I get a lot of questions from you guys about discovering your assignment, finding your purpose, and the meaning of it all. All fascinating and intriguing questions, worthy of serious critical thinking. But there’s also a more simple and actionable approach to all this.
Which is simply a philosophy and commitment to growth…
Want to know what gets me jacked up, eager to jump into my work every day? It’s this thought:
No human has ever achieved a level of mastery in any endeavor that cannot be surpassed by another human.
The ability for growth is the greatest gift you were endowed with, by the force that created you. Greater than health, prosperity, or even love. Because growth can help you increase all those other things.
But with this gift, as is the case with all gifts, you can accept it, or reject it...
Now let’s make sure we know what we’re talking about. When I suggest that you must grow, that doesn’t mean you have to grind, hustle, get promoted, or become rich. (Although it could mean that.) We can also define growth as you learning a new language, studying chess strategy, or developing your empathy skills. I’m not a big fan of bumper sticker philosophy, but often there is great genius in simplicity. And grow or die may be one of those.
I will argue that growth is the purpose of your life. Just like a tree, plants or flowers, your actual “job” all day is to grow. And if you stop growing, you simply exist, in a continuing, diminishing state.
I feel strongly on this, so I’m going to do a show on my Prosperity TV channel Monday about this. (If you’re not already a subscriber there, you can do that here.) In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts below.
- RG
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I prefer the word awareness to growth after a certain stage. I think the greatest growth is to be able to see our own 'shadow' and when we do then we are aware of ourselves - we are all part of the collective shadow but when we see our own shadow and how it has formed we can then begin to step out of the collective unconscious as we havebecome aware of it and how it has formed us.
I'm all in on awareness. Huge part of the equation. But that is very different thing than growth. You can be aware you're stuck in a rut and living a life of mediocrity. But unless you commit to growth, nothing will change. Use awareness to ensure growth. -RG
I am not speaking about ordinary conscious awareness which is easy to discern but of spiritual awareness. Since my twenties I have always been committed to growth and I was always felt OK if I was growing. BUT then I had a Direct Experience, an awakening and I was shown the nature of reality and also was shown my own processing which was a huge shock, now that is GROWTH' if you like to call it that, but to me it meant an expansion in inner awarenes as I could now 'see' through our world of duality and polarisation. There was no going back to the paradigm I had been living in and which I had been jolted out of as it was now shattered. The knowledge I gained came from non local reality.
Shadow? Please expound.
I have cut and pasted this short exerpt for you which will give you an idea of the shadow.
That which we do not bring to consciousness appears in our lives as fate.” (Carl Jung)
Carl Jung is famous for formulating the concept of the shadow, the portion of our personality which, through the course of our life, is relegated to the darkness of the unconscious.
The Nature of the Shadow
“The shadow goes by many familiar names: the disowned self, the lower self, the dark twin or brother in bible and myth, the double, repressed self, alter ego, id. When we come face-to-face with our darker side, we use metaphors to describe these shadow encounters: meeting our demons, wrestling with the devil, descent to the underworld, dark night of the soul, midlife crisis.” (Connie Zweig, Meeting the Shadow)
While Jung is known for bringing the concept of the shadow to public awareness in the modern day, this aspect of ourselves has long been recognized as a ubiquitous feature of human beings. In 1886, before Jung made his mark, Robert Louis Stevenson created the now famous story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In his story Dr. Jekyll represents the respectable part of one’s personality, but when he transforms into Mr. Hyde, his shadow personality gains dominance over him and wrecks havoc on his life.
Although the shadow is an innate part of the human being, the vast majority of us are willfully blind regarding its existence. We hide our negative qualities, not only from others but from ourselves. To do this we often criticize and condemn others to ensure our focus does not fall on our own faults and destructive tendencies. We go through life with a false air of moral superiority and a belief that while others act immorally and destructively, we ourselves are wholly virtuous and always in the right.
