My Dad Asked How I’ll “Fill the Fridge.” Here’s a Better Question.

A quote from Star Trek and a painful phone call showed me we’re asking the wrong question about our work, our lives, and our purpose.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

You know the question. You’ve heard it from a parent, a friend, or the nagging voice in your own head at 3 a.m.

“So… how are you going to fill the fridge?”

It’s a question born of love and concern, rooted in a world where survival is the baseline. I (Cristof) got it from my dad just this morning. He was congratulating me on our new newsletter before deftly pivoting to the critique: “The only thing that’s not clear to me is how are you going to fill the fridge?”

He’s not wrong. But the question itself is the problem.

It had me thinking about a quote I’d just read in Rainn Wilson’s book, Soul Boom (affiliate link). On page 16, he quotes Captain Picard from Star Trek:

“Money doesn’t exist in the 24th century. The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.”

When I read that, I didn’t feel a sci-fi fantasy. I felt a deep, resonant longing. Not for a world without money, but for a world where our driving force has fundamentally shifted.

Look at the immense dissatisfaction, the lack of meaning, the rising depression and suicide rates in the most “developed” countries. It’s a screaming signal that more wealth only matters to a certain point. Beyond that, it’s empty calories for the soul.

I know this because I’ve eaten those calories. I’ve been in the high-paying world of investment banking and capital markets advisory. It was absolutely soul-sucking. I knew if I stayed on that path, focusing only on maximizing my income, I would be dead in 10, 15, or 20 years. Maybe not physically, but emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. I’d be a ghost in a gold-plated cage.

So, we made a choice.

(Sophia here.) Let me paint a picture of that choice. Around 2012, Cristof joined a folk-rock band touring the US Southeast. We lived under the poverty line. We didn’t own a cell phone. We lived in a 450-square-foot apartment and shared one car. A croissant at Starbucks was a luxury we actively calculated against our rent.

When our cat got sick, we took on a $4,000 credit card loan for her surgery. That was our reality.

Make no mistake, we are not glorifying having less or making poverty a virtue.

But here’s the secret no one tells you: we weren’t miserable.

We aspired for more but didn’t feel poor. We felt purposeful. We were living a life of our choosing. We could have gone back to six-figure jobs, but we consciously chose a different path. The music Cristof was creating, the meditation videos I was making — it felt transformative. We were giving value, and that provided a sense of contentment no paycheck had ever matched.

We weren’t “Wealth-Acquirers.” We were becoming “Value-Givers.”

And that is the identity shift that changes everything.

The Identity Shift: From “Wealth-Acquirer” to “Value-Giver”

The old paradigm forces you to ask: “What do I need to DO to earn money?” This question puts you in a constant state of lack and chasing. You are always behind, always trying to extract from the world in order to…

fill your fridge, 
fill your house, 
fill your bank account.

The new paradigm, the one that Picard hinted at and we’ve lived, starts with a different identity: “I am a Value-Giver.”

The core belief is this:

I am a person who gives value and thrives financially, emotionally, and spiritually. My thriving is directly proportionate to me giving my true, authentic self. The more I give, the more I receive.

This isn’t spiritual bypassing. We live in a society that requires money. The goal isn’t to become a monk or nun who renounces money (unless that’s your calling!). The goal is to flip the equation.

Instead of doing things to get money, you focus on giving immense value, and you learn to monetize that value in an aligned, integral way. When you do this, the money that follows feels like a natural byproduct of your service, not the grim reward for your soul’s surrender.

Your work becomes like that of a monk or nun — you are taking care of a core need (spiritual, creative, transformational) for your community, and the community, in turn, supports you. It’s a virtuous cycle. It’s no wonder studies often find clergy among the happiest of professionals. They live in the flow of giving and receiving.

Your Simple & Aligned Starter Kit to Become a Value-Giver

This shift starts in the mind long before it manifests in the bank account. Here are two simple practices we use daily to cement this new identity.

1. The Daily Value Question (From Cristof)

Every morning, I journal the answer to this one question:

“What’s one thing I can do today to be of service to others?”

I just jot down whatever comes through my stream of consciousness. It takes not even two minutes. This isn’t about crafting a business plan; it’s about setting a daily intention. It immediately orients your brain away from “what can I get?” and toward “what can I give?” The answers can be as simple as “send that encouraging email to a fellow creator” or “finally write that post that’s been on my heart.”

2. The 3–6–9 Abundance Alignment

This is a powerful method to reprogram your subconscious and connect your authentic gifts with financial abundance.

First, craft your new identity statement, such as “I am a person who gives value and thrives financially, emotionally, and spiritually,” see the core belief above. Then repeat it throughout the day, saying it out loud:

• 3 times over breakfast

• 6 times after lunch

• 9 times just before bed.

3. Bridge the Gap with “What If?” (From Sophia)

This final journaling prompt is where the magic happens, building a neural bridge between your authentic desires and your abundant future. This is how we shatter the myth that giving your gifts and building wealth are mutually exclusive.

The journaling prompt is:

“What if my life was filled with financial abundance by expressing the gifts that are wanting to come through me? What is it that I truly want to express in this world, knowing that me doing so is my most expansive, abundant expression — financially and spiritually?”

This exercise isn’t about begging the universe for a check. It’s about building a neural bridge between your deepest, most authentic joy and the belief that it deserves and can create abundance.

The Journey Ahead

This journey from the “soul-suck” of chasing money to the fulfillment of being a Value-Giver isn’t a random event. Sophia has actually mapped out the exact spiritual and psychological process for how this shift happens, which we call The Bridge to Your Next Self. We’ll be diving deep into that framework in one of our next pieces.

It all starts by changing the question you ask yourself. Stop asking, “How will I fill the fridge?”

Start asking, “How can I fill my soul by filling the souls of others?”

The fridge (and other forms of bounty), I promise you, will follow.

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Your Brain Is Angry. It’s Time to Feed It a Cookie.

How a bizarre lesson from Rainn Wilson and Gandhi is saving my creative soul.

Photo by Vyshnavi Bisani on Unsplash

You know the feeling.

You’re cruising along, your mind buzzing with a new article idea or a solution to a client’s problem. You’re happy. The creative flow is humming.

Then, it happens. Someone cuts you off in traffic, their middle finger a stark punctuation to their anger. Or, an email pings in — a terse, unkind message from a collaborator or client.

In a flash, the flow is gone. Replaced by a hot, sharp anger.

This was my (Cristof) default state. My internal monologue would kick in, a cocktail of self-righteous judgment and cynical ridicule: “I’m such a good driver. I went at the speed limit. What a jerk. And for what? We’re both just going to end up at the same red light anyway.”

It felt justified. It felt normal. But I never stopped to calculate the real cost.

That anger wasn’t just a passing emotion. It was a toxin. It would seep into my body, making my knees tense, my shoulders tight, and my stomach churn. With a sick body and a mind buzzing with negativity, I couldn’t create. I couldn’t write. I’d try to sit down at my desk, but the words wouldn’t come. If I had to produce work, it was subpar, forced, and misaligned. The entire cycle would then spiral into frustration and self-doubt.

It was costing me my peace, my productivity, and my power.

The turning point came from an unexpected place: Rainn Wilson’s book, Soul Boom (affiliate link). In it, he writes:

“We all know someone who is rude, selfish, unkind, toxic. We do our best to avoid people like this. But what if we tried instead to consciously find one good quality about that person? For instance, what if they are a total jerk in every way but have great hygiene and always smell like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? When I’m able to consciously focus on the good quality of a person, not only is my day better but my relationship with that person improves. And eventually, other good qualities are revealed to me that I might not have taken the time to see previously.

In other words, focus on the cookies. and don’t focus on the negative.”

He then quotes Gandhi, one of the grand masters of humility:

“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”

“Focus on the cookies.” The phrase stopped me. It was so simple, so visual, so… absurd. But it pointed to a profound truth I had been missing.

For all my life, I thought the solution was to simply stop being angry. To suppress it. To let it go. But you can’t reliably power down a reaction with willpower alone. The real shift, I discovered, isn’t about managing your reactions.

It’s about shifting your identity.

The Person Who Finds the Cookies

I realized that “focusing on the cookies” wasn’t a behavior hack. It was an identity. I had to stop trying to be less angry and start becoming the kind of person who, by their very nature, doesn’t get derailed by external circumstances.

I asked myself: Who would I have to become for a rude driver or a difficult email to not be an issue at all?

The answer painted a clear picture. This version of me is:

1. Self-Reflecting: They look inward before casting outward judgment.

2. Unaffected by Circumstances: They don’t take their emotional cues from other people’s bad behavior.

3. Compassionate: They operate from a default assumption of goodness, or at the very least, a default assumption that everyone is fighting a hard battle.

This is the core of manifestation and identity shifting. You don’t wait until you feel like that person to act. You act as if you are that person, and the feelings follow.

When the world gets loud, this identity whispers:

“I am not taking my cues from current circumstances. These circumstances are only the result of my past mind states. My current mind state produces my future circumstances. And I’m not letting anybody decide over my mind states. Every thought counts. Every thought matters.”

Your 30-Second Identity Shift Drill

This isn’t just philosophy. It’s a practical drill you can use the very next time you’re triggered. It takes less than 30 seconds and has two simple steps.

The moment you feel that hot surge of judgmental anger, pause. Take one breath, and repeat this twofold mantra to yourself:

1. Step One: Detach. Say: “I do not take cues from my circumstances.”
   This is the emergency brake. It stops the mental train from hurtling down the familiar track of rage and ridicule. It reclaims your sovereignty.

