Life Mastery Wisdom with David D McLeod

Guilt and shame are experiences we all have from time to time. While guilt can alert us to errors in our actions, shame is more inclined to point out flaws in our very nature. If we are not careful, this can grow into a highly judgmental pattern called toxic shame. This is very debilitating and disempowering, and it leads us to avoid showing up in the world, and may lead to even more severe consequences. In this episode, learn a powerful technique for reducing and even eliminating toxic shame—and creating healing self-love in the process.

Noise exists everywhere. Sometimes it can get so loud or overbearing that you may have difficulty staying present to what is. A natural reaction is to try and calm things down or seek a form of escape. This doesn't always work—and may even make the experience more challenging. In this episode, learn a counterintuitive approach to embrace the noise, listen to it with your whole being, and relax into the harmony that appears as if by magic.

Have you ever been stuck in the Readiness Rut—you know, when you hold yourself back from whatever you believe you are supposed to be doing because you don't think you're ready yet? It's a common malady, and when we look closely at it, we can see that it is just a sophisticated form of procrastination. Eventually, the only option is to declare yourself “ready enough”—and just go for it! Let's do that today!

No matter where you are in life, you probably have some desire to improve yourself so that you become the best you can be. But what does it really mean to be “your best self”? It all depends on the circumstances of each moment. In reality, as long as you are always showing up as authentically as possible, living in integrity with all of who you are, and doing the best you can in every moment, what more can you really ask? Listen in and deepen your understanding of what it means to be “your best self”.

Every moment offers a new choice, and every choice offers a new opportunity to express the truth of who we are. But will we choose consciously or unconsciously? Will we choose from our mind or from our heart? Will we choose out of fear or out of love? These are important questions, for the answers influence the outcomes we create. And we must always deal with the consequences of our choices, intended or not.

Comfort is pleasant and enjoyable. But if we get too comfortable, then we tend to become apathetic—or even lazy. This is definitely not conducive to growth or success! If we wish to grow into the kinds of beings we are meant to be, then we must increase our tolerance for discomfort, so that we are more at ease taking risks. Step by step, we can expand our comfort zone and find a way to solve the comfort conundrum!

Occasionally, an event happens that forces us to examine our belief systems and evaluate the way we look at the world. If we recognize this as an opportunity, we can quickly find the gift in the situation, and we can grow to the next level of our evolution. This usually produces a widening of our perspective, in which we learn to see things with less prejudice or bias. The ensuing expansion is usually accompanied by an increase in happiness and fulfillment.

Who doesn't at one time or another cry out to the Universe, “Why does this keep happening to me?” Anyone with an active ego-mind is sure to experience this kind of victim thinking occasionally. But the question is, what is really going on? And what can we do about it? In this episode, you'll learn all about how attachment can lead to suffering. At the same time, you'll learn a simple process for letting go so that you can stop getting in the way of the Universe's natural process of providing for you.

Whenever we turn the corner on a New Year, people seem really motivated to create some resolutions. And each year, they claim that this time they will really follow through. And yet, how often do these resolutions fail to produce the desired results? In this episode, I offer a different perspective. Listen in and learn how you can use the power of reflection to transform your resolutions into exciting opportunities for growth.

Most of us want to live up to our full potential. Unfortunately, we have no reliable methods for measuring that potential in advance, so outside of our own assessment of our achievements, it's very hard to know for sure if we are living up to it. In this episode, we examine this idea at some length, and offer a few ideas for improving our odds of success.

Most people have a difficult time thinking of themselves as divine beings. This is mainly because of the overpowering influence of an ego-mind that insists on being in control. But the truth is that divinity is really no more than a heartbeat away, and everyone can have access to their innate divinity relatively easily. Listen in and learn the value of connecting to your own divinity within.

It seems that gratitude is not uppermost in our minds except during the Holiday season. It's too bad, because gratitude is a powerful force that can make almost every aspect of our lives not merely tolerable, but downright delightful. When we learn how to express gratitude regularly for the obvious gifts in our lives, then very soon we begin to see gifts where we may not have seen them before—even in the darkest areas of our lives. Let's learn how to make the expression of gratitude an ongoing practice in our lives—and reap the many benefits as we do so.

The ego-mind is not a bad thing, although it can get out of control and try to run your entire life, usually in the form of an inner critic that seems intent on pointing out all your flaws. But if you can quiet the ego-mind and tame that inner critic, then you can bring yourself into a place where you connect with your inner sage. And that is when everything will change for you. Listen in and learn how to connect to your inner sage.

