Be Who You Are

By Christine Kloser

Do what you can.
Want what you have.
Be who you are.

These three simple lines were the message of the sermon I heard at church last weekend. As I heard these words, each one of them landed firmly in my heart and in my body as TRUTH.

Think for a moment about how much you try to “do, do, do.” Perhaps you often end your days feeling as if you didn’t get enough done. It’s a debilitating cycle to continually feel like you are not doing enough. And, of course this triggers a deeper rooted feeling of simply not believing YOU are enough.

It’s safe to say this is a cycle you are not interested in engaging in. So, let’s look at the first of these simple, yet profound, statements. “Do what you can.” Imagine living your life from the place of only doing what you can do. Not trying to do more than is humanly possible, not trying to overcompensate for your weakness by striving to do more and more, but instead believing you are valuable and enough for WHO YOU ARE. Right now, take a deep breath and give yourself permission to do what you can today and to feel GOOD about it. And, embrace this philosophy every day.

The next of these statements is another profound teaching… “Want what you have.” Imagine living your life from the place of wanting what you have rather than feeling the scarcity and lack that comes from wanting those things you don’t have. If you could release your desire for the things you don’t yet have, and truly embrace the feeling of wanting what you DO have… your world would shift from scarcity to abundance in a split second. You’re BEING would shift from contracted to expanded in a heartbeat.

The wanting of what you don’t have is likely tied into the same thread that’s present in doing more than you can… and this is the feeling of “not enough.” The feeling of not enough (and always wanting more) will be ever present until you stop searching outside of yourself for anything. If you’ve been on any sort of spiritual journey you are likely nodding in agreement with what you’re reading here. But, for those of you who are new to the concept of not seeking anything outside of yourSELF, I invite you simply to begin contemplating what that would look like for you. Who would you be and how would you feel if YOU were the only one you wanted anything from?

And, this leads me to the third profound statement I received at church and that is “Be who you are.” It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? But, when you bring in expectations, approval seeking, not feeling like enough, trying to “fit in,” wanting to be liked, society pressure, family pressure, peer pressure, and a critical inner voice making you think you “should” be something other than who you are… you’ll soon see that the simple act of “being who you are” is not so simple.

One of the most valuable and insightful questions you can ever ask yourself is, “Who am I?” Because in answering a question of this depth and importance, you’ll begin to see that who you are has nothing to do with your career, your business or what you do. It has nothing to do with being a mother, wife, sister, son, friend or colleague. It has nothing to do with the size of your home, the make of your car or your wardrobe. Who you are is much more than any of that.

So, I ask you now to contemplate this question…. “Who are you?” Allow yourself to go beyond any material identification to get to the depths of your heart and soul where the answer to that question is always there waiting for you to remember.

© 2010 Christine Kloser

Would you like to use this article? You may as long as you include the following information along with the article: Christine Kloser, author of The Freedom Formula, helps entrepreneurs put soul in their business and money in the bank. If you want to thrive in your purpose-driven, profitable business (while enjoying a soul-satisfying life), send for my special report, How to Avoid the 3 Massive Mistakes Made by Most Conscious Entrepreneurs and my audio, 7 Strategies Entrepreneurial Authors Need to Know... Before Writing a Word, both of which you get (at no charge) when you request my Conscious Business Success Kit at www.LoveYourLife.com.

I Surrender!

By Christine Kloser

Have you ever felt like you’ve been WILLING your way forward in your business, or your life? Like you’ve been pushing a boulder up hill thinking that if you just push harder, just “did” more, just handled one more thing that suddenly the boulder would move?

If you’re nodding your head up and down right now, you’re not alone. I have spent years of my career “working hard”, sacrificing myself, thinking I had to keep “doing” more… worrying if I was moving fast enough, or falling behind. I was trying to move forward with ease and grace while simultaneously having both of my hands firmly placed on a boulder that I thought I had to push up hill.

Pushing a boulder up hill doesn’t work. In the short run, you might feel like you’re making progress because you moved an inch… but why would you keep pushing for an inch and thinking that was some great progress? You deserve much more than that!

It’s time to surrender the boulder, to completely and totally let it go… so you can breathe, relax, open, trust and allow the flow of grace to guide you. So, perhaps you’re asking yourself how you can let go of the boulder without getting crushed?

The answer is simple, but not necessarily easy. First, you must get clear on what the boulder really is that you’re truly pushing up the hill. Often times what you THINK you’re working on isn’t REALLY what you’re working on at a deeper level.

For instance, the entrepreneur who thinks the boulder is about a particular project they’re wanting to launch, may discover if they look deep enough that the boulder isn’t about the project, rather it’s about them thinking they “have to do more” in order to feel worthy.

Or, the entrepreneur who works to model other successful businesses they see out there, may discover that the boulder they’re pushing is really that they don’t feel like who they are is enough, so they try to mold themselves around what other people are doing.

This approach to business can never work. Many entrepreneurs I talk to feel like there is some boulder they are trying to push uphill… but sadly there’s not a lot of help being offered to help them look at what the boulder really is. Rather, much of the help they get is trying to help them move the boulder in a new or different way. But, hello! The boulder is still there… and just because it can move another inch because of some new technique or strategy doesn’t mean the boulder is gone.

What I encourage you to do is to look at the boulders in your business. Where are you working hard and not getting the results you want? What do you keep trying to do that just isn’t coming to fruition? What things keep happening in your business (or your life) over and over again that you do not like? These are all boulders.

Allow yourself to surrender your hold on the boulder and begin to ask yourself what the boulder is really about… and not at a surface level, but deep inside of yourself. What are you really trying to do? Prove yourself, gain attention, feel like enough, feel worthy/deserving, keep up with the “Jones’.” What is it that you are really trying to do when you push against that boulder? This is the only question that matters, and if what you’re doing isn’t serving you at the highest level, then surrender the boulder, and allow yourself to see everything that’s underneath it.

Taking this courageous step will help you discover what you need to learn about yourself so you can free yourself from ever feeling the need to push a boulder uphill again.

This is what I’ve been doing, and continue to do in my own business. And, I can tell you from experience that surrendering the boulders and going deep within myself to see what the boulders are really about has been the most freeing thing I’ve ever done for my business, and more importantly… my SELF! I encourage you to do the same!