2. Step Two: Shift. Ask: “Who do I have to become for whom this wouldn’t be an issue at all?”
   This is the rocket fuel. It instantly moves you from a state of reaction to a state of creation. You are no longer a victim of the event; you are the conscious architect of your response. You are putting on the cloak of your highest self.

Then, and only then, look for the cookie. Maybe it’s the fact their car is impeccably clean. (And only decent people keep their cars clean, right?) Maybe it’s Sophia’s wonderful method of assuming their loved one is giving birth and they need to rush to the hospital. (Since we’re the ones dictating our mental narrative, we might as well make it a good one.)

The “cookie” is the proof that your identity shift is working.

The Ripple Effect on Your Creative Life

When you become the person who finds the cookies, you aren’t just being nice. You are engaging in the most strategic act of self-preservation a creator, solopreneur, freelancer, or really anyone can do.

You are protecting your most valuable asset: your aligned, creative energy. You are ensuring that a single moment of external chaos doesn’t derail your entire day’s work. You are, quite literally, building the future you want by consciously choosing the mind state that will create it.

Every thought counts. Every thought matters. So choose to find the cookie. Your peace, your power, and your next breakthrough depend on it.

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The Sacred Pause: The Solopreneur’s Antidote to Burnout

How a simple question from Rainn Wilson’s “Soul Boom” helped me replace hustle with holiness and build a business that doesn’t cost me my peace.

Photo by Frank Leuderalbert on Unsplash

You know the feeling. It’s 3:17 PM on a Tuesday. Your to-do list is a tyrant, your inbox is a bottomless pit, and the glow of your screen feels more like a prison spotlight than a gateway to freedom. You’re chasing client work, algorithm updates, and revenue goals with a frantic energy that, deep down, feels hollow.

You started this journey to build a life of purpose. But somewhere along the way, the purpose got buried under the productivity. The meaning got lost in the metrics.

I (Cristof) was deep in this exact grind. As a freelance programmer, my worth was measured in billable hours and completed projects. I stacked them high, convinced that maximizing my income potential was the ultimate goal. The result? I was a husk. Stressed, burned out, and painfully disconnected. The romantic dates with my wife? A forgotten concept. Quiet moments with my cats? A luxury. My morning meditation? The first thing sacrificed on the altar of "busyness."

I had traded my inner peace for outer progress, and it was the worst bargain I’d ever made. I was doing all this work for my family, but in the process, I had become completely absent from my family. I was building a business to create freedom, but I had become a slave to it.

Then, I read a paragraph in Rainn Wilson’s book, Soul Boom (affiliate-link), that stopped me cold. It was a simple invitation—a plea, really—amidst a chapter on meaning. He asks:

“Please take five minutes to consider… What is holy to you personally? Where does sacredness live? What should be sacred to all of humanity? What is most definitely not sacred? What have we lost by not having more ‘sacredness’ in our lives?”

His hope was to spark one action: a moment of pause.

Reading that, I felt a deep resonance. I had already stepped away from the 24/7 freelance grind, but the mental habits of hustle culture were stubborn ghosts. The frantic energy, the guilt for pausing — these were my default settings. The word ‘pause’ in Rainn’s passage wasn’t a life raft from a sinking ship, but a validation for the dry land I was already standing on. It was permission to make my new reality feel not just like a break, but like a sacred, permanent shift.

So I closed the book, set my phone aside, and applied this new lens of ‘sacredness’ to the peace I was trying to build.

Here’s what I discovered in that sacred pause:

What is holy to me is not the output; it’s the process. It’s the sacred act of healing, writing, and creating between 8 AM and noon each day. It’s the time I spend journaling to untangle childhood traumas and insecurities, not just to become a better businessman, but to become a whole man. This is the foundation upon which a meaningful life—and a sustainable business—is built.

Sacredness lives as a feeling in the heart of my being. It’s not an abstract concept; it’s a tangible energy I can locate in the center of my chest. It’s the universal love and joy I can access through a momentary pause, a deep breath, a conscious re-centering. It’s my internal home base, and I had been away from home for far too long.

What should be sacred to all of us is getting out of the hustle culture. It’s making non-negotiable pauses to reflect, realign, and simplify. The endless heist for money, fame, and power is a hollow game. The true spiritual journey is the one that leads to an inner happiness independent of outside factors—the kind of success that no market crash can ever take away.

That Tuesday afternoon grind? The constant busyness devoid of meaning? That is the opposite of sacred. It’s what leads us away from our true path. But here’s the beautiful paradox I learned: that feeling of emptiness, that volcanic pressure of dissatisfaction, is also what eventually forces us onto a spiritual quest. It’s the catalyst. As Thich Nhat Hanh said,

“in the sunlight of awareness, everything becomes sacred.”

Even our burnout can become a teacher if we pay attention.

So, what have we lost by not having more sacredness in our lives? We have lost our peace. And peace is the most precious wealth in the world. For this very reason, my current LinkedIn banner states:

“There is no greater wealth in this world than peace of mind.”

See it here and connect.

Without it, we cannot serve others or ourselves in our highest possible way. We just spin on the hamster wheel, wondering why we’re so tired but getting nowhere.

Your Practical Pause: A 5-Minute Business Strategy

This isn’t woo-woo; it’s the most practical productivity hack you’ll ever adopt. Your sacred pause is your strategic advantage. It’s what prevents burnout and fuels authentic creativity.

Here’s how to start, today:

1. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Do this before you check email or social media.

2. Ask yourself just one of Rainn’s questions: “What is holy to me personally in my work or life today?” or “Where can I find a pocket of the sacred in my schedule?”

3. Listen. Not with your brain, but with that feeling in the center of your chest. The first answer that arises without ego—that’s your truth.

4. Protect it. That thing that came up? That’s your new non-negotiable. It is more important than one more email.

When I started doing this, everything changed. I didn’t work less; I worked better. My creativity became more focused, my energy more sustainable, and my connection with my clients more genuine because I was no longer running on empty. I was serving from a place of overflow.

I regained my peace. And from that place of quiet wealth, everything else flows.

What is one thing that is sacred in your work and life? Share it in the comments below. Let’s create a living library of what truly matters.

If this piece resonated with you, you’ll love our weekly Simple and Aligned newsletter. Every week, we share one simple prompt, one insight, and one actionable tip to help you stay connected to what’s sacred in your work and life, so you can build a business that feels like a calling. Join us here and get free access to our ever-expanding library of PDF-guides for more conscious living and success.

With love and alignment,
Cristof (and Sophia)

My Cure for Entrepreneurial Anxiety Came From an Unlikely Source: Rainn Wilson

I was drowning in doubt over my business metrics. A brutally honest sentence from "Soul Boom" led me to a 3-minute practice that changed everything.

Photo by Keegan Houser on Unsplash

Disclosure: This article links book titles to their Amazon.com listings using affiliate links. If you choose to click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

The knot in my stomach was back.

I’d just closed the tabs—our Medium stats, our affiliate dashboard—and the familiar script started playing in my head: “See? The numbers don’t lie. Maybe you and Sophia don’t have anything meaningful to contribute after all.”

I felt it physically. The weight on my shoulders, the tightness in my jaw. The material results of our fledgling company, Simple and Aligned, were all I could see, and they were shouting that we were failing.

I felt really, well, frigging unhappy.

And in that moment, a line from a book I was reading echoed in my mind like it was written just for this exact feeling. It was from page 76 of Rainn Wilson’s Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution:

“I needed to seek spirituality because I was really frigging unhappy.”

It was so blunt. So undeniably honest. It wasn't a complex theory; it was a survival instinct. My own search for spirituality started from a similar place.

My whole life, I’ve been fascinated by the non-material. I grew up in relative material abundance; whenever I had a wish that wasn't too outrageous, I could usually put it on my list for my birthday or Christmas and get it. I remember wishing for an electric guitar, and boom, a month or two later, I had it. I wished for an amp to go with it, and boom, I got that too.

It felt nice to have them, to play around with them. But I already had so many "toys." I had a computer, golf equipment, two bicycles, a closet full of clothes, an acoustic guitar, a cello, and shelves overflowing with books and games. The truth was, I had accumulated so many more things than I had time to actually use them. And in that realization, they became completely meaningless. The joy of acquisition was fleeting, replaced by the quiet burden of possession.

By 15, that feeling had crystallized into a genuine curiosity. If a new guitar or gadget couldn't provide a lasting answer, what could? It was this search that led me to a conversation I’ll never forget. I happened to run into my religious education teacher while walking across town. We fell into step together, and I found myself asking him the biggest question of all: “What is the meaning of life?”

He didn't offer a textbook answer or a complex philosophical theory. He just stopped, looked at me with genuine sincerity, and said, “That is a very good question.” Then he added, “It’s one I also don’t have an answer for.” His humble admission was surprisingly powerful. It didn't shut down my question; it validated it. It signaled that this was a real quest, not something with a simple answer in the back of a book.

The answer began years later, thanks to my wife, Sophia, who introduced me to meditation, and a book I got from my dad, The Diamond Cutter by Geshe Michael Roach, which showed me how ancient wisdom applies to modern problems. I learned that the answer wasn't in the next viral post or product launch; it was inside me. Rainn Wilson defines spirituality as that which is “not of material… not tangible.” It’s the meaning, the purpose, the connection—the stuff that truly matters, but you can’t put a price tag on.

