The Connection

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I think what we’re really seeking is an experience of being alive, so our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so we can actually feel the rapture of being alive.”

“Follow your bliss.”
–Joseph Campbell

Over the years, I have read many books on mind power, self-empowerment, time management, success and achievement, philosophy, and spirituality. I’ve attended many seminars, listened to mountains of tapes, and took numerous classes. And the one common thread I have found in all that I have learned was that they all taught in some way that a person’s outer world is somehow connected to his inner dimension.

However, since the greater part of my career involved business development consulting in the field of cosmetic surgery, I became convinced of the fact that not only there is indeed a connection between the outside and the inside but also that one either affects or reflects the other. You don’t need to become a cosmetic surgeon to recognize this obvious truth.

For instance, many patients ask, “If your procedure is so good, why isn’t everybody having it done?” Doctors usually answer by using a car analogy, such as, “Why does a person drive a Chevrolet when he can afford a Cadillac?” In other words, it’s all a matter of priorities.

A person, therefore, will never need let alone appreciate cosmetic surgery unless he or she thinks they need it. I’m neither condemning nor condoning anything that can help a person in any way. But whether it’s improving what one does or how one feels, I believe that true success goes beyond all that. Paying greater attention to one’s quality of life, to the connection between what one does and how one feels, is more effective than simply focusing on one area alone.

People who do so are what I call congruent people. People whose inner and outer selves are in harmony or in alignment with each other are happier, more peaceful, and live more purposeful lives compared to people who need to constantly focus on goals.

Goals are important, but not at the expense of your priorities. When you are aligned or when your life is in tune with your spiritual successfulness you are then truly successful (with or without any goals, for that matter). In fact, to a congruent person, a goal is a complement or a tool and never a necessity. In other words, the goal to him is a means and not an end.

Your consciousness of the highest that’s within you is what connects you to it. When you’re in touch with that which is within, when you have created an inner harmony or an inner peace, you also create a powerful channel through which the highest that’s within you may flow. And ironically, when you’re detached from your goals and when you bring to your life a sense of purpose and peace, all that you desire will come to you naturally.

The bottom-line is that the better the relationship you have with yourself, the more open the channel to that which is within you becomes. It’s like saying that your inner self is the electricity while your outer self is the lamp. Once you’ve made a connection with that source, it’s like uncovering the outlets within you through which you can plug into and shine upon the world.

When I write about the connection with the inner self, I am not referring to meditation, prayer, creative visualization, daily affirmations, or some sort of esoteric path or ritual. The path you choose is your own and there’s no specific “one” way of doing it. However, before going into any of these areas, you must know why you are worth the meditation, prayer, or whatever.

Before connecting with your inner successfulness, you must first recognize and realize that you are valuable. Ignoring your personal worth is, in my estimation, the greatest denominator of all failure. Hence, a healthy self-esteem is the number one key to opening the doors to your successfulness.

A poor self-esteem, on the other hand, is the greatest deterrent in your attempts to become truly successful because it is from which many self-imposed lacks and limitations stem.