Everyone has beliefs that are dysfunctional or disempowering, and when we do some reflection on them, we may discover that they are also irrational because they are not based in truth. Unfortunately, since most beliefs of this type are beyond our normal awareness, we may continue to abide by them unconsciously. Rather than be at the mercy of such dysfunction, we owe it to ourselves to review our beliefs periodically, and to release the ones that no longer serve us. Learn how in this episode.

The most common symbol of success is almost certainly money. Many people spend most of their lives achieving, accomplishing, and building up their material wealth, but by the end of their lives, most of them confess to being unsatisfied or unhappy even with what they have attained. In this episode, we consider a missing ingredient, Compassion, and look at how life can be improved immensely when we add that ingredient back in.

Most of the fear you experience in your life is much like the roar of an old lion whose teeth have begun to fall out, and who no longer has any power over you. While the roar may still be loud and scary, it is really all just bluster—and mostly harmless. The time has come to stop allowing the old lion to scare you with its toothless roar. Instead, it's time to start facing the roar and stepping courageously through it to face your fear directly. Silence the lion, take your power back, and fearlessly choose the way you will live your life.

It is easy to fall into the pattern of being a people-pleaser. While this may initially seem like a good way to get along better in the world, in the long run it is actually very disempowering personally and can have a strong negative impact on your enjoyment of life. In this episode, we'll consider some ways to break the pattern so that you can reconnect to your real self—without creating any kind of chaos or disharmony.

Everyone experiences broken agreements from time-to-time. You may be the one who fails to honor the agreement, or you may be the one who has to deal with it from the other side. Either way, addressing a broken agreement itself can be uncomfortable if you don't have the right tools for the job. In this episode, you are introduced to three different techniques for dealing with a broken agreement in a way that preserves the sanctity of your relationship.

There is nothing more important in life than knowing the truth of who you really are. Unfortunately, many people become confused after going through years of childhood conditioning that shapes their beliefs about what to think and believe, and how to act and be. The story of the blind men and the elephant is used here as a metaphor to help us wake ourselves up to the truth. Listen to the recording and learn a great practice for bringing that truth into every experience.

If you've ever created a vision board, then you have some idea of the power of visualization. It's a great way to help you enhance the meaning and desire of a particular goal or objective—which often accelerates its manifestation into reality. But you can supercharge the power of a vision board by incorporating the Visionizing process—a form of meditation that involves relaxation, intentional focus, and directed visualization. Listen to the podcast to find out more.

Many people believe in the notion of Karma as a self-created fate that cannot be avoided. The idea is that we all have an energetic bank account that has a positive or negative balance depending on our past choices and actions, and that our lives somehow reflect this balance through the types of experiences we go through. But is this true? Could we have it wrong? Is it possible to balance or reverse this Karmic debt in a single lifetime? Listen in and find out.

There's a very high probability that you have experienced a state of flow firsthand. Characterized by high energy, enhanced focus, purposeful joy, and a sense of boundless creativity, this state is something that you can learn to activate within yourself with just a little bit of practice. While the state of flow is both productive and creative, it is also an extremely enjoyable state to experience—with NO negative side-effects! Listen in and learn how you can access this state more frequently.

If we all knew the truth about who we really are, most of the problems in the world would disappear virtually overnight. While the likelihood of everyone coming to this awareness all at once may be low, there is a path to global awakening and healing. If we invoke the ripple effect by doing our own work to recognize, remember, integrate and share the truth of who we are, those in our circles of influence will naturally be inspired to do the same. Embrace your inner Ripple Maker and help to heal the world.

Sooner or later, every relationship will come to an end, and when this happens, you may be inclined to think of the relationship as a failure. However, by reframing your perspective, you can review every relationship and find wonderful gifts in it that you might never have received in any other way. This is true even in relationships that might have been unpleasant or even painful to endure. Listen in and find out more.

One way or another, everyone is a leader—no matter how much we might try to avoid it. The simple fact that we exist means that each of us represents one possible way of being in the world, and some of what we express is bound to have an impact on others. In other words, whether we like it or not, we all lead by example. Might as well release our inner leader and lead from a place of conscious intention so that we help to create the kind of world we want to see.

Compassion is a powerful healing tool that is available to everyone all the time. What’s more, it is something that we all know intuitively how to use, although we may have spent so much time in our left-brain that we’ve forgotten how! Reconnect to one of your natural super-powers and bring healing to yourself as well as the rest of the world—and enhance your happiness and fulfillment in the bargain.

Sometimes we can have a successful outcome without experiencing the exhilarating emotions that usually come with it. When such a disconnect occurs, it may be because you were not properly aligned with your objective before you embarked on the journey toward success. In this episode, we discuss a method for ensuring proper holistic alignment before the journey even begins. When you practice these techniques, then the experience of success will be that much sweeter.