“Unfortunately there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions.” (Carl Jung)
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” (Carl Jung)
Some aspects of our shadow are the product of our evolution. We contain, like all animals, instincts for sex and aggression that we tend to repress in order to adapt to the social mores of the day. Some aspects of our shadow are the product of our upbringing. Personality traits and impulses that elicited fear or anxiety in our parents or teachers, for example, caused them to punish or criticize us; and so we reacted by repressing these characteristics. We put up psychological defences to ensure they were not allowed expression, and thus these characteristics were repressed into the unconscious. As all humans have a shadow, what differentiates us from others is the degree to which we are conscious of it.
When our shadow remains unconscious, it wrecks havoc in our life. Repressed contents do not merely disappear, but rather they function independently of our conscious awareness. In other words, the shadow has the capacity to override our conscious ego and take possession of our being, exerting control over our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. When this happens we can be unconsciously driven into hard times, all the while remaining ignorant that these troubled periods were self-imposed, and not the product of bad luck or fate.
That is so true Randy! Perfect post, spot on! I personally feel within myself the urge to grow and develop. Be it new knowledges, the parts of myself I need to work on in order to move forward, the insights, understanding of something. There are so many things I feel I want to develop in! And that´s the force behind it all.
I used to think of growth in only terms of financial prosperity when I started my "personal development" many years ago now. What I learned along the way was that the universe, which I choose to call God, was that money is the least. Money is paper, Money is a means of exchange, money evaporates, like all man made things do. Once you learn that the universe is all about releasing, then it can do what it is intended to do. You make a living by your giving. I know, I can hear all the excuses now, I don't have anything to give. If I hit the lotto tomorrow I would help so many people. If I made more money, then I would give. Cut the bull..... We all know, if we want to be totally transparent, that we would probably go on a bender and spend every last cent on ourselves and maybe a few crumbs for the cute animals that gave us some conditional love back at the shelter. Until you understand the spiritual laws of prosperity, you will be like a mouse on a wheel. I've been the mouse, so I speak from experience. Let's cut to my chase. If you aren't willing to give, then you aren't gonna get. This is so profoundly not about money, It's about transforming yourself into a butterfly. There's a process. You just don't wake up a butterfly. You are pretty dam ugly at first, but given time, you stop crawling on the ground and you sour with the eagles. Life is not about what you have, it's who you become. Everything starts from a seed that grows. You don't see your pumpkin until fall. You plant good seeds, they will grow without your effort. Whatever the seed you sow is, it will grow. Work on you first, and as I believe, Seek first, the kingdom of heaven, which by the way, is here and now, and all these things will be added unto you. If your perception is dark, you will never see the light because the light cannot see darkness.
Prosperity TV
I prefer the word awareness to growth after a certain stage. I think the greatest growth is to be able to see our own 'shadow' and when we do then we are aware of ourselves - we are all part of the collective shadow but when we see our own shadow and how it has formed we can then begin to step out of the collective unconscious as we havebecome aware of it and how it has formed us.
I'm all in on awareness. Huge part of the equation. But that is very different thing than growth. You can be aware you're stuck in a rut and living a life of mediocrity. But unless you commit to growth, nothing will change. Use awareness to ensure growth. -RG
I am not speaking about ordinary conscious awareness which is easy to discern but of spiritual awareness. Since my twenties I have always been committed to growth and I was always felt OK if I was growing. BUT then I had a Direct Experience, an awakening and I was shown the nature of reality and also was shown my own processing which was a huge shock, now that is GROWTH' if you like to call it that, but to me it meant an expansion in inner awarenes as I could now 'see' through our world of duality and polarisation. There was no going back to the paradigm I had been living in and which I had been jolted out of as it was now shattered. The knowledge I gained came from non local reality.
Shadow? Please expound.
I have cut and pasted this short exerpt for you which will give you an idea of the shadow.
That which we do not bring to consciousness appears in our lives as fate.” (Carl Jung)
Carl Jung is famous for formulating the concept of the shadow, the portion of our personality which, through the course of our life, is relegated to the darkness of the unconscious.
