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If you are reading this article, my guess is you would love to live a happy life. Perhaps you, personally, contribute to the $11 billion per year self-help industry, trying to unlock the secret to happiness. Trying to ‘improve’ yourself, your relationships and your life. Or perhaps you spend time and energy trying to fix what you perceive (or have been told) is wrong about you.
But what if there were nothing wrong with you, in any way? And what if the difficulties that you’ve created in your life were based on the lie that you are wrong?
Most of us spend our entire lives looking for answers. Trying to get it right. Trying to not be wrong. What if something else is possible? What if asking a question is the answer you’ve been seeking?
I spent my early adulthood researching, experiencing and exploring hundreds of personal development modalities, and I believe the reason these programs fail most people is because they start with one subtle-yet-damaging conclusion: they ask you to acknowledge what is wrong about you and then take steps to fix, improve or neutralize those issues.
Eventually, in my search for a different reality – one that didn’t rely on the conclusion that I was somehow flawed – I was inspired to create Access Consciousness. The entire basis of Access Consciousness is that you’re not wrong. Ever. Access is a set of simple tools and techniques that will empower you to create a sense of space and joy in your life. A place where you wake up excited to be alive. These tools are probably the weirdest, wildest and wackiest concepts you may ever come across … but they work.
You don’t have to join Access. It doesn’t have a dogma or a set of rules. Instead, at its core, Access Consciousness is about knowing. I know that you have an awareness of how things are, and everything Access offers is about empowering you to ‘know that you know.’
If you want to understand what I mean by this, think of a time in your life when you knew things were going to be a certain way and you ignored that knowing. Probably, if you’re like most people on this planet, you ended up in a whole lot of trouble – trouble that you could have avoided if you were willing to know what you knew! Those instances of knowing are your moments of consciousness. And when you choose this, every moment of every day, you will create a different life; a different reality.
Importantly, Access Consciousness will not give you any answers. When you function in a world of answers you get stuck in ‘conclusion.’ You decide what your point of view is and what possibilities are available to you. Access is about ‘living in a question.’ It’s about stepping out of conclusion and those old, stale points of view. It’s about letting possibilities show up and then choosing what you know works best for you.
If you’re reading this article, my guess if that you would love your life to change for the better. But what if all that is required for positive change is a more open mind – more questions, more curiosity, more possibilities – and for you to start choosing differently?
If you would like to create real change in your life, choose to empower yourself with questions. A question always empowers; an answer always dis-empowers.
· Instead of saying “This situation is so bad” or “Wow, this situation is amazing,” ask, “How does it get any better than this?” This triggers you to make an unpleasant situation better, and an uplifting situation even greater.
· Instead of thinking “I have failed” or “I am worthless,” ask, “What’s right about me I’m not getting?” This opens your mind up to solutions, based on your inherent skills, strengths and talents.
· Instead of believing that you are a victim to life and that happiness is given or taken, ask “Do I want to be right, or do I want to be happy?” This empowers you to realize that happiness is a choice and can be called upon at any time.
· Instead of saying “I am stuck,” or “I quit,” ask, “What else is possible I have never considered?” This triggers your awareness – your knowing– to look for the various solutions and possibilities available to you.
Gary Douglas is an internationally-recognized thought leader, bestselling author, business innovator and founder of Access Consciousness® a set of simple-yet-profound tools currently transforming lives in 173 countries. He has authored or co-authored 17 books including the Barnes and Noble #1 bestselling novel, The Place. An avid investor and entrepreneur, Gary is a vocal advocate of Conscious Capitalism and benevolent leadership. He co-hosts a weekly radio on Voice America and has featured in numerous TV shows, print media and online publications around the world. He is renowned for his unique insights on love, relationships, money, business, aging, leadership and emotional freedom. Follow @garymdouglas.