Forgiveness is a powerful force that provides many benefits, not least a true sense of freedom that makes life much more enjoyable. Initially, forgiveness may seem like a difficult or challenging prospect, but the more you practice it, the easier it becomes. Listen in a learn some new ideas and techniques for making forgiveness much more accessible, and begin to experience some of the benefits right away.

Meditation is a powerful tool for training focus, attention and awareness on the present moment, ultimately leading to the achievement of mental clarity, emotional stability, physical relaxation, and spiritual calmness. Although it takes years to fully master, meditation is easy to learn. The effort is never wasted, and the benefits are always available. Whether you know about meditation or not, listen to this episode and find the excitement to create your own meditation practice.

In this day and age of fast and easy social media connections that are labeled “friends”, we may lose sight of the real meaning of friendship. So what does friendship mean to you? Do you have unconscious expectations of your friends? Are you making any assumptions about how your friendship should look or how your friends should behave? Listen in and reconnect to the meaning of true friendship and learn a few tips to help you re-evaluate your existing friendships.

Many of us have difficulty bringing the same level of compassion to ourselves as we can bring to others. Since compassion is a necessary ingredient for healing (especially for ourselves), it’s time to get over that way of thinking and come to recognize that we are just as worthy of love and healing as anyone else is. Listen in to learn a powerful technique for empowering yourself to heal.

Everyone worries about some things some of the time. But some people seem to be worried about something almost constantly. If it’s not one thing, it’s another! This state of almost constant worry can have a debilitating impact—reducing productivity, inhibiting viable decisions, and making life significantly less enjoyable. If you find that you worry more than you think is normal, then listen to this episode for a strategy that will help you to reduce worry.

For many people, life seems like an endless struggle with little or no point to it. Some people, however, find a way to enjoy life almost all the time, regardless of the lemons and curve balls that come their way! How do they do it? What is the secret to having a meaningful life? In this episode, we’ll look at one method that works wonders for most people who try it—and, thankfully, it’s not really that difficult to implement.

Every once in a while, something happens in life that can have a strong enough impact that knocks you away from your emotional center. This can be both disconcerting and disorienting, so much so that you may have difficulty regaining your composure. Sometimes the effect can last quite a while, so what can you do to mitigate the effect and regain your center? In this episode, we talk about one way that can help you to stay true.

Desire is a form of energy that generally supports and sustains life. However, when fear enters the picture, this energy can transform from a gentle affirming motivation into want, need, expectation, compulsion, and even addiction. As Life Masters, our objective is to monitor our desires and to engage in those which serve our greatest good for growth and expansion. In this episode, we discuss ways of doing that.

Do you ever find yourself caught in a cycle of constant comparisons, where you end up deciding that you are not quite measuring up? This cycle of comparison toxicity can be extremely debilitating, and if not addressed, can create such negative thoughts in your mind that you shut down and get completely stuck. If you want to stop this cycle in your life, check out this episode for some great ideas to get you moving again.

Happiness is something that virtually everyone wants, and yet it seems that most people in the world have difficulty getting it. After years of rampant consumerism, fueled by the powerful psychological effects of advertising, we have been conditioned to believe that if we want happiness, we must go out and get it. But it turns out that, while we may experience temporary pleasure by participating in various activities, authentic lasting happiness simply cannot be found outside of ourselves. We must do something much more challenging: get down to the truth of who we really are, and connect to the natural, authentic happiness that is already inside.

Are you the kind of person who goes out of his/her way to be nice to everyone? Do you maybe go a little overboard in being nice? If so, what is it costing you in terms of your own level of satisfaction and fulfillment? In this episode, we look at the idea of niceness in detail, with the objective of raising awareness to a form of over-sensitivity that is becoming almost epidemic in western culture. Learn how you can claim the truth of who you are, meet your own needs, and still treat others with compassion and love.

Anyone who has done any personal growth work has very likely experienced the challenge of dealing with an ego-mind that has gotten so powerful that it seems to have completely taken over. Many spiritual teachers promote the idea that in order to advance in consciousness, you have to quiet, silence, dissolve or eliminate the ego-mind. A few of these teachers even go so far as to advocate killing what they call a toxic ego-mind. But is that the only approach? Perhaps there is a more effective way to tame an over-active ego-mind. Find out how in this episode.

Compassion is one of the most powerful healing methodologies available, and something that is quite natural for most people. However, sometimes we can get so caught up in the objective of helping to reduce someone’s suffering that we inadvertently create a state of disempowerment. By jumping in to solve a problem without first checking in to see if our help is really wanted, we take away the person’s ability to benefit from the struggle, and thus remove what might have been a critical learning opportunity. In this episode, I talk about compassionate empowerment as an alternative approach that is much more uplifting and supportive.