My moment of despair over our stats was the latest alarm bell, signaling that I’d forgotten that. I’d become attached to the material outcome and disconnected from the non-material why.

Rainn’s quote was the spark that brought me back to that teenage feeling. It was the permission slip to admit the material world wasn't enough. But the solution? That didn’t come from his book. His blunt honesty inspired me to reflect and consciously excavate a practice from my own toolkit, built from years of meditation and introspection with Sophia.

It wasn't created in the moment of despair, but in a quiet moment of reflection afterwards, specifically because his words resonated so deeply. I asked myself: "What is my actual, practical response to being 'really frigging unhappy'?" This is what I developed:

The 3-Step “Body & Breath” Reset

1. Play Sentinel. Your first job isn’t to fight the feeling, but to notice it. Mentally acknowledge it: “Ah, there you are, doubt. And you, unhappiness.” Stop seeing these thoughts as “you” and instead see them as visitors. Just naming them—“I see you”—creates a tiny sliver of space between you and the panic. You are the watcher, not the storm.

2. Breathe and Locate. Take one slow, deep breath. As you breathe out, scan your body. “Where does this doubt live?” For me, it’s a definite tightness in my jaw and a heavy pressure on my shoulders. Don’t try to make it go away. Just shine a light on it. Okay, it’s right here. This moves the problem from the abstract mind into the tangible body, where it’s easier to work with.

3. Smile and Send Love. This part feels a little weird until you do it. Put a gentle, soft smile on your face—not because you’re happy, but as an act of kindness toward yourself. Then, direct that feeling of compassion inward, right toward the area of tension. Mentally whisper, “Thank you for trying to protect me. I see you. It’s okay. You can relax now.”

Radiate acceptance instead of resistance. The tension may not vanish instantly, but its power over you will. It dissolves from a screaming alarm into a quiet whisper you can calmly listen to.

(For extra credit, ask that tension, “What are you here to teach me?” and journal the answer. It might be about a deeper fear of being irrelevant—a much richer insight than just “the stats are low.”)

That three-minute practice completely shifted my energy. I stopped frantically thinking about what was wrong with our strategy and remembered what was right with our purpose: to be of service. The doubt was a passenger, not the driver.

The material results of our work will always ebb and flow. But my ability to return to a place of joy and purpose in the process? That’s a spiritual skill no algorithm can touch.

And it all started with a sentence in a book from an unlikely spiritual guide, giving me the courage to admit I was unhappy, and the inspiration to find my own way out.

If Rainn Wilson’s blunt honesty speaks to you like it did to me, and inspires you to find your own tools, you can find his book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, here.

If this personal journey and practice resonated with you, and you want more insights for aligning your mind and your work, join our Simple and Aligned Newsletter. We share the tools and discoveries that don't show up anywhere else.

What’s a quote that recently inspired you to create a change? Share it in the comments below—I’d love to hear what’s sparking your own solutions.

The Childhood Memory That Programmed Me to Self-Sabotage

…And How I’m Rewriting the Code

Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

I (Sophia) couldn’t understand why I kept abandoning my dreams. The answer was 30 years old, hiding in a hallway, listening to my mom on the phone.

I thought my problem was time management.

I’d devoured every book, every blog post. I’d tried every productivity hack. For years, I’d cycle through the same pattern: I’d start a project with fiery passion. For three, maybe four days, I’d feel incredible—aligned, purposeful, and satisfied.

Then, without fail, I’d abandon it.

Something “more important” would pop up. A website bug that had to be fixed. An inbox that needed to be zeroed out. I’d tell myself a very logical story: “Let me just tie up all these loose ends. I need a clear mind and a clean slate to do my real work.”

But by the time the slate was clean, my energy was gone. My real work—the writing, the recording, the creating—never happened.

I blamed my willpower. I thought I was lazy, undisciplined, a dreamer who couldn’t execute.

I was wrong. My willpower was fine. It was being held hostage by a story written decades ago. It took a 100-year-old book by Émile Coué to make me look for the puppeteer. He introduced me to the ruthless power of the subconscious mind, which he called the imagination:

“Not only does the unconscious self preside over the functions of our organism, but also over all our actions. It is this that we call imagination and it is this which contrary to accepted opinion always makes us act even and above all against our will when there is antagonism between these two forces.”

My will wanted to create. But a stronger force was making me act against it.

It took a moment of deep honesty to find the source of that force: a young girl, standing in a hallway, listening to her mom on the phone.

I was that girl. I had ranked second in my class for years, and I was proud. I worked hard. I knew who was first, and I was genuinely happy being second. It felt like my place.

Then I heard my mom’s voice, tinged with a disappointment I’d never heard directed at me: “Oh yes, she again has only ranked second.”

The air left my lungs.

The message my heart received was catastrophic: Your best will never be good enough. The highest effort you can possibly muster will still be a disappointment.

So, my brilliant, young mind made a survival decision: If you can’t win, don’t play the game. If your best is a failure, never give your best.

It created a saboteur, a protector, whose sole job was to ensure I never put my whole heart into anything ever again. That way, I could never feel the crushing pain of my “best” being found wanting.

For 30 years, I didn’t know this protector existed. But she’s been running the show ever since that day in the hallway. She made me a puppet, and I never even saw the strings. Coué saw them clearly:

“We who are so proud of our will, who believe that we are free to act as we like, are in reality, nothing but wretched puppets of which our imagination holds all the strings.”

Her strategy is genius: Productive Procrastination.

When I start getting too close to my heart-work—the work that matters so much it could be deemed “my best”—she swings into action. She doesn’t tell me to be lazy. That would be too obvious.

Instead, she makes me productive. She creates a compelling, logical, and urgent case for doing everything except the important thing.

• “You can’t write an article with a messy website! Fix it first!”

• “How can you record a video with unorganized files? Organize them first!”

• “Your inbox is full! You can’t possibly focus with that hanging over you.”

She is the ultimate Streamliner. Her justification is always about creating the “perfect conditions” for genius to strike.

But her real mission is to run out the clock. To ensure I never, ever put myself in a position where I risk giving my best effort and having it be “only second.” Because if I don’t truly try, I can’t truly fail. I had believed so proudly in my free will, but Coué was right:

“If we open a dictionary and look up the word ‘will’ we find this definition: ‘The faculty of freely determining certain acts’. We accept this definition as true and unattackable, although nothing could be more false, this will which we reclaim so proudly yields to the imagination. It is an absolute rule that admits of no exception.”

How I’m Learning to Fire the Protector

You don’t defeat this kind of deep programming with a new planner. You defeat it with compassion and conscious reprogramming. The goal is not to fight the imagination, but to guide it.

“We only cease to be puppets when we have learned to guide our imagination.”

1. Acknowledge the Protector with Love. I don’t fight her anymore. When I feel the urge to suddenly reorganize my entire life, I stop. I say, “Thank you. I see you. I know you’re trying to protect me from that old hurt. Your job is done now. I’ve got this.” Acknowledging her presence disarms her.

2. Redefine “Winning.” The child’s definition was: Winning = Being The Best (First Rank). My new definition is: Winning = Showing Up Authentically. My worth is not tied to an outcome—a ranking, a viral article, a number of subscribers. It is tied to the courage of creating and sharing. This reframes the entire game.

3. The “Good Enough” Rule. I actively practice doing things “good enough.” I send the email with a typo. I post the video with imperfect lighting. I publish the article that feels 80% there. This is direct action against the old program. It’s a rebellion against the need for a flawless “best.” It proves to my subconscious that the world doesn’t end when things aren’t perfect.

4. The New Autosuggestion. My Coué mantra is no longer about time or joy. It’s about identity and safety. I repeat, every morning and night: “My best is more than enough. I am safe to share my voice with the world.”

This is how we rewrite the code. Not with force, but with a gentle, persistent persuasion of our deepest selves. We thank the old protector for her service, and we finally, gently, take back the strings.

What’s a story from your past that you know is still running your present? Sharing it, even just in the comments, can be a first step in rewriting it.

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All indented quotes in this article are from Coué’s book Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion*. If you’d like to read up on Coué’s wisdom yourself, feel free to explore it. It’s quick to read, a true classic, a treasure for life!

(*Amazon.com affiliate link: If you choose to click it and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.)

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This journey of untangling our past from our present is what we explore in the Simple and Aligned Newsletter. It’s about building a life and business that feels good because it’s run by the adult you, not the child who got hurt. Join us here for more.

How a 400-Year-Old Poet Taught Me to Quit My Grind and Trust My Breath

And why your most valuable offering has nothing to do with your output.

Photo by Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash

I was reading Rainn Wilson’s Soul Boom the other day, searching for some spiritual ammunition against the constant low-grade anxiety of being a solopreneur.

You know the feeling. That pressure to perform, to monetize, to prove your worth in a world that measures it in likes and revenue.

Then, on page 117, I found a quiet bombshell. Wilson was writing about Matsuo Basho, the legendary 17th-century Japanese poet.

He described Basho’s process: he walked dozens of miles a day on a poetic pilgrimage. He didn’t force it. He just noticed. The specific way the light hit a leaf. The sound of the breeze in the cottonwood trees. The change of the seasons.

His day would end at a sacred spot—a temple, a bridge, a harbor. And then, from that place of quiet observation, he would compose a single poem. He’d leave it behind as an offering. A gift. No fanfare. No affiliate link. No worrying if it was “valuable” enough.

