to fully develop and express them. Gifts are the elevators of evolution. 8. Follow your whims. Whims are messages; develop the skill to read them. 9. The same goes for actual dreams. I believe that vivid dreams are messages to our conscious mind from our subconscious. If you feel that a dream is very real and that it is trying to tell you something…it is! 10. Ask for help. Evolution does not exist in a vacuum. Use your connections or develop new ones to support your evolution. Another important aspect of personal evolution is persistence. Changing a habit takes repeating the new behavior. According to a study by Phillippa Lally, a health psychology researcher, it takes anywhere from 18 days to 254 days, more than a year, to form a new habit. You simply must commit and put in the work. As one of my favorite teachers Paramhansa Yogananda said, “ Some people require much time to form mental habits of health, prosperity, and the acquirement of wisdom……Most people are halfhearted in their thoughts and actions; hence they do not succeed. A mental habit, in order to materialize, must be strong and persistent.” A life coach can help with your personal evolution by holding you accountable and encouraging you as you stay the course. Matching your values with your goals and then guiding you to your fullest expression of who you could be, a coach will help you to separate personal development issues from evolutionary ones and discern which route is more suitable for what you really want to accomplish short and long t