The Nature of the Shadow
“The shadow goes by many familiar names: the disowned self, the lower self, the dark twin or brother in bible and myth, the double, repressed self, alter ego, id. When we come face-to-face with our darker side, we use metaphors to describe these shadow encounters: meeting our demons, wrestling with the devil, descent to the underworld, dark night of the soul, midlife crisis.” (Connie Zweig, Meeting the Shadow)
While Jung is known for bringing the concept of the shadow to public awareness in the modern day, this aspect of ourselves has long been recognized as a ubiquitous feature of human beings. In 1886, before Jung made his mark, Robert Louis Stevenson created the now famous story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In his story Dr. Jekyll represents the respectable part of one’s personality, but when he transforms into Mr. Hyde, his shadow personality gains dominance over him and wrecks havoc on his life.
Although the shadow is an innate part of the human being, the vast majority of us are willfully blind regarding its existence. We hide our negative qualities, not only from others but from ourselves. To do this we often criticize and condemn others to ensure our focus does not fall on our own faults and destructive tendencies. We go through life with a false air of moral superiority and a belief that while others act immorally and destructively, we ourselves are wholly virtuous and always in the right.
“Unfortunately there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions.” (Carl Jung)
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” (Carl Jung)
Some aspects of our shadow are the product of our evolution. We contain, like all animals, instincts for sex and aggression that we tend to repress in order to adapt to the social mores of the day. Some aspects of our shadow are the product of our upbringing. Personality traits and impulses that elicited fear or anxiety in our parents or teachers, for example, caused them to punish or criticize us; and so we reacted by repressing these characteristics. We put up psychological defences to ensure they were not allowed expression, and thus these characteristics were repressed into the unconscious. As all humans have a shadow, what differentiates us from others is the degree to which we are conscious of it.
When our shadow remains unconscious, it wrecks havoc in our life. Repressed contents do not merely disappear, but rather they function independently of our conscious awareness. In other words, the shadow has the capacity to override our conscious ego and take possession of our being, exerting control over our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. When this happens we can be unconsciously driven into hard times, all the while remaining ignorant that these troubled periods were self-imposed, and not the product of bad luck or fate.
That is so true Randy! Perfect post, spot on! I personally feel within myself the urge to grow and develop. Be it new knowledges, the parts of myself I need to work on in order to move forward, the insights, understanding of something. There are so many things I feel I want to develop in! And that´s the force behind it all.
I used to think of growth in only terms of financial prosperity when I started my "personal development" many years ago now. What I learned along the way was that the universe, which I choose to call God, was that money is the least. Money is paper, Money is a means of exchange, money evaporates, like all man made things do. Once you learn that the universe is all about releasing, then it can do what it is intended to do. You make a living by your giving. I know, I can hear all the excuses now, I don't have anything to give. If I hit the lotto tomorrow I would help so many people. If I made more money, then I would give. Cut the bull..... We all know, if we want to be totally transparent, that we would probably go on a bender and spend every last cent on ourselves and maybe a few crumbs for the cute animals that gave us some conditional love back at the shelter. Until you understand the spiritual laws of prosperity, you will be like a mouse on a wheel. I've been the mouse, so I speak from experience. Let's cut to my chase. If you aren't willing to give, then you aren't gonna get. This is so profoundly not about money, It's about transforming yourself into a butterfly. There's a process. You just don't wake up a butterfly. You are pretty dam ugly at first, but given time, you stop crawling on the ground and you sour with the eagles. Life is not about what you have, it's who you become. Everything starts from a seed that grows. You don't see your pumpkin until fall. You plant good seeds, they will grow without your effort. Whatever the seed you sow is, it will grow. Work on you first, and as I believe, Seek first, the kingdom of heaven, which by the way, is here and now, and all these things will be added unto you. If your perception is dark, you will never see the light because the light cannot see darkness.