Your Biggest Enemy on Your Way to Freedom

You are already free. Freedom is your real nature. But there is something that constantly prevents you from experiencing your freedom. It's your Ego. And the more you realize and recognize it, the more you will feel free.

What is your ego? Your ego is the image of yourself you have created in order to be accepted by society, by others. It began early in your childhood. When you were a child your parents and other people judged and criticized you. They didn't accept you just as you are. They tried to change you, to make you a person that will fit them, the person they will be able to control. The person, whose presence they will not feel. The person that will not cause them trouble or change their routine.

As you see, trying to educate you, people mostly did not care about you, but about themselves. But you were a little child, who was dependent on adults for survival. So you developed your ego, your false identity that has a purpose to please and satisfy others. That was the only way you could get what you need and what you want.

Step by step you have built self definition. You have started loving some parts of you, because the society accepts them; and hate your other qualities, because the society did the same.

Time passed. You are not really depending on anyone anymore. But here is the power of bad habit. You regularly treat yourself through the eyes of society, so often that you've adopted their "voice" of judgment.

Now you're continuing to identify yourself with that false image that was created in order to satisfy others. You're experiencing everything through your ego. You're not free anymore to be yourself, but this is the only way you can really experience freedom.

So what is the solution? How can you be more you and less your ego? Here are just some of the points you have to relate:

• Practice meditation
• Reduce self judgment
• Learn to totally express yourself
• Practice the state of mind of success, wealth and freedom

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
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This article was authored by Vicka Tanski. All this and much more you will discover in the author’s newsletter "The Way to Freedom". Sign up here: www.the-way-to-freedom.com/?ref=jstbe-3

Related article:
The Most Important Step Towards Freedom and Happiness

The Most Important Step Towards Freedom and Happiness

What do you think you should do to be really happy? I heard a lot of different answers:

• I have to be rich
• To love what I have or do
• I need a good family and friends
• And other variations...

But none of them is complete answer. So, listen carefully: In order to live in happiness and freedom "you have to be absolutely, totally, completely YOU! You have to express yourself full power in all possible ways of expression" — it is the requirement of your soul in this life.

The meaning of this for everyone is different, because everyone has different potential, DNA, information that he/she carries inside. Everyone has different desires, and loves different kinds of people, things and activities.

Until you repress your unique desires and try to be anything except yourself and to do anything except what you like, you will limit your happiness and freedom.

If you want your life to be absolutely fulfill, it also not enough to do only one thing you like, and ignore others. For example: if you like to dance, to sing and to help people to improve their lives, don't limit yourself to doing only one of these activities. Find the time and opportunity to do all of them. You cannot imagine how your life will become more exciting, fulfill and satisfying then.

It's really not so easy in our society to be absolutely yourself. People are constantly judging you, and trying to make you only a "biological robot", in order to control you. But tell me and yourself the truth: what is really important for you:

• Stay small, dependent and weak person, who want to satisfy others and to let them control and use you.
• Or become a free person, start living beautiful and exciting life and help others to do the same.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
(my own article directory)

This article was authored by Vicka Tanski. To get practical tips on living in spiritual, mental and financial freedom, sign up to the author’s newsletter here: www.the-way-to-freedom.com/?ref=jsht-1 To Your Freedom, Vicka Tanski.

Fourteen Key Personal Development Skills

By Gen Wright

It's helpful to take a high level perspective on personal development, looking broadly at all the important skills. This can help identify areas you may be weak in, and serve as a mental checklist to help you focus. While this is not an exhaustive list of elements important to personal development, these are some of the most important.

1. Continuous Learning: Take responsibility for your own lifelong personal development, knowing that it’s the secret to success in all areas of life, and your most valuable asset. Your knowledge and experience is personal wealth you can never lose.

2. Positivity: Find the positive aspect in everything, accepting what cannot be changed, and acting on what can, towards a positive result. Don’t let circumstances drive your state of being, let your state of being drive your results. Smile and use humor to help drive a positive attitude and share it with others.

3. Personal Excellence: Strive to do your best in everything you do. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Not only to achieve superior results, but so that if you fail you can remain positive rather than wishing you had tried harder. Look to be creative in your personal excellence rather than follow the safest, lowest risk path.

4. Honesty: Maintain honesty and integrity in all that you do. Trust and respect by others is hard earned, yet can be permanently lost over the smallest lie. Decide that honesty is one of your core values, and stick to it at all costs.

5. Know Yourself: You are a unique individual with your own strengths and weaknesses, all others have these also. The difference with a successful person is they have learned to leverage their strengths, and to identify their weaknesses so they can improve those areas through learning and practice. Accept yourself as you are without comparison to others, if you look you will find much about yourself to be proud of and thankful for.

6. Appreciate the Moment: Seek happiness in the present moment, even in the simple things around you such as nature, a good conversation, or a good meal. Excessive contemplation on the past or future steals this appreciation from you. Some techniques to support this is getting out in nature, and meditation.

7. Communicate Well: Learning to communicate well with others is an essential skill, which includes speaking, writing, listening well, and body language. Nearly everyone can still find areas to grow with these skills, and should receive constant attention. Becoming a good listener is one of the top areas of improvement you should seek, become truly interested in other people and it will work wonders.

8. Embrace Mistakes: Mistakes are a prerequisite to personal development; you must choose either courage and success, or safety and being average. Mistakes are a learning opportunity so long as you are not repeating your mistakes, if you have learned from a failure then pat yourself on the back. Carry this to other’s mistakes also, forgive them with this understanding in mind.

9. Embrace Change: Change is a constant part of life, and integral to personal development and success. Become excited about change, and look to it with a positive attitude. Be a leader by being the initiator of positive change. If you fear change, then you fear personal development, as self improvement is about changing yourself.

10. Increase Your Value: Know that personal development is not a selfish activity; rather it increases your value to others, ranging from relationships, business, and career. Too many people focus on changing others, which rarely works as well as changing yourself. Make a difference externally by changing yourself internally.

11. Be Giving: Seek to be giving, compassionate, loving, yet humble, knowing you receive what you give out. This is a secret to finding happiness in life.

12. Balance: Seek balance in all areas of life, considering family, relationships, career, business, health, leisure, and spirituality.

13. Gratitude: Be thankful for the gift and opportunity of life. If you have a spiritual belief, pursue the core tenets of the teachings and make them part of who you are.

14. Find Your Excitement: Find things in life that excite you, and act on them. Embracing things which excite and motivate you will move you more quickly into success and happiness, and attract the things you need to get there. This attitude will support and integrate with all the above tenets.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
(my own article directory)

Steve Moore is the author of this article, and has many more articles on these concepts at Personal-Development.Com and PositiveArticles.Com