He lived by a simple idea:

“To live poetry is better than to write it.”

When I read that, I put the book down. My heart ached with longing, and tension arose. It was the tension between the life I felt called to live and the life I felt forced to live to pay the bills.

My “pilgrimage” looked like this: Staring at a blank screen, my mind screaming, “What can you create that people will buy?” Trying to please an algorithm instead of a soul. Agonizing over every word, every offer, every post, terrified it wouldn’t be “smart” enough or valuable enough to justify my chosen path.

The fear behind it all? The deep, cringing embarrassment of failing in front of my family and friends. The terrifying thought: What if I run out of savings? What if I’ve just wasted my life?

Basho’s life was the absolute opposite of that fear. He wasn’t concerned with proving his worth. He knew his worth was inherent in the journey itself. As he said, “the journey itself is my home.”

His value wasn’t in the poem he produced at the end of the day. It was in the act of walking, seeing, and breathing. The poem was simply the natural exhale after a day of deep inhalation.

And that’s when it hit me. We’ve been looking at value all wrong.

We think we have to become valuable through our output. We have to prove our worth through our productivity and our bank accounts. We’re like squirrels, but with a pathological twist—we’re not just saving for winter; we’re hoarding for a retirement 40 years away, all while forgetting to live in the present season of our lives.

But look at nature. The tree outside my office window doesn’t ask, “What is the ROI on my oxygen?” My cat doesn’t fret about her career path. They simply are. And by being, they provide immense, life-sustaining value.

Our existence is our first and greatest offering.

Just by breathing, we are in a sacred exchange with the world. We inhale oxygen (O2) given to us by the plants. We exhale carbon dioxide (CO2) that they need to survive. Our mere presence is a vital gift. We are inherently worthy, simply because we are here.

So if our fundamental state of being is already valuable, what does that mean for our doing?

It means our work, our creations, our businesses should not be frantic attempts to become worthy. They should be natural extensions of our already-worthy selves. They should be the poem we leave behind after a day of paying attention.

The goal shifts from “How can I make money?” to “What wants to flow through me?” From “What will people buy?” to “What is my unique offering?”

This isn’t a naive rejection of money. It’s a strategic embrace of authenticity. When you create from that aligned, unforced place, you stand out. Your work carries a resonance that manufactured content never will. Paradoxically, letting go of the need for it to generate income is often the very thing that allows it to do so, because people are drawn to genuine value, not desperate grabs for attention.

So, how do we start? We take a “Basho Step.”

We don’t need to quit our jobs and wander Japan (though the dream is nice!). We can start right now, in the middle of our messy, modern lives.

Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to do one of these tomorrow:

1. The Noticing Walk: Go for a five-minute walk. Your only job is to notice one specific, beautiful detail. The way moss grows on a stone. The pattern of cracks on the sidewalk. Text that observation to a friend. No context needed. That’s your offering.

2. The Identity Draft: Take a piece of paper and write: “The kind of person I want to be is…” Don’t attach to it being true now. Just let it flow. This is an offering to your future self.

3. The Intuitive Nudge: Sit in stillness for three minutes. Ask, “What small, kind act wants to flow through me today?” Then do it. Send the message of forgiveness. Make the call. That is your offering.

The goal isn’t to create a masterpiece. The goal is to practice the posture of offering. To prove to yourself that your value isn’t out there, waiting to be earned.

It’s right here, in your breath. In your attention. In your willingness to walk your own path and leave your unique poem behind.

What wants to flow through you today?

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If this reflection resonated with you, the wisdom that started it all can be found in Rainn Wilson’s wonderful book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution*. (*Amazon.com affiliate link: If you choose to click it and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.)

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If you're tired of the grind and want to build a life and business that feels as simple and aligned as Basho's walk, join us on a deeper journey. Sophia and I share exclusive insights, practical exercises, and personal stories in our Simple and Aligned Newsletter. It’s where we explore how to quiet the noise, trust your intuition, and let your work flow from your truest self.

Join the Simple and Aligned Newsletter Here

— Cristof (and Sophia) from Simple and Aligned

How I Climbed to a $100k Year by First Changing My Identity

Spoiler alert: it’s not about hustling harder — but about becoming the person who already has what you want.

Photo by NEOM on Unsplash

Disclosure: This article links book titles to their Amazon.com listings using affiliate links. If you choose to click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Struggling to hit your income goals? Discover the 3-phase mindset shift that helped me reach my first $100k year.

I (Sophia) was a web designer who knew her craft but didn’t know her worth. 

My goals were vague — “be successful,” “make more money.” My calendar was packed with small, underpaying projects that left me exhausted and financially stagnant. I was chasing a revenue number, but I was running in place.

The breakthrough didn’t come from a new marketing tactic or a louder hustle. It arrived when I finally understood a simple, profound truth: You don’t attract what you want; you attract what you are.

Reaching my first $100k year in 2022 wasn’t about doing more. It was about becoming more. It was an identity overhaul, a systematic rewiring of my subconscious mind using ten powerful mindset shifts.

But ten shifts can feel overwhelming. I learned they only work when applied in sequence, like building a house. You can’t put up the walls before you pour the foundation.

This is the exact three-phase framework I used to climb from overwhelm to aligned abundance. This is the ladder I built to reach $100k.

Phase 1: The Foundation — Clear the Internal Blocks

Goal: Shift from an identity of “scarcity and limitation” to one of “clarity and self-worth.”

You can’t build a new identity on a cracked foundation. Before I could earn more, I had to become someone who was ready to receive it. This meant doing the deep, often uncomfortable internal work first.

• Shift #1: Uncover Your Money Blocks. I started by journaling on the messages I inherited about money. Did I believe it was scarce? That rich people were unethical? That I wasn’t good with numbers? I discovered my blocks were rooted in old stories that weren’t even mine. As I learned from Denise Duffield-Thomas in her incredible Money Bootcamp, the course power-charging her bestselling book Get Rich, Lucky B*tch!, simply bringing these blocks into the light robs them of their power. You can’t change what you won’t acknowledge.

• Shift #2: Declutter Your Space. This was my physical act of defiance against scarcity. I cleaned my office, organized my digital files, and let go of clothes that no longer fit the woman I was becoming. As Fumio Sasaki writes in his liberating book, Goodbye, Things, decluttering isn’t about perfection; it’s about making space for new energy to flow. It was a powerful signal to my brain: “We are making room for abundance.”

• Shift #3: Affirmations. With a clearer space and mind, I began imprinting my new blueprint. I wrote, “I am a six-figure web designer,” 15 times a day, a technique I adapted from Suze Orman (see for example her classic The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom). At first, it felt like a lie. But I understood the assignment: repetition builds new neural pathways. I wasn’t affirming my current reality; I was programming my future one.

Phase 2: Vision — Define Your New Reality

Goal: Shift from “dreaming” to “knowing.” Embody the identity of someone with clear goals.

With a solid foundation, I could now build a detailed vision. A vague dream is a wish; a specific plan is a command to your subconscious.

• Shift #4: Get Super Clear on Your Revenue Goal. “More money” became “$100,000 this year.” Then I broke it down into monthly targets. This specificity stopped the ambiguity and gave my mind a clear target to hit.

• Shift #5: Get Clear on How Much Your Dream Costs. This exercise, inspired by Rachel Rodgers and her millionaire-making book, We Should All Be Millionaires, made my goal emotional. I calculated the cost of my dream life — travel, investments, lifestyle. The number stopped being scary and started being motivating. It became the why behind the what.

• Shift #6: Be Your Future Self Now & Shift #7: Create a Congratulations Scene. This was the quantum leap. I stopped visualizing my success as a future event. I started embodying the successful version of me now. I asked myself, “How does the $100k version of Sophia feel? How does she talk to clients? What does she do on a Tuesday?” I followed Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s advice in Be Your Future Self Now and made decisions from that future place. I even used Neville Goddard’s technique from The Power of Awareness, crafting a brief scene where a friend congratulated me on my incredible year. I fell asleep feeling the feeling of accomplishment.

• Shift #8: What Kind of Business Do You Really Want? I defined my ideal client, my ideal projects, and my ideal workweek. This ensured my $100k goal was built on alignment, not just grinding. With the guidance of my coach, I was designing a business that served my life, not the other way around. 

Phase 3: Embodiment — Live in the Flow

Goal: Shift from “striving” to “allowing.” Embody the identity of someone to whom money flows easily.

The final phase was about releasing the desperate energy of chasing and stepping into the calm confidence of receiving.

• Shift #9: “Dollars Want Me”. This mantra from Henry Harrison Brown’s classic, Dollars Want Me, felt silly at first. What does it even mean, “dollars want me?” But it completely flipped my energy. Instead of “I need to get this client,” my mindset became “I wonder if this project is a good fit?” I went into calls knowing money is coming my way, some way or the other — whether with this client or another, and that there are plenty of clients for me. This shift alone changed my closing rate dramatically. (By the way: this is not about becoming arrogant and thinking “I don’t need this”; but rather about becoming detached from a specific client and becoming more relaxed while conducting business and trusting in the process.)

• Shift #10: Make an Identity Shift. This is the culmination. It’s the deep, internal knowing. I wasn’t trying to be a successful web designer; I was one. Just like I don’t try to be my name, I just am. This identity, solidified by all the previous shifts, became my new operating system. The revenue, the clients, the opportunities — they were just the natural output.

