7 Keys to Mastering Your Spirituality
What does spiritual mastery mean to you? It may mean that you feel centered, peaceful, joyful, loving, or compassionate, or that you feel a oneness with God or the Universe each day. Or perhaps it means getting beyond life’s circumstances and seeing life from a spiritual perspective, gaining salvation or attaining enlightenment, embodying and living spiritual principles, being able to easily and consistently manifest your desired results. Your definition of spiritual mastery will depend on your religious or spiritual viewpoint. Spend time defining what spiritual mastery means to you. This will allow you to then create your spiritual goals and intentions. Below are 7 keys to mastering your spirituality.
1. Make the intangible tangible.
One of the things that I teach people as a Life and Spiritual Coach is to take intangible goals or outcomes and make them tangible. I recommend that you use a scale of 1 to 10. You can measure how connected you feel to God, with 10 being totally connected. (Replace the word God with Universe, Spirit, Christ, Higher Power, or whatever term you resonate with most fully.) You can also rate your level of peace, happiness, centeredness, or how loving and compassionate you are; how fully you used your spiritual principles in a situation; and a host of other spiritual goals or intentions. Use this scale weekly, daily, or even moment-by-moment. Perhaps attaining a 10 with our spiritual mastery 100% of the time is an unrealistic goal, but we can at least shoot for that, and have the intention to get there.
2. Ask yourself empowering questions.
Such as: “What would I need to do to get to a 10 today, this week, or even this moment? What needs to happen in me, right now, so that I can become more loving, centered, or peaceful? What’s the shift in me that needs to occur for me to experience and create my desired result? What would God have me do in this situation? Given that I am connected to God and an unlimited Universe, what else is possible in this situation?” Follow your inner guidance about what is needed.
3. Work through whatever’s in the way of a 10
Are you upset or triggered by a situation; dealing with a crisis, loss, or challenge; feeling fearful or insecure? Many spiritual people focus on staying positive, yet I don’t recommend ‘spiritual bypass.’ In my experience of coaching people since 1984 and training coaches worldwide, I have found that any block, fear, insecurity, or challenge is a signal for growth. It is important to hear the message or lesson. Perhaps you need to see your upset or fear as a signal that some action steps are necessary to remedy the situation. Perhaps the voice of fear, the inner-critic, or voice of doubt is the voice of caution and discernment wanting you to be more aware of potential problems or dangers, so that you do not move forward blindly and without good judgment. Perhaps you are triggered by something and you would be well served by exploring the source of the trigger for deeper healing. While you are in the midst of experiencing a crisis, loss, or in emotional pain, you may just need understanding and compassion from yourself and others. You may also be receiving the message that it is time for you to let go of your fears and concerns and trust more in God and in your God nature.
4. Nurture your soul and rekindle your flame.
You may often feel filled with light and positive energy, and, yet, sometimes you feel as if your flame has died down. When this happens, do things that feed your soul—get out in nature, do fun or creative things, attend a church service or spiritual event, talk with good friends, play with animals, or whatever makes you feel reconnected to God. When your energy is low, getting out and reconnecting with the Earth, animals, or people is often the last thing you’ll feel like doing. Ironically, this is exactly the way back to feeling inspired. Inspired is to feel ‘in Spirit.’ Your connection to God is your source of light and energy. It is this connection that feeds your soul and keeps your flame alight. Keep a list handy of your favorite activities that rekindle your flame.
5. Live your life on purpose.
Living your life on purpose can mean many things, such as doing your life’s work, creating a life of meaning, or acting purposefully throughout your day. Spend time reflecting on your life purpose and living life purposefully. If you are clear on your life purpose, are you actively engaged in its creation? Are you taking steps toward its realization? Have you created a plan to get you to where you want? Do you start each day with your life purpose in mind and then move through your day from that foundation? Get support if you are not clear on your life purpose. By living on purpose, you operate from a place of spiritual integrity, feel more spiritually aligned in all of your actions, and manifest your desired results more quickly and easily.
6. Expand to your next level of service.
How can you be of greater spiritual service in all areas of your life—professional, family, social, and greater community? When you are truly of service, you are beyond yourself. You are naturally more kind, loving and caring when engaged in activities that benefit others. Being in service helps you tap into deeper feelings of love and compassion, raising you to your own higher levels of connection to God. The best in you and others will come out. When you come from a spiritual place others around will be inspired and it will lift them higher, as well.
7. Enjoy the ride to spiritual mastery.
We may not all become fully enlightened in this lifetime, but we can enjoy the process and learn and grow along the way. Celebrate your spiritual successes and milestones. Keep a journal of major events and experiences. Write about how you’re feeling, how you processed and moved through those feelings, and any insights you discover about yourself. Looking back on your writing will give you an expanded view of how far you’ve come. You’ve worked hard for your personal and spiritual growth. You might as well appreciate how far you have come.
For your spiritual mastery then, begin to check in often and rate how you are living your spirituality, ask empowering questions to move you forward, work through any blocks or barriers, nurture your soul, discover and live your purpose, focus on being of service, and always, enjoy the ride. Time spent on your spiritual mastery will bring deep and lasting change, and a more fulfilling life.
Life Purpose Institute offers a Spiritual Life Coaching telecourse beginning on Wednesday, June 27 and a Life Coach Certification program as a telecourse beginning on July 17, and a 5-Day Intensive in San Diego on July 25–29. Both programs certify you as a Coach, help you master your skills, support with your marketing strategy and lifelong support. www.lifepurposeinstitute.com 858-484-3400. See calendar for more information.