10 Steps to Success - Step 9 Consciously Learn, Evolve and Grow

By dougnau on Feb 10, 2008 in Consciousness, Life Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Success

Step 9 Consciously Learn, Evolve and Grow

If you’ve found this article, but have not yet read the introduction 10 Steps to Success, I highly encourage you to do so before continuing. This is part of a series of articles that read in order will give you valuable insight as to how to become successful with anything you envision.

What does it mean to be Conscious?

Everyone learns each and every moment of the day. We have experiences all of the time - no matter how insightful or mundane they may seem to be. These experiences can be consciously intended or passively accepted. As raising our consciousness takes work, effort, and practice, being conscious is truly a journey and not a destination. Its a choice to act based on an awareness of who we are, what our priorities are, and in the process we learn more and more about ourselves.

Dictionary.com’s definition for ‘conscious’ is:

“aware of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.”

In other words, in our experiences we are awake and aware. When we are focused on and conscious of our learning rather than being caught up in the interaction of the moment an interesting thing happens. Our daily activities no longer have the same emotional impact. When we are conscious of learning, we recognize that all of our experiences are simply feedback. They are not ‘good’ or ‘bad’, they are just feedback. We approach life as it is an opportunity to adjust and react such that we can improve based on what we’ve learned. Like a pilot making adjustments in flight to arrive to the destination safely and as quickly as possible. The weather and conditions are not good or bad, they just exist in the natural cycle of the world. The pilot makes adjustments if they need to avoid the storm, change altitude, or change the destination based on this feedback. Such is with our life.

A conscious learner is not concerned about the failures they have had, they are seeking the educational opportunity they have encountered as a result of this failure and can make adjustments based on what they now know. In other words - while emotions exist and can be acknowledged, these are not are primary focus of objective. Our focus throughout the process is personal evolution and growth.

We can become conscious of anything we desire. I can become conscious of how poorly I relate with certain people, or what life looks like in other parts of the world. To be successful in your endeavors, be conscious of learning, evolving (the capacity to change based on these learnings), and growth - taking action in the future based on learning and evolving.

Consciously Intending v. Passively Accepting

We have a big choice to make in life and the 10 steps to success is geared towards supporting you in making the choice that is right for you. The choice is to consciously intending what happens in our life, or to passively accept what the world will give us. Of course this is not a black or white statement - and typically we consciously intend one outcome in our life while passively accepting others. Some people are conscious about more than others. The most important consideration is whether we are consciously intending or passively accepting those areas of our lives that we consider to be most significant.

If relationships are very important to me, am I accepting whatever happens in my relationships, or am I creating what I want? Conscious intention with regards to relationships requires the decision to be actively aware of how I want to be, to lay down my ego (if it is compelling me to act against my true desires), and to live life in accordance with what I know to be right. Sounds simple, and it is. Simple as it may be, applying these principles take practice and focus to master.

Where to begin - Make Queues

How do I begin? Firstly recognize that there are many areas of your life that you are already being conscious of your learning, evolution and growth. Perhaps it is at work, perhaps on a project at home you are starting or a new sport you have begun playing. Take notes for yourself as to what is working in these areas - ask yourself what can I learn from how I’ve approached this part of my life. Understand and recognize that our brain is an incredibly complex and powerful learning machine. We are fully equipped to Learn, Evolve, and grow.

Use your senses. Our five senses play a huge role in our consciousness. They are the means by which the external world translates its message into our internal world. Creating queues for our senses raise our awareness and our consciousness. Visual queues such as a written vision statement, a goal posted in a visible location, immersing ourselves in television broadcasts or bookmarking websites that peak our interest can play a huge role in raising our awareness and consciousness via the sense of sight. Creating auditory queues like listening to appropriate radio broadcasts and podcasts can remind you continually of your purpose. The sense of smell, taste and touch can be enormous queues for goals related to the chef, candle shop owner, or healer. Create queues that continually remind you to engage your consciousness for growth and evolution in every day life.

All we need to do is to find ways to make the process conscious. As you’ve made it this far in the 10 steps to success, you’ve already become conscious of your desires - take this to the next level and determine queues to be conscious not only of your desires, but also how you can grow. This will perpetuate success and bring it more quickly than blindly vying for goals that no longer challenge you to better yourself.

Creatures of Change

Evolution and growth is natural. Embrace that rather than being creatures of habit, that we are creatures of change. Look for all of the examples you see in your own life and in the world around us. You will see that this is truth. Evolution begins with this acceptance, and accept that we can change both our external actions as well as our internal self. This is hard to do - to accept that over time I may not be the same person that I am today. Its scary - but inevitable. Rather than fearing this change, embrace that it will happen and that this new person will be even a better version of ourselves, one which has evolved to a new level of spirituality, health and wealth.

To do this gracefully we let down our ego. We accept that we don’t always need to be right, that we do better when taking in the learnings from others and the world around us. Taking in the outside inputs from the world rather than rejecting them as different than my personal opinions is the foundation for understanding ourselves and others. We might even see opportunities in learning about opinions different than our own whether or not they sway our personal beliefs. By laying down our ego, we allow for growth to take place - we ask ourselves continually ‘How can I improve and how can this moment help me succeed?

Be Well