When Did You Find the Natural State of You?

Is This a Midlife Crisis Thing or Is Everyone Doing More Inner Work and Self Awareness?

Jul 30, 2024

Do you have to hit bottom or have a crisis before you step back—way, way back such as all summer or a year, to look for “the natural state of you”?

How can you bring your gift to the world if you cannot say—in seven words or less, what that gift is? It’s something you’ve had your whole life and it is as specific to you as your DNA and the sum of everything you ever saw, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted.

I just spent 12 weeks looking for “the natural state of me” and found it. It took a lot of thinking, writing, inner work, mindfulness, plus artificial intelligence to identify and code every experience, trial, success, emotion, relationship, and memory for the past 60 years to get to that mind-blowing “natural state of you.” Without the help of AI and a guide, I guarantee I would have not done it because it would have taken too long. Until now, I did not understand why it was important to my mental and physical health, all of my relationships, and the legacy I will complete and leave for the living.

Enough About Me. What Is Your Evidence of Increased Awareness and Inner Work?

Increased awareness means you notice overwhelming information and wisdom coming from humans and nature that you missed while living your first 20, 40, or more years on autopilot.

All of this has been hiding in plain sight. Here’s a short list of what I noticed about key indicators of increased focus on change, transformations, and the natural state of you.

This is not new but it is exponentially recent.

The early 2000s saw the initial popularization of mindfulness and self-help books. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) started gaining traction in clinical settings. Social media was in its infancy and found appeal for digital resources and platforms dedicated to mindfulness and self-awareness.

Exponential growth started in 2010 with a boom in mindfulness apps, online courses, and digital communities. Mindfulness and self-awareness practices have become mainstream, and integrated into various sectors such as education, corporate wellness, and healthcare. The research and books substantially increased in scientific research and publications related to mindfulness, neuroplasticity, and self-awareness practices.

Apps like Headspace and Calm have seen exponential growth. Headspace reached over 65 million downloads by 2020, and Calm was valued at $2 billion in 2020. Books like Livewired by David Eagleman and The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge have popularized the concepts of neuroplasticity and personal transformation.

The time spent on mindfulness and meditation has increased significantly over the past decade. Surveys indicate that most people meditate for 30 minutes or less per session, with most meditating three days per week. This regular practice highlights a growing trend towards integrating mindfulness into daily routines to manage stress and enhance well-being.

The meditation and mindfulness industry in the US alone was valued at over 2 billion by 2022, with projections to reach 14.6 billion globally by 2027.

Is This About Looking For The True You or Unlearning What The Matrix Taught You?

This is not a matter of if, but when. Everyone will hit a wall, experience a transformative change, or face their own mortality. The search for “the true you” may feel selfish or even like a lonely quest until you notice everyone else has done it already or is right behind you. As you open your mind to what you need to learn or notice, some interesting concepts come into view.

Looking for Love In All The Wrong Places by Johnny Lee was big in 1980 as the theme for Urban Cowboy, starring John Travolta. As a Texan and a 35-year-old woman, that was my theme song, too. Everything happening to you in the first half of life is about looking for love. The back half of life is about giving love. The sooner you figure out who you are, the sooner you can flip from taking to giving. Here’s the big catch: How long will you live and where is halfway? If the life insurance tables say the average for your gender and race is 77 years, is there a point of too late?

Russell C. Smith teaches us the art of unlearning.

“Until you reach a point in life when it’s time to clear away habitual patterns that no longer serve you. A few years ago, I discovered it was time to jump into the joy of unlearning.

“Unlearning, undoing, disbelieving, remaking, unbecoming who you became and never wanted to be, not even for a single second. Along the way, a part of you was frozen in place. While new pathways were waiting to be opened.

“With many stops and starts, you were on the road to becoming your truest self.

“You discover how your flow of thoughts can be upgraded by jettisoning faulty beliefs and wrongheaded internal messages. You find out you’ve had the keys to opening the door to wide-open spaces inside your mind all along.”

Jason Leister teaches us how to escape The Matrix. He says, “It took me a long time to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with my life. In the end, I never found my answer. Instead, it found me.” Jason writes every day, year after year, without disappointing his Sovereign Business Daily Journal and it is exactly what someone looks like and does when they know “the natural state of you.”

Heather Havrilesky, an American author, essayist, and humorist, wrote the book How to Be a Person In the World. She is part Buddha and part Amy Schumer: Wise, whip-smart, and profanely funny. Here are her thoughts on who you are and why you are here.

“…You don’t have to give up on your brilliant, loving, exuberant core self. You don’t have to turn your back on the joy that’s alive inside your cells, that’s waiting for you to wake up and feel how much of the sky and the stars belong to you. Your desire, your passion, your expansive mind, and your enormous heart have been lying in wait for too long. You can get it back. All you have to do is open your eyes and start noticing things again. All you have to do is listen to your big heart. All you have to do is dare to believe that you are brilliant and lovable exactly as you are. You are spilling over with love. You have so much to give this world. Never stop believing in what you are.”

“…You are spilling over with love...”

The time is now. A lot will change before tomorrow.

We are in the middle of the Summer Olympics 2024 in Paris. Athletes from the world, all with extraordinary talents, plus bodies and minds dialed into their opportunity to perform at their gold-medal best levels show up. Their moment is right now. They spent years getting ready for this. There are no more what-ifs or strategy plans for tomorrow. It’s all right now.

Find your own reasons for taking the deep dive to make sure you get to the truth of the natural state of you. Depending on how long you’ve been in The Matrix or telling yourself stories that were only some version of truth, you might need a guide for such a deep excavation and exploration.

I’m not a coach or therapist; still, you can contact me for lessons learned and some communication thought leadership for your situation.

More people, not fewer, will be on this mindfulness train in the future. Accelerated growth in self-awareness and inner work will happen because of cultural shifts such as an increased societal focus on mental health and well-being, partly driven by high-profile advocates and social media, which has normalized and promoted these practices. Another driver is scientific validation. That includes the growing scientific evidence supporting the benefits of mindfulness and meditation which encourage more people to adopt these practices. Let’s remember that digital phone everyone has. Digital accessibility and the rise of meditation apps and online resources have made mindfulness practices more accessible.

Gifted Professionals and Communicators

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