People everywhere seem to have forgotten the truth of who they really are, and the result is that we collectively experience a lot of division, argument, and unpleasantness because of the illusion of separateness. When we dissolve that illusion and wake up to the truth about our most magnificent and divine essence, a new opportunity arises that allows us to reclaim our sovereignty—which is our birthright—and thereby contribute to universal healing. Everyone has the power and ability to do this; all it takes is awareness and intention. Listen in and learn more about how you can reclaim your sovereignty.

People everywhere have been conditioned to believe in the notion of separation. We tend to believe that we are separate from each other, we are separate from nature, we are separate from our spiritual source. As a result of this belief, we tend to favor logical, linear, scientific thinking over emotion, connection, and oneness. Not only that, but when we seek answers, we also tend to look to sources outside of ourselves, and often those answers are not terribly satisfying. In this episode, we consider the importance of seeking the truth from the source that we are always connected to: The Within.

Perfectionism is a double-edged sword. It can inspire and motivate us to greater levels of accomplishment, but at the same time it can create in us a sense of dissatisfaction with whatever we create. The danger is that nothing is ever good enough, and we end up losing out on opportunities to enjoy life as it shows up. The good new is that we can eliminate the danger with a simple shift in perspective. Listen in and find out how.

It is easy for us to get comfy and cozy in our safe and secure Comfort Zone. But what is the cost if we spend too much time there? Not only can life simply pass us by because we aren’t living up to our full potential, but we can lose ourselves in the process because we aren’t allowing ourselves to grow and expand into the amazing beings we are truly meant to be. Transitioning out of the Comfort Zone can be as simple and painless as shifting a pattern or habit here and there. Check out this episode to find out how to start.

Many teachers suggest that we all have unlimited potential. If you have a “Fixed Mindset”, you will have difficulty believing that statement because your mindset will tell you that you have only a certain amount of intelligence and capability that cannot be changed over time. On the other hand, if you have a “Growth Mindset”, then you probably resonate with that statement, and likely take more chances in life because you are willing to risk failure in order to grow. Listen to this episode and find out more about how you can maximize your own potential, no matter what kind of mindset you currently have.

When properly crafted and structured, affirmations have the power to engage the creative energy of the universe in order to help us transform into the beings that we truly want to be. Learn to harness the magic of these amazing tools and make use of them on a regular basis to completely transform your life.

Everyone likes to be in control—at least some of the time, but most of us realize that real control is simply an illusion of the mind. After all, there are so many variables to consider that we can easily see that no one person has the capability of controlling all of them. And yet, how many of us—out of some unconscious fear of the unknown—try to exert control over situations, circumstances, and the behavior of others, all in an unwitting attempt to keep ourselves safe? And what is the cost of our control freak behavior? In this episode, we look at the benefits of surrendering the need for control and begin to let go—without losing ourselves in the process.

It seems that most humans on the planet have their own ideas for an “ideal world”. And many of them seem intent on doing whatever they can to bring the world of their dreams into reality. Unfortunately, while many of us share some common ideas about what constitutes the “ideal world”, the sad truth is that we have so many different objectives that they often come into conflict, and as a result we end up creating a world full of pain and suffering. In this episode, we examine this phenomenon in detail and consider an alternate approach.

The current world situation—a pandemic coupled with wide-spread protesting—has magnified an environment of fear that threatens both safety and trust. It is difficult to remain grounded and centered in such an environment, and the stress that ensues can have damaging effects on us. We must do everything we can to keep ourselves immersed in love, knowing that no matter what circumstances surround us, we are spiritually immortal beings who are always safe wherever we are in the universe. This episode offers a variation on an old theme for reducing fear and reconnecting to love.

In every situation or circumstance that appears in your life, you have two options: you can react or you can respond. The option you choose can have a big impact on the quality of your life. If you are constantly reacting to things, you will likely find yourself feeling a lot of anxiety and stress a lot of the time, which makes it very difficult for you to enjoy things. But if you are able to receive situations into your life with a relaxed sense of compassion, and simply respond when required—from a grounded knowing of who you really are—then you will minimize stress, and all of life will brighten and become much more enjoyable in almost every way.

Most of us are aware of a pretty common phenomenon in which we seem to discover an answer we seek when we least expect it. It appears in a delightful form that we often call an “Aha Moment”, and when it happens, it jolts us with an indescribable energy that upon reflection reminds us of our eternal connection to All-That-Is. In this episode, we discuss this phenomenon at length and uncover a process for putting it to use more consciously—and consistently—in our lives.