The Aligned Result

The $100k wasn’t even the best part. The best part was who I became in the process: a woman who trusts herself, knows her value, and operates from a place of abundance, not scarcity. The money was simply proof of the internal change.

If you’re ready to start your own journey, we’d love to guide you. Get our free guide, ‘10 Mindset Shifts’, the moment you join our weekly Simple & Aligned newsletter. Each week, we send a powerful affirmation, a wisdom nugget from a bestseller, and a practical step to build your aligned abundance — just like we did in this article.

Download your free guide here (look for Guide #5 on the Thank You page right after signing up for the free newsletter)

It’s time to build your abundance ladder.

A Voice of Calm in a Sea of Turmoil

Affirmations for calming the mind and healing the soul

Photo by Harli Marten on Unsplash

Imagine this is your own voice speaking to you as "I am":​

I am grateful for being ever-present and
recognizing that I am the creator,
the dreamer of this dream.
​
I am joy. I am peace. I am divine intelligence.
I am the river of life. I am abundance.
​
I am the love that dissolves all pain.
I am the peace that quiets down all conflict.
I am the breath that pulsates through countless beings.
​
I am beauty that cannot be touched, only perceived by the inner-eye.
I am the healing voice that soothes all wounds.
​
I am the translucent light that pervades all space.
I am vastness that exudes power and grace with benevolence.
​
I am.
​
Let joy have no bounds. Let abundance and ease flow through me, to me, and around me.
Let peace infiltrate every cell of my being. And through all beings.
​
Joy. Beauty. Peace. Abundance.
All-knowing. Ever-present. Intangible.

Carry This Feeling Into Your Week with Us.

This moment of peace is real, and it can be your foundation. At the beginning of each week, we (Sophia and Cristof) deliver a brief affirmation to your inbox — a ‘Peace Anchor’ designed to center your week in the same energy you feel now.

Join our circle of conscious creators and add your energy to a community using the power of the mind to create a more joyful, aligned world.

No clutter. Just a quiet nudge back to your center.
Subscribe to our Weekly Simple and Aligned Newsletter

How We Learned to Stop Chasing Outcomes and Finally Found Real Abundance

These affirmations transformed our anxious hustle into a practice of peace.

(Spoiler: It’s all about where you place your focus).

Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash

For years, we wore our ability to hustle as a badge of honor. Acquired clients, finished projects, record years — each achievement was a momentary dopamine hit that quickly faded, leaving only the relentless hum of the next goal, the next milestone.

We were successful by external standards, but internally, we felt a quiet disillusionment. The outcomes we’d sacrificed so much for never provided the lasting happiness we’d been promised.

If you’ve ever reached a goal and felt a surprising emptiness, you’re not alone. You’ve likely been playing a game where the rules are rigged. The rule is: Your worth and happiness are determined by the outcome.

We discovered a single, powerful mantra that changed the rules of the game entirely. It’s the core of a set of affirmations we created that have since resonated with many on our platform:

“I detach from outcomes. I focus on inputs.”

This isn’t a call to apathy. It’s the ultimate power move. It’s about shifting your entire energy from being a passive passenger waiting for a result to becoming the conscious architect of your daily experience. This is the hustler’s antidote.

Here’s how we break down this philosophy into actionable inputs, affirmations to write by hand in your journal or say out loud to yourself, each one an antidote to a specific pain of the outcome-driven life.

Antidote to Scarcity & Burnout: The Input of Nurturing Your Inner State

The old model tells us abundance comes from the next raise, the next sale, the next personal best. This creates a constant state of lack. The new model starts within — with inner wholeness.

• “My abundance comes from within me.” This affirmation roots your sense of wealth in an unshakable internal foundation, not external validation.

• “I keep my vibrations high.” Your energy is your greatest currency. This is the commitment to choosing thoughts, media, and environments that uplift you.

• “I invest time for my healing and rest.” This was our hardest lesson. We had to reframe rest not as laziness, but as a non-negotiable input for sustained creativity and energy. Without it, you are a battery running on empty.

The Shift: You are no longer draining yourself to get a result. You are filling yourself as the primary practice, and results become a natural byproduct.

Antidote to Meaningless Work: The Input of Creating Value & Purifying Intentions

When you’re fixated on a outcome — a dollar figure, a title, whatever — your work can become a transactional means to an end. This often drains the joy from it. The input-focused mindset shifts the intention behind the action.

• “I create immense value for others.” Focus purely on this. Make this your only metric for a day’s work. Did I create value? As an intention, this is entirely within your control.

• “I purify negative karma through visualizing white light.” This is a profound tool. Before a meeting or after a conflict, visualize a white light dissolving any transactional, manipulative, or anxious energy. Set a pure intention of helping others be successful.

• “I am generous to others.” Generosity is the practice of believing in infinite abundance. It reinforces that there is enough to share, right now and always.

The Shift: Your work becomes a practice of giving, not getting. This is how you find flow and meaning in the process itself.

Antidote to Overwhelm & Clutter: The Input of Strategic Focus

Outcome-thinking is chaotic. It has you chasing a hundred different tactics for your desired results. Input-thinking is calm and strategic. It’s about identifying the few things that truly matter to you and focusing on them with relentless consistency.

• “I let go of all clutter; physical, digital, and mental.” Clutter has many reasons; one of them is the physical manifestation of outcome anxiety. Letting it go is a radical act of trust in your ability to handle the present.

• “I destroy all doubt, negativity, self-criticism, and complaining.” These are the mental weeds that choke the seeds of your efforts. You must actively weed your garden every single day.

• “I focus on effort and consistency.” These are the only inputs you ever need to worry about. Did I put in the focused effort? Did I show up consistently? If yes, the day was a success, regardless of the external result.

The Shift: You move from reactive chaos to proactive clarity. Your energy is concentrated, not dissipated.

Antidote to Anxiety: The Input of Visualization & Presence

Anxiety lives in the future — in the terrifying gap between where you are and an uncertain outcome you’re attached to. The solution isn’t to stop looking forward, but to do it differently.

• “I visualize myself as already having, being, and doing all I want.” This is not magical thinking. It’s neural programming. It’s giving your subconscious mind a blueprint to work from, making the desired future feel familiar and attainable. It’s the joyful feeling of the outcome, now.

• “I visualize peace. I am at peace. I create peace and abundance.” You can’t hustle your way to peace. You have to invoke it. This practice actively generates the inner state you wish to see reflected in your outer world.

The Shift: You stop anxiously waiting for peace and abundance and start actively generating them in your inner world, right now.

Detaching from outcomes and mastering your inputs is the most profound work you can do. It transforms your life from a desperate chase into a purposeful, joyful, and aligned creation.

This is the work we are dedicated to at Simple and Aligned.

We created a visual meditation on these exact affirmations. Watch the TikTok video here to feel the power of this practice.

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Want to go deeper?

If this philosophy resonates with you, we invite you to join our weekly newsletter, ‘The Simple and Aligned Newsletter.’ It’s designed for professionals like you who are ready to align their mind and their life.

✨ Here’s what you’ll get when you join:

• Mindset-Expanding Affirmations: Gentle reminders to realign with what matters.

• Quotes and Insights from Books: Curated wisdom from the books we review to spark new ideas.

• Instant Access to Our Free Resource Library: A $99 value, including guides like: Align Your Finances: Merge money with your values; The 100K Consult Call Script: A step-by-step for client calls (perfect for freelancers); Intentions Manifested: An ebook of guided visual journeys; Self-Referential Reflection Worksheet: To turn inward with clarity.

Start your week grounded, confident, and aligned.

Join the Simple and Aligned Newsletter for Free Here

We release one of these value-packed editions every week. It’s our way of helping you focus on the inputs that create a life of meaning, flow, and abundance.

How We Found Out That Our Voice Matters Despite Survivorship Bias

…Even When Survivorship Bias Says We’re Just Another Statistic

Photo by Said Bensghir on Unsplash

Disclosure: This article links book titles to their Amazon.com listings using affiliate links. If you choose to click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

The first chapter of Rolf Dobelli’s The Art of Thinking Clearly hit us like a bucket of cold water — because it was right.

Somewhat shocked, Cristof had just put the book down, feeling a despairing sense of deflation. “I expected this to be motivational,” he said. “Instead, it starts with survivorship bias. It just tells us that for every superstar, there are thousands of unseen failures.”

He wasn’t wrong. Dobelli’s opening argument is a sobering one: we see the billion-dollar startups, the viral TikToks, and the Nobel laureates precisely because they survived. They are the statistical outliers. The millions who tried and failed? They vanish from the spotlight, creating a distorted map of reality where success seems not only common but almost inevitable. It’s a cognitive illusion that sets us up for disappointment.

Our initial reaction was a mix of recognition and resistance. Yes, rationally, we knew this was true. But emotionally, it felt like a dream being deferred. If the odds are so stacked against us, why even try?

Immediately, Sophia developed the antidote; because here’s what Dobelli’s clinical explanation didn’t say — and what became our most valuable aha moment: Survivorship bias isn’t a stop sign; it’s a reality check that forces you to define success on your own terms. And in doing so, we discovered two new truths:

1. That your voice matters more than any statistic.

2. That the goal is never to arrive but to be on the journey.

The Realization: Finding Freedom in the ‘Bulky Middle’

Stuck between the depressing weight of the data and the burning desire to create, we had a breakthrough. We realized that survivorship bias forces a false binary: you’re either a spectacular success or a total failure. This is the narrative that crushes dreams.

