There is much more to life than strategizing how to get stuff from people. There is much more to life than hustling for attention. There is much more to life than competing for limited resources.

The “more” is fulfillment and happiness, which comes from contribution. Contribution and making a living are not only not mutually exclusive, but the feeling of genuinely living also comes from contributing.

In a world full of strategy, hustle, and competition, I feel more drawn to give my energy to things that give me life, not aim to take it from me, and I know I am not alone. We are at a moment where we can make a living by making a difference, not only for others but also for ourselves, through sharing our hearts and gifts.

What would you need to be willing to trade in to receive the upgrade to a new kind of more?

I believe that we all care deeply. As we spend more time in this life and gain more wisdom, it’s not caring less about other people and what they think that makes us happier. What gives us more ease and joy is realizing we can’t control very many things, including what others think.

It’s not caring less that makes us happier. It’s loving more, yet controlling less.

To create it, see it.

Your imagination is your most powerful tool, in its power to either empower you or limit you, and it’s always at play. Your imagination can place a worrisome future ahead of you or a beautiful one. Of course, imagining a fantastic future doesn’t guarantee it, yet it makes success way more possible because you see it as possible.

The way to harness the power of your imagination is to spend time actively using it and honing it. What would it look like to devote carved-out time imagining your chosen future every day? Might it support you in seeing a new possibility and feeling a possibility as well?

The only way to know is to try. And just like anything important, doing it consistently is likely the key.

You don’t need anyone else to forgive you to forgive yourself. You don’t need anyone to forgive you for you to be able to forgive them.

Unforgiveness traps you inside of very limited, self-deprecating options. Forgiveness gives you all of your choices back, which frees you up to contribute instead of hustle.

Living a life of choice does not mean you can switch from despair to joy in a heartbeat. Whether that is even possible or useful is up for debate.

Choice is the willingness to meet yourself exactly as you are and where you are right now from a place of compassion and love without judgment, attachment, or aversion. It is the discipline to be in your body and notice all you are feeling without any need to suppress it, run from it, or avoid it. It is the courage to feel the bigness of life.

You cannot control the thoughts or emotions that emerge in your experience, yet you can decide that you will meet all of them with as much grace as possible, knowing that grace will eventually lead you toward the good stuff.

You are free when you let yourself feel.

When you decide to succeed at something, what you are really doing is choosing to notice every time a part of you wants to give in to old limiting thoughts and patterns and wants to step in and pull you back towards the known.

The most crucial part of success is deciding that you will notice what success isn’t and stop it.

Comes from doing the right thing, not getting the right thing.

When you make your life about doing what you know to do in your heart versus trying to force an agenda, life becomes easier and more gratifying because there is nothing to manipulate; there’s more trust to build.

Let your wisdom lead you. Things won’t fall apart; they will come together.

Today (and every day) is the day to contribute. You can make each moment meaningful by doing the generous thing, for yourself or someone else.

By generous, I mean the thing with the most humanity. It could be offering eye contact, a smile, holding a door, picking up the phone, sharing gratitude, lending a listening ear, putting in that little extra planning to make it special, or offering an idea that could be judged in hopes of making a positive change. The moments of connection that you receive and create are what will make your life meaningful. If you want more meaning, contribute more. Your generosity is a renewable resource, and in fact, it is likely that the more you give, the more you will have to give.

Take a moment to envision your upcoming day and the things you will be doing. How could you show up with more humanness and heart, hoping to make things even just a tiny bit better? The little things are the big things because your life is made up of only a series of moments. Right now is the moment; today is the day.

Instead of focusing on who you were yesterday, focus on who you will be proud to be 10 years from now.

What did that person decide to do today when presented with the choices and opportunities you will be presented with?

Who we spend our time with and where we spend it matters. However, what may matter just as much, and maybe even more, is the inner vision we spend time with.

What you picture, rehearse, imagine, and create in your mind for your future, reaches back and transforms your experience in your body right now and what you see as possible.

