It’s time to go to work my friends! This job will be extremely challenging, but extremely rewarding when done correctly. This job I speak of is inner work. Inner work is a journey that one must take on their own. Sorry kids we can’t sub this one out.
The purpose of inner work is to shape and sculpt our emotions, our attitude, and our beliefs to become a well-balanced person. Meaning that you will know yourself inside and out and also be at peace with yourself. Inner success! I believe we should all work on this first and foremost.
Please know that you will never really reach 100% perfect, but it’s something to strive for. Nothing is 100% perfect. We will have areas that we excel in and other areas that we can improve in. There will in fact always be areas we can improve and I really like that. I always want to keep growing and evolving.
Tips to get your inner work started:
Test yourself. Find something that irritates the heck out of you and then break that down into pieces to discover the what, why, and, how. We will only be able to progress once we have tested ourselves.
Self-help and coping. We need to gather up some tools to help us navigate life along the way. It is important to learn how to help ourselves and to be able to implement coping strategies when needed. Inner work is very important to be done as an individual versus having guidance because we may adapt to others’ suggestions and views. This could water things down a bit if that makes sense. If we get stuck and are having trouble then by all means get some guidance from the right people.
Reflection. Inner work is all about turning inward and reflecting on how things have gone for us thus far. With this work, we then can have a roadmap. Things that went right, things that went wrong, and everything else in between. Information is power and it will help us move in in the right direction.
Self-awareness. By definition, it means to have the ability to be aware of yourself. Also, it involves recognizing that you are separate from others and understanding how your behavior affects them. We can then understand our own emotions and also make future choices related to pretty much anything. A growth mindset is good to have with being self-aware. Inner work is all about navigating ourselves.
Health and well-being. In order to do inner work properly we need to make sure we are doing our very best every day to be and stay healthy. This includes our beautiful minds. Mental health is extremely important on our journey so please, please, please seek professional help if you are having a tough time staying level-headed. Eat right, sleep right, think right, meditate, and exercise!
Sleep hygiene. This one is also very important. If you don’t get good rest your brain can’t act right. Look it up! You will feel better throughout your day if you get a good night’s sleep. Find a healthy routine that works for you and try to stick with it. I promise it will help in the long run. 5 hour nights just aren’t sustainable for doing good inner work.
Self-discovery. This is really a lifelong thing that we should be doing. It is a process that takes time. It is us understanding ourselves. What are our feelings, motivations, values, beliefs, thoughts, behaviors, and so on to discover our abilities and our characteristics?
Navigating emotions. Get to know how you react and how you respond to situations. This will be big for your study on yourself. Look at past and present trends. Have you always been this way? When did it start? Look for patterns over time. Look in the mirror and be honest with yourself.
Bonus: Doing this work will lead you to expand your horizons, it will help you thrive, you will become empowered, and you will be able to have emotional healing.
Conclusion
Inner work requires lots of hard work. It will be a long journey so please don’t try to take shortcuts. Be in the present moment as much as you can. Learn and grow. If at first you don’t succeed, edit, edit, edit!