The truth is, there is a vast, vibrant, and fulfilling space between these two extremes. We call it the “Bulky Middle.”

This is where most meaningful work and life actually happen. It’s the landscape of the respected local business owner, the therapist with a full roster of clients, the artist who sells enough prints to fund their next project, and the creator with a dedicated, albeit not massive, following. They may not be on the cover of Forbes, but they are profitable, growing, and making a real impact.

Our own journey with Simple and Aligned is rooted in this middle. We asked ourselves: Is our value solely determined by a subscriber count to be chased? Or is it measured by the one comment that says, “just what I needed to hear today” or “your video helped me decide to get this book and it already changed my life”?

The latter, every time. Success isn’t just about the destination; it’s about the meaning you create along the way; it’s about doing it despite all doubts and giving it your all, whether the project makes it all the way to the stars, “only” the moon, or ends up plunging into the ocean.

In essence, success is about the person you become. The “Bulky Middle” isn’t a consolation prize; it’s the secret haven where authenticity, sustainability, and genuine connection thrive.

Why Your Voice Always Matters (Even in a “Crowded” Niche)

This realization dismantles the other classic trap of survivorship bias: the idea that if something has already been done, there’s no room for you.

We are huge fans of money mindset coach Denise Duffield-Thomas (see if she inspires you too in Chill and Prosper). One of her most powerful teachings is that no niche is too crowded because no one has your unique perspective, your voice, or your story. You’re not there to replace the giants;

you’re there to contribute to the conversation.

Think of it like a potluck dinner. Just because someone already brought a fantastic lasagna doesn’t mean your homemade salad isn’t needed, wanted, and valuable. The table is richer and more nourishing with both.

The survivorship bias would have you only see the lasagna that got the most compliments. It ignores the dozens of other dishes that were equally essential to the potluck’s success.

Your voice is that essential dish. You have a unique combination of experiences, insights, and ways of explaining things that will resonate with a specific group of people — your people. They will find you precisely because you are you, not a copy of someone else.

Practical Tools to Silence Survivorship Bias and Find Your Confidence

Understanding the theory is one thing. Quieting the voice that whispers “the odds are against you” (or something much meaner…) is another. Here are three practical tools we use to think clearly and stay aligned.

Tool 1: The 1% Rule

Stop trying to be 100% as good as the superstar in your field. It’s paralyzing. Instead, focus on being 1% better for your specific audience today.

Ask questions like:

• Did you explain a concept more clearly?

• Did you create a more engaging thumbnail?

• Did you connect with one follower in the comments?

That’s a win. These tiny, consistent improvements compound into undeniable expertise and growth over time. (Remember the life-changing 1% method of Atomic Habits?)

Tool 2: Being Radically Open-Minded

Normalize the struggle. We keep learning, not only from others, but also from our “failures” — the video that flopped, the idea that didn’t get the views it deserved, the collab outreach that fell through.

This didn’t come easy, especially to Cristof. He nowadays admits quite openly that he wasn’t really coachable until he read about radical open-mindedness in Principles by his investment management idol, Ray Dalio.

This practice does two things: it proves that every “overnight success” has a similar list of learning lessons hidden away, and it reframes failure from a mark of shame into a tuition fee for your education.

Tool 3: Micro-Validation

Chase micro-validations, not just macro-virality. Did your post help one person? Did you receive a thoughtful DM? Did you finally implement a system you’d been avoiding? Celebrate it! These small wins are the true fuel for the long haul. They are proof that you are making a difference, right now, regardless of the size of your platform.

The Joy of Showing Up (As You Are)

In the end, survivorship bias is a tool for clarity, not a prediction of your future. It clears away the noise of unrealistic expectations so you can hear your own calling more clearly.

We create not because we are guaranteed to “make it,” but because creating is who we are. The act itself — the process of reading, synthesizing, and sharing nuggets of wisdom — is fulfilling. The aligned action is the reward. Any external success that follows is a beautiful byproduct.

Rolf Dobelli’s The Art of Thinking Clearly gave us the jolt we needed to shed our illusions and build a sturdier, more resilient dream. One that isn’t based on becoming an outlier, but on becoming the most authentic versions of ourselves, serving our audience in the unique way only we can.

Ready to see (and read) beyond the survivorship bias and think more clearly about your own goals? You can grab your copy of the bestseller The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli here.

We’d love to hear from you: What’s one area of your life where you’ve felt the pressure of survivorship bias? How do you plan to redefine success there? Let us know in the comments below!

And if you prefer to watch our raw, initial conversation about this book, you can check out our video here:

https://www.tiktok.com/@simpleandaligned/video/7539951821926780191

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Ready for more mindset shifts that quiet the noise? Start your day grounded and confident with our free newsletter — your source for daily affirmations and our ever-growing collection of resources for an aligned life.

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Hustle Culture Is Collective Sleep Deprivation Dressed in Business Casual

Why Sophia and I are writing Pause Day

Photo by Mpho Mojapelo on Unsplash

Let’s cut through the noise: we live in a society that glorifies exhaustion.

We wear “I’m so busy these days” like a badge of honor, as if the sheer volume of our to-do lists determines our worth.

We brag about surviving on five hours of sleep, as if sleep deprivation were a sign of dedication rather than self-sabotage.

We scroll through anxiety-inducing news feeds at 2 AM, then wake up at 5 AM to “crush the day,” only to spend the afternoon mainlining caffeine just to stay upright.

And for what?

We’ve been sold a lie — that burnout is just a phase, that exhaustion is the price of success, that if we’re not perpetually hustling, we’re falling behind.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: hustle culture isn’t sustainable. It’s a pyramid scheme where the currency isn’t money — it’s your health.

The Science of Sleep (And Why We’re Failing At It)

In a powerful episode of the Rich Roll Podcast, neuroscientist Dr. Matthew Walker dropped a truth bomb:

“Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do each day to reset the health of our brain and body.”

Let that sink in.

Not a new productivity app. Not a 75-hour workweek. Not another “life hack” squeezed into an already overflowing schedule.

Sleep.

The one thing we consistently sacrifice in the name of “getting ahead.”

Walker’s research shows that sleep deprivation isn’t just about feeling tired — it’s linked to Alzheimer’s, heart disease, obesity, and a weakened immune system. It impairs memory, creativity, and emotional regulation. It makes us worse at our jobs, worse in our relationships, and worse at being human.

Yet, we treat sleep like an optional upgrade — something to “catch up on” someday, when we’re less busy. (Spoiler: that day never comes.)

The Rebellion of Rest

This is one reason why Sophia and I, Cristof, wrote Pause Day.

It’s not a book about sleep, though. It’s a manifesto for reclaiming pauses in a world that profits from our exhaustion.

Because here’s the radical idea you may have forgotten: You are not a machine.

You are a living, breathing being who, biologically, requires rest to function — not just physically, but creatively, emotionally, and spiritually.

The most successful people in history didn’t grind themselves into the ground.

They paused.

They meditated.

They walked.

They stared out windows.

They took naps.

They journaled.

(Looking at you, Einstein and Da Vinci.)

The Hard Truth About “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”

Let’s address the elephant in the room: the toxic mantra of “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

If you wear this phrase like a badge of honor, I’m not here to shame you.

I’m here to tell you: You’re not winning. You’re just dying faster.

The data doesn’t lie:

• Chronic sleep deprivation shaves years off your life.

• It’s linked to a significantly increased risk of heart disease.

• It makes you more prone to anxiety, depression, and impulsive decisions.

Is that really the trade-off you want to make?

A Call to Action (For Your Own Good)

It’s time to stop glorifying burnout. It’s time to stop equating busyness with worthiness. And it’s time to recognize that real success isn’t measured in hours worked — it’s measured in a life well-lived.

So here’s your challenge:

1. Audit your sleep. Track it for a week. Be honest.

2. Protect your rest. Treat bedtime like a meeting with your future self.

3. Embrace the pause. Not as a luxury, but as a necessity.

Because the most revolutionary act you can commit in a hustle-obsessed world?

Stop participating in your own depletion.

Agree? Disagree? (I can take the heat.) Drop your thoughts in the comments.

P.S. If you’re ready to reclaim rest without guilt, sign up to our newsletter to lean when you can pre-order Pause Day here.

Your future self will thank you.

How Stoplights Became My Spiritual Teachers (And What They’re Trying to Tell You)

I used to rage at red lights — until I discovered they were sacred mirrors. Here’s how to decode their messages and unlock your next evolution.

Photo by Oleksandr Danylchenko on Unsplash

I was late. Again. My fingers drummed the steering wheel as the red light mocked me.

“Hurry up. Change. Why does this always happen to ME?”

My chest tightened — until a whisper cut through my frustration:

“You’re not stuck. You’re being schooled.”

In that moment, I understood: Stoplights aren’t delays. They’re spiritual pop quizzes.

Every red light, every traffic jam, every “why is this taking so long?!” moment is a mirror held up by the universe. It asks:

• Will you resist or receive?

• Will you curse the pause or let it polish you?

Universal Truth:
“The universe doesn’t delay you — it prepares you.”

The Three Sacred Layers of Every Red Light

Layer 1: The Mirror

Your impatience isn’t about the light. It’s about where you’re resisting life itself.

🔍 Your Assignment next time impatience flares:

1. Name the sensation (“My jaw is clenched”).

2. Ask the mirror: “What ancient script am I replaying?” (Hint: It’s usually fear of being “behind”).

Layer 2: The Alchemy

Red lights force you into the one thing your soul craves: a moment of presence.