Just like you are always spending time somewhere, you are always spending time with a vision or anti-vision for the future. Your imagination is one of your most potent human gifts, and you have the freedom to create it.

They way you wish others could show up for you can serve as both an inspiration of how you want to be for them, and an opportunity for you to show compassion to others and yourself.

Nobody is our mind-made version of perfect, including ourselves, and because of this, our ideals for our relationships will almost never be realized. However, we can all expand in our ability to show up for one another and extend grace to one another.

Let’s use ideals to create possibilities to move towards, not expectations to judge against.

One significant barrier to feeling the empowerment that personal responsibility brings is an unexplored relationship with our body sensations.

We may mistakenly think that because we feel intense sensations like elevated heart rate, body temperature, or butterflies in our stomach, we shouldn’t move forward because we are scared, as fear is something to avoid. However, if we can learn to remember that those same body sensations are also the feelings of courage brewing, we can start to thank the body sensations for preparing us to be brave and play a new, bigger game.

One of our responsibilities is to learn the difference between an intuitive NO in our bodies and the invigorating feelings of our bodies preparing to step further down the path of transformation.

Where could you let the sensations of courage help move you forward rather than hold you back?

Unconditional love is the breath that gives everything else life. Our unattached action practices are only fulfilling if we do them from love. Love is, in fact, the thing that provides us with the ability to let go. Fear needs us to grip or push. A commitment to love is what gives us the clarity to hear what the next right thing to do is. A commitment to love helps us draw the courage to make new choices. A commitment to love keeps us connected to gratitude for the guidance and wisdom of something bigger than our lower personality. Love keeps us in control of our fulfillment, no matter the internal or external weather.

One of the ways I take myself out emotionally is by believing I need people to be happy, kind, generous, intuitive, wise, and thoughtful all the time. But, of course, everyone in my life can’t always be this way, so this expectation sets me up for disappointment and frustration.

My way back to my center is by focusing on who I want to be for them rather than who I need them to be for me. Instead of needing someone to be a mind reader, I can focus on lovingly asking for what I want. Instead of being frustrated with someone for being frustrated, I can offer them compassion, as I know what it feels like to feel that way.

One of the byproducts of giving others grace and focusing on being of service is that it helps me be kinder to myself when I am having a tough time too.

Since we know they will happen, what if we could see one another’s inevitable imperfections as opportunities to become more open-hearted rather than judgmental?

Our words can help us or hinder us, and our bodies will not lie to us about what they are doing.

This is a loving reminder that if the words you speak are making you feel depleted, depressed, or lowering your energy, they are likely hindering you. Stay curious until you find something that lifts you up.

When it feels like you need space but you can’t take a day or a week to yourself, remember that little amounts, taken throughout the day or week, can add up and make a huge difference.

Five minutes, one hour, or one breath, when taken intentionally, can remind our hearts that we are more than the stressors we experience as human beings. Tiny bits, when taken often, could even be more powerful than that week that might never happen.

Don’t underestimate the power of the pause.

The most important ingredient needed to activate your dreams is courage.

Courage is a regenerating resource, and it is found within you. So you must remember to use it and then commit to using it even when it brings about all sorts of intense body sensations and resistance because that is the courage preparing to be used.

What if the only thing missing was courage, and what if it was already within you?

What you have to offer might feel insignificant because you view it as ordinary, but this is only because it comes easily to you.

And what you have to offer might not feel like you have to actively work hard to “give” because it is your passion.

The nature of a gift is that it brings joy, not a burden. Don’t doubt your talents because they feel easy to you. Have faith in the ease and let it lead you.

River water does not need to worry about whether or not there are rocks downstream. It will go over, under, around, through, or anything else it needs to do to keep flowing.

Trust is not the state of knowing everything will go as planned. Trust is the practice of staying in the present moment, which is where your power is, and knowing you will be able to go over, under, around, or through any obstacle that comes your way. You are designed to flow.

Having an optimistic perspective does not by any means guarantee a positive outcome, and it does impact the actions we consider worth taking, which has the potential to change everything.

It might no be what you expected, and there is still possibility if you choose to see it.