If one advances confidently in the direction of his (or her) dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

                                                                   Henry David Thoreau

You are now at Step 5. It's time to take inspired action. This is where you put the pieces together to get on track with living a purposeful and prosperous life. Experiencing a push is an indication that you are going against what you value. And what you value is who you are. The stronger the push, the stronger the value. That is why your strongest pushes often cause the biggest breakthroughs. 

The exercise for Step 5 is called A WAY THROUGH. Print out the exercise so you can follow along. You'll begin by choosing a limiting belief you want to transcend. You'll probably want to work with one of your strongest pushes. Write the limiting belief at the top of the exercise sheet.

Under the letters A & B, you will write down what you do to try and fix this limiting belief. In column A, write down the actions you take that are more active or overt. This is when you try to fix it by being proactive. It may be nonstop talking, complaining, yelling, getting angry, working harder, obsessive preparing, cleaning, etc. In column B list your passive or covert actions, such as quitting, avoiding, hiding, not speaking up, apathy, etc.

What A and B represent is the either/or choice we believe we have to make. The limiting belief is trying to convince us that we have to pick between the lesser of two evils. A and B are both based on scarcity and have us living from our false self. Our limiting beliefs try to convince us that if we just keep working harder at (A) we'll get to where we want to go. Or if we shrink enough (B), we'll be safe.

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. You can't change the situation going back and forth from A to B and back again. It just drives us further into our false self, gathering more and more evidence to prove the limiting belief is right.

In question 3 look around and see the mess you are creating. What are you telling yourself? How does it feel? What are you telling others? Get very clear on what you are in the process of manifesting. We need to see how destructive this limiting belief track really is for us and the people we love.

It's time now to discover what lies beyond the A/B pattern. In question 4, you identify the desire behind the limiting belief. There is something that is trying to get through. The desire is what your limiting belief is saying you can't have. This desire is what Spirit has been longing to express through you. It is the gift that Spirit is trying to give you.

State this desire as an affirmation. See what you've been fighting against in your limiting belief and write down what is true. Once you realize the truth in your affirmation, your circular actions will become less appealing. In fact, you will see that these actions are actually repelling what you want.

In question 5, envision yourself living this desire. From this place, what are you in the process of manifesting around you? What values are you living? What gifts are you sharing? Fully experience what it feels like to be living from your powerful, authentic self.

Now in question 6, spend some time feeling gratitude for the truth in your affirmation. You'll start to recognize yourself in the affirmation. Our false self never did fit. Acknowledge the presence of Spirit working in your life to express this desire through you. Once you recognize the desire and claim it, you know it's on its way to you. And in most cases, you'll recognize that it's been here all along.

Notice that the inspiration you are receiving is a way through. Feel your energy shift and open up. When you disengage from the stuckness of the A/B configuration, something new is revealed. The inspired actions you will take become clear because you are looking through the lens of your true self instead of your false self.

Every time you run into a push you can work through this exercise. Each time you come up with a new affirmation; put it in your notebook. This will help you remember who you truly are. Through this process it won't take you long to stop buying into the limiting beliefs because now you're onto them. Once you see them for what they are, you can't pretend you don't. It will become easier for you to embrace your authentic self rather than to reject it.

As you step out on faith and follow the guidance of Spirit it won't always be easy. At the beginning, your limiting beliefs will still be screaming for your attention; but as you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams you will feel the presence of Spirit carrying you along.

Once you become fluent with the 5 steps you'll be able to drop the training wheels of the exercises and receiving your life will become a moment by moment decision. Then at some point soon you'll realize that it would never occur to you to withhold your authentic self and be less than who you are.