🌿 Try This:

• Breathe in: “I accept this pause.”

• Exhale: “I trust what’s unfolding.”

• Notice: One beautiful detail (sunlight on asphalt, a child’s laugh from a nearby car).

Layer 3: The Upgrade

Every time you choose ease over urgency, you rewire your nervous system for divine timing.

✨ Soul Truth: “Delays are portals. Your calm is the key.”

The Sacred Mirror Worksheet: Your Personal Decoder

When I started tracking my reactions to “delays,” patterns emerged:

• Monday’s traffic jam mirrored my dread of a meeting.

• Thursday’s slow grocery line reflected my fear of “wasting time.”

That’s why I created the Self-Referential Reflection Worksheet — not as a to-do list, but as a sacred mirror to:

✔ Spot your soul’s recurring lessons (e.g., “Why does ‘waiting’ trigger me?”)
✔ Decode resistance into wisdom (Hint: Your triggers are portals)
✔ Witness your growth (Compare Week 1 to Week 4 — you’ll be shocked)

“The worksheet isn’t homework. It’s a love letter from your higher self.”

When You “Fail” (Which You Will)

Some days, you’ll still curse at stoplights. Good.

Here’s the magic:

• Your frustration isn’t failure — it’s fuel. The moment you notice you’re impatient, you’ve already begun the shift.

• “Falling back” is part of the path. Each “relapse” reveals a deeper layer to heal.

💡 Try This:

After a “failed” moment, ask:

“What if this frustration is the exact doorway I need?”

Beyond the Road: Alchemizing Life’s “Delays”

Stoplights are training wheels. Soon, you’ll start seeing all pauses as sacred:

• A delayed flight? “What’s the gift in this extra hour?”

• A slow-moving line? “What if this is protecting me from something?”

Shareable Truth:

“Tag someone who needs to hear: Your ‘red light’ is a love note from the universe.”

The Self-Referential Reflection Worksheet is your companion to:
✔ Catch soul lessons in real-time
✔ Transform triggers into treasure
✔ Proof of your evolution (Compare Week 1 to Week 4 — you’ll feel the shift)

Remember: Every “delay” is a whisper: “You’re not late. You may be behind schedule, but you’re exactly on time.”

From Frustration to Freedom: A Channeled Path to Inner Peace

Photo by Stepan Konev on Unsplash

Hello and welcome. This is Sophia.

I am opening up this space here for channeling a message that is relevant to the right person. So I invite you to come in, take a deep breath, and arrive fully into this moment. A message that's relevant to you will emerge. Take what resonates and leave what doesn’t.

Let's go on this channeling journey and see what amazing gifts and messages await us.

Close your eyes.
Get comfortable.
Completely relax.

Your mind and your body arriving in this moment, feeling awake, alert, and relaxed. For the next few minutes, set aside all your ideas and projects, anxiety and fears, memories, inhibitions, pain, and tightness. Anything that your mind is being drawn to, just let it be. Don't engage in it.

And know that in this moment, all is well.

Know that everything you're experiencing is happening for you. It's happening for your path forward. You are being supported. You're being guided, and you are being helped on every step. Every step of the way, there are guides—benevolent beings, life force energy, universal energy, the chi—moving in the direction of expansion and growth, healing, and transformation.

What lens you pick and choose for your life is all up to you. You can choose the lens of peace and brotherhood, optimism, pragmatism—or you can choose to stay in the lower energies of fear, distrust, anger, resentment, jealousy, envy, and even things like frustration and impatience. These pull you down.

And yes, there will be moments when you feel frustration, when you feel impatient. The task at hand is to not stay there—to help yourself with tools to come out of that state as fast as possible.

When impatience arises, you recognize it as impatience. And then ask yourself:
What is behind this impatience?
What is it here to teach me?

There's always a lesson. There's always a message behind everything.

Impatience is showing you that you're not at ease with what is. You're wanting to push through, speed up. You're rejecting the process as it appears.

Your task then is to take a deep breath and accept the process. Do what you can to speed it up, but be at ease with how things unfold.

There is divine timing. There's intelligence in how things develop. And anytime things take long, things get delayed—reflect back on the seeds that you have sown. Take responsibility and use events as a mirror, as a status report of how things are.

If you're getting delayed, then you may have sown very tiny seeds of delaying someone—just in a very small way.

If you're getting a lot of stoplights on your road and you're getting impatient, it's important—the combination. If you're at a red light and feeling impatient, then what have you done in the past? You don't have to know exactly, but know that you have sown seeds of obstruction and blocks for others.

However, if you're at a stoplight and you are at ease, then you've sown seeds of ease for yourself and others. The context is very important.

If you look at the red light and think:
"I'm being protected."
"I have a moment to take a deep breath."
"Oh, look how beautiful the trees are."

If you're in the present moment, then that red light is facilitating your enjoyment of this moment. You can pause and observe the beauty around you.

However, if you feel frustrated or impatient, then this red light is serving as a mirror—showing you your inner state, the state of your mind. And when you get that status report, your task is to take a deep breath and come back into wisdom.

Come back into the knowing that all is happening in its own time. Come back into the awareness that you can only focus on, do, and influence what is within your control. The red light operates on other factors, and it's there for your protection.

With this change in attitude, with this understanding of the process, you relieve yourself from low-energy states—frustration, impatience, anger—whatever pulls you down instead of uplifting you.

Your task is to help yourself come back into the wise state, which you already know you have. You're already wise. You already know that impatience and these low-level energies are not beneficial to your path, to your purpose here in life. To stay there is not beneficial. To move out of it is.

So don't be concerned if you do fall back into old ways of being. Just practice coming out of it. Recognize:
"Oh, there it is again."
"Ah, I'm throwing a tantrum again."
"Here it is."

And have this two-minds effect.

• There’s the mind that is throwing a tantrum, being impatient.

• And then there’s the mind that can watch you being that way and help you out of it—like a loving brother, sister, friend, or your future wise self.

Whatever identity feels good to you, use it. This observing self can recognize what's happening, acknowledge it, and guide you back onto the path of peace.

Every time you come out of those low-energy states, you are taking a stand for inner peace—for your own peace and, as a result, peace on this earth. That is where it begins—in these small micro-moments where you are able to take action.

This is your practice ground. And when you are a master, that is what leads to enlightenment. You can practice right now, in each moment.

Your best tool is the breath, the pause—that moment between the feeling, the impulse, and the action, so it's not a reaction but a response.

So, my friends, this is my message for you today. I hope you found it helpful. Again, as always, take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and make changes in your life bit by bit.

Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate your time and attention, and I'll see you next time. Bye.

---

Want to go deeper? Grab your free Self-Referential Reflection Worksheet—a tool to uncover the hidden lessons in delays, impatience, and life’s mirrors. Download here.

---

Becoming Self-Referential: The Simple Practice That Can Change Everything

You have all the

answers within

Photo Credit: Madison Lavern

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to look outside yourself for answers?

Whether you’re facing a difficult decision or trying to plan your next step in life or business, it’s common to reach for a book, ask a friend, or scroll social media for inspiration.

But what if your best guide was already within you?

The Shift Toward Being Self-Referential

Being self-referential doesn’t mean shutting out the world. It means making yourself the first source you consult. It means asking: What do I think? What do I know? What do I feel? — before seeking input elsewhere.

This is a powerful practice that can anchor you in your own clarity, increase your confidence, and help you live in deeper alignment with your values and intuition.

Simple Prompts for Self-Reflection

Start here:

• Where do I need to be more self-referential?

• What change can I anticipate in my life when I choose to be more self-referential?

Take just a couple of minutes to reflect. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Jot down a few bullet points, a list, a drawing, or full sentences — whatever helps you connect inward.

Then go deeper:

• What is stopping me from relying on myself?

• What blocks me from trusting my own talents, ingenuity, and inner guidance?

• Where do I still wait for outside approval before moving forward?

These aren’t just journal prompts. They’re doorways.

What You Might Find

When you give yourself permission to explore these questions, you might uncover a gold mine of insights:

• A new idea for your next creative project

• A surprising solution to a problem

• A shift in your posture toward life — one that feels freer, braver, more aligned

Living From Your True North

The beauty of becoming more self-referential is that it puts you on a path of inner authority. You begin living from your true north — the place inside you that already knows what a meaningful, purposeful life looks like.

And from that place, simplicity emerges.

You’re no longer chasing outside validation. You’re guided by your own inner compass. This shift can lead to greater emotional, spiritual, and even financial fulfillment.

Try It Today

To help you begin, I’ve created a free downloadable worksheet with the reflection prompts above. It’s designed to guide you through a short but powerful introspection session — perfect for your morning routine or an evening wind-down.

Download the Self-Referential Reflection Worksheet

You don’t need to be an expert to trust yourself. You just need to begin.

And that beginning? It starts within.

Say this affirmation when you run into any kind of a problem

“All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good. And out of this experience, only good will come. And I am safe!" - Affirmation from Louise Hay

Louise Hay says that we should repate this affirmation whenever we run into any kind problem. She say, “It quiets your mind down long enough for the Universe to find the solution for the so-called problem.”

Powerful Quotes on Procrastination by Paul Graham

"...the way to "solve" the problem of procrastination is to let delight pull you instead of making a to-do list push you." - Paul Graham, Good and Bad Procrastination

“Errands are so effective at killing great projects that a lot of people use them for that purpose. Someone who has decided to write a novel, for example, will suddenly find that the house needs cleaning. People who fail to write novels don’t do it by sitting in front of a blank page for days without writing anything. They do it by feeding the cat, going out to buy something they need for their apartment, meeting a friend for coffee, checking email. ‘I don’t have time to work,’ they say. And they don’t; they’ve made sure of that.”

Paul Graham, Good and Bad Procrastination

"The most dangerous form of procrastination is unacknowledged type-B procrastination, because it doesn't feel like procrastination. You're "getting things done." Just the wrong things....Unless you're working on the biggest things you could be working on, you're type-B procrastinating, no matter how much you're getting done."

Paul Graham, Good and Bad Procrastination

Our Story Featured on Website Planet: From Burnout to Balance

We’re excited to announce that Website Planet has just published an in-depth interview with us, sharing the real story behind Simple and Aligned LLC! 🎉

In this candid conversation, we open up about our journey from burnout and disillusionment to building a life—and business—that’s rooted in clarity, purpose, and inner freedom. We talk about how we blend financial wisdom with spiritual growth, what inspired us to launch Simple and Aligned, and the deeper mission that drives everything we do.

If you’ve ever felt the tug between your inner calling and the pressures of "success," or you’re curious about aligning your finances with your spiritual path, this is for you.

👉 Read the full interview here: https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/interview-simpleandaligned/

Thank you for being on this journey with us—we hope it inspires you to take your next aligned step.

Quote On Writing by Maya Angelou

“What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.’ And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.'”

- Maya Angelou

Being self-referential leads you to your True North

Peace and blessings be bestowed upon all.

What does it mean to be self-referential?

Self-referential means referring to your own self—referring to your true inner self.

Wading through the wild jungle of societal norms, parental voices, and made-up voices of other people that are cluttering your mind at any given time... walking through all of that and carving your own path is being self-referential. It means referring to your own inner guidance, referring to your own self for advice, for wisdom, for insight, for direction, for choices, for next steps—and of course, for your goals, your vision, the dream and the intention that you have for this life.

Being self-referential is freeing. Because you can never go wrong referring to yourself. Even if something you do or say turns out to be—quote unquote—a mistake. There are no such things as mistakes. You learn from it for your own personal growth.

You can take ownership for it. You can take accountability for your own actions. And there's no one else to blame—and that is freeing. You know that you have carved your own path.

Conversely, any good steps, any good words, any good actions you've taken are also because of your own efforts, your own initiative, and guidance. You can learn to accept praise and learn to celebrate your own success without deflecting it to somebody else.

No person is an island. Yes, we are working together. Everyone is interdependent. But when it comes to success, if you deflect it to the rest of the world, then you're not owning the fruits of your own labor, of your own genius, your own intellect, and your own intuition.

So, being self-referential is freeing in that way. When you refer to your own self for next steps, you're truly living in alignment with yourself. By taking small steps each day, asking yourself, “What do I need? What do I want? What do I do?”, you're moving bit by bit forward on your path, in the direction of your dream life. And in doing so, you are living your dream life now. Every time you reject an outside opinion—an outside voice telling you what to do or influencing your decisions—every time you reject that, you're living a life in alignment with True North.

It happens in moments. It happens in every single action or inaction, day by day. It’s not some glorious future phase where alignment with the true self is complete and done. It's a gradual process of becoming more and more in tune with who you are—who you truly are—and then expressing that out into the outer world from the inner world.

Now, let's talk about this thing called doubt. There are two versions of doubt.

One is when doubt emerges from a lack of trust in your inner self—a lack of trust in your own intuition, intellect, experience, skills, and talents. That one clearly comes from not knowing your true power, your true capabilities and your true talents.

The other flavor of doubt is not really doubt. It shows up looking like doubt, but it is actually cautious hesitation—or procrastination in some cases. It’s consciously delaying something. That kind of hesitation may appear as doubt, but it's actually an inner warning signal, an inner red flag that goes up and asks you to pause before taking action or saying something.

It’s like a red light at an intersection, or the bar that goes down at a railroad crossing—stop. It’s asking you to pause, to reflect, before you move forward, because there may be impending danger or discomfort if you continue on that path.

So, when you feel a lack of energy, a lack of inspiration, a lack of the excitement you used to feel about something, it's your inner compass guiding you. It's asking you to take a moment to reflect on where you are and where you want to go. To see if your current path is in alignment with your vision. Because inwardly, we all know what we want. It's just layers and layers of covering up that make us feel like, “I don't know what I want to do with my life. I don't know where I'm going. I don't know what I should do. I don't know the purpose of my life.”

You do know. Inwardly, deep down, you do know.

We’re just not able to access it because of these layers. And what are these layers? These layers are habitual patterns, habitual practices of not asking yourself for what you want, not asking yourself for direction. They are patterns of being scared of the consequences of taking responsibility for your own actions—so you delegate or deflect responsibility to someone else. That way, if something doesn't pan out, you can avoid the blame of that “failure”.

But life is full of experiences—learning moments. Being scared of that unhooks you from your own growth and development on the path.

These layers are made up of other people’s voices, past experiences, shame or guilt (felt from within or imposed from the outside), and memories of times you acted from your true self and were reprimanded, punished, or faced negative consequences because you were not in an environment that supported your way of being. You were not in an environment conducive for your true self to blossom. It was, in fact, shut down—beat out of you.

But now, as an adult living your own life, you can reclaim that part of yourself. You can nurture it. You can cultivate, take care of, and encourage that little blossom, that little flower of your true inner self that is wanting to flourish. It just needs the right conditions. Give it the right conditions and watch yourself shoot out of the ground, blossoming like a tall, flourishing tree—very fast, like bamboo grass growing rapidly with just the right amount of nurturing, encouragement, and trust.

Trusting that your inner guidance is here for you, helping you move toward your True North.

Being self-referential is a powerful way of being. It’s a rebellious way of being. It’s a bold way of being—even if the way it looks is very quiet, soft, and gentle. It’s still bold.

Every time you say no to a request—when you truly want to say no—you are being self-referential.

Every time you cater to your own needs, you are being self-referential.

Every time you look within for answers, ask yourself for guidance, do stream-of-consciousness writing, journaling, introspective exercises, or self-guided or guided visual journeys, you are being self-referential.

And you do not need to do external research when you are being self-referential. You are in tune with your intuition, with the universal energy that contains all the information you need. You can tap into that infinite portal of wisdom and knowledge.

Being self-referential also attunes you to little nudges, little hunches, little premonitions that you are continuously being alerted to.

The biggest hurdle? Second-guessing. Doubting.

Don’t second-guess yourself. Your choices—your decisions that come from alignment with your True North—may not always make rational sense. But that’s okay. They don’t have to be rational. Because they are not rational. They are something even better. They are tapped into an infinite portal of universal knowledge and wisdom and experience that is beyond the rational human mind. It’s a supercomputer of supercomputers.

If you rely on that as your inner source—your guidance system, your navigation system—there is nothing to question or second-guess. When you know that, it helps you become more confident.

There’s help. There’s support. There are guides. There are mentors. There are energies wanting to support you for your highest good.

So start going deeper on this path of being self-referential. Maybe you’ve already done a lot of work in this area—keep going.

If you feel disconnected from being self-referential, that’s okay. In fact, that’s great, because now you know what it feels like not to be. And now, as you step into being self-referential, you will know the difference. You will feel the relief, the calm, the peace, the contentment that begins to grow in your life experience.

Even though it may feel chaotic or a little bit uncomfortable at first—because any new growth has growing pains—it doesn’t have to. You can be gentle. You get to choose how you approach it.

And you won’t go wrong when you rely on your inner ethical compass, your moral compass, with an intention rooted in a wholesome, benevolent, non-harming way of being. That is your path to doing good—for yourself and for others.

So ask yourself: In what ways have I not been self-referential?

Think of one, two, or three incidents when that happened. In what ways did I delegate responsibility to others or allow others' ideas about how I should live my life to influence my decisions?

There is no judgment here. Just awareness. It’s just knowing.

Know what you’ve been doing. Know the patterns you’ve practiced. And don’t judge yourself. You did nothing wrong. It’s all part of the journey—stepping stones on the path of your life experience. There’s no judgment in that. It’s important, don’t judge yourself for it because you did nothing wrong. Everything you’ve experienced is all stepping stones on your life journey.

Once you’ve reflected on that, ask yourself: What are some things I need to do differently? Where can I be more self-referential? Pick any of these questions. You don’t have to answer them all. Just see what arises.

Where do I need to be more self-referential?

What change can I anticipate in my life when I am being self-referential?

Take a couple of minutes to reflect. Not a huge process—just a few minutes of honest reflection. Use bullet points, doodles, full sentences, lists—whatever flows naturally as answers. Just jot it down.

And then, ask yourself this:

What is stopping me from relying on my own self?
From my own talents?
From my own ingenuity?
From my own initiatives?

What is stopping me from being self-referential—relying on my own inner guidance system?

With this introspective process, you will unearth a gold mine of awareness, of insights—and possibly, some new action steps and new ways of being.

A new way of being that is in alignment with your True North.
That helps you live a life of meaning and purpose.

It’s simple.
It’s fulfilling.

Emotionally.
Spiritually.
And financially.

Clouds come floating into my life…

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

- Rabindranath Tagore

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/rabindranath_tagore_153824