I feel like I’m in a constant battle. This battle is being waged between the muscle that pumps blood through my body and the big dome that sits atop my neck.
It’s a battle between head and heart. It’s a battle between logic and intuition. It’s a battle between masculine and feminine.
But it doesn’t have to be.
I’ve been looking for more ways to come from my heart. Because while I am a loving guy, my head works way faster than my heart does.
I feel like I’m in a constant battle. It’s a battle between head and heart. It’s a battle between logic and intuition. It’s a battle between masculine and feminine.
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Even when I’m at the gym on the stair master (hello Beulah) my head works way faster.
The inspiration for this piece comes from two different places.
First, this sentence:
“I suppose your heart needs to break in order to let love in more easily.” That comes from this piece written by my dear friend and mentor Michelle Akin (who I’ve mentioned in this space before.) Knowing who she writes about in this piece as I do, this piece really hit me hard.
I see this like cardiac super glue. The love that people have for you can fill in the cracks of your heart so it can be stronger than before.
It’s a great piece and I highly recommend it.
Second, this piece is inspired by this audio book I just finished listening to. I’m not going to spoil the title for you because it’ll ruin one of the points I’m going to make later.
So, in this piece, I’m going to lay out ten life hacks that I’m taking on – and I encourage you to take these on too – to start living more from your heart.
Before I get into the hacks, I have a confession. I used to think that life hack articles were…well…kinda hack-y. I used to think they were written by hack writers to get clicks. And these articles were usually accompanied by a slideshow that makes you click through each of the ten steps one by one.
Dat ad revenue tho.
“10 ways you can dress to make you look taller”
“5 things women look for in bed”
“8 things to ask your car salesperson before you buy your next car”
Need I go on?
In these hacks, I’m going to lay out easy ways that you can live your life more from your authentic power to be able to set your life ablaze.
Without further ado, here we go:
1. Practice mindful breathing: well, let’s get life coach-y right off the bat. Humans generally don’t breathe with a mindful purpose. We breathe for survival. Someone pointed this out to me not that long ago and since I’ve started practicing this technique, it’s been a game changer. A slow, deep, mindful breath will ground you, calm you, and open you for possibility. Try it.
2. Practice gratitude: I love this one. If you follow me on social media (twitter.com/ryanhallwrites) you know that I do what I call a daily “gratitude blast.” I rattle off people, things, or places I’m grateful for every morning. And most days I also partner with someone and we exchange text messages of gratitude. It’ll open you to seeing just what good there is in the world. And that your life isn’t “woe is me worrier.”
3. Stop complaining: It blows my mind how many people complain about choices they made. It’s cold where you are; you chose to live there. You can’t find clothes that fit because you’ve gained weight; you chose to have a Big Mac a day. Will you make your life better, or just whine about it?
4. Take care of yourself: well being is SO crucial. But by well being, I’m talking holistic well being. Are you feeding your body good, healthy foods or are you eating garbage? Are you moving your body, or are you sitting on the sofa and drinking soda all day? If you have a spiritual belief, are you connecting with that through prayer and meditation? Do you read books or do you read clickbait-y life hack articles all day? Do you feed your mind healthy words and messages? Because if any of the legs on the wellbeing stool (mind, body, spirit) are out of alignment, the stool’s going to be wobbly.
5. Be of service to people: Your life isn’t about you. Having a Royal Heart means that your life isn’t about you. That opens your heart more than anything.
6. Find the humor of life: If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? By this, I’m not talking about making fun of yourself in a self-deprecating way. But can you laugh at yourself?
7. Forgive: grudges don’t work. Having incompletion about someone doesn’t work. Life is too short for grudges. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. Forgive those who do you dirty. And it’ll be a life changer.
Being present in your life isn’t about being happy all the time. It’s about taking life as it comes. The happy, the sad, the messy, the neat, the ugly, the beautiful.
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8. Never forget to play: I saw a video of University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban doing donuts on a child’s tricycle. He’s the King Kong of college football, a 65-year-old grandfather, and has made a fortune at his craft. He doesn’t forget to play and neither should you.
9. Be compassionate to yourself: self-compassion is the first step to self-love. And self-love is the first step to self-confidence. And a confident person is a person who can set the world on fire.
And we’ve come down to this. We’ve come down to the last, but maybe the most important hack on this list.
I just finished listening to Mark Manson’s brilliant new book. What I propose is counter intuitive to what we think we should be…but it’s opened so much for me.
And admitting this on a big platform like this is a pretty big breakthrough. Because this is totally counter to how I was brought up.
We can’t look bad. Because if we look bad, we ARE bad.
So, the last of these hacks is:
10. Stop giving a fuck about what people think about you: gigantic note to self on this one. Most people are so busy giving fucks about what others think of them, they’re too busy to return the favor. And is it really that important? (spoiler alert, it’s not)
Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is nothing short of brilliant. I highly recommend it. And he’s a dream Magic Time guest…though I may need to consult with my co-host on that. But if we can’t make it work, I don’t give a…okay, I’ve exhausted my f-bomb supply for this article. I don’t want GMP to flag this article as NSFW.
If you’re looking to open your heart to the present moment, to the possibilities of life, and coming from a more authentic place, let me know. I’d love to support you.
Shoot me an email at [email protected] and we’ll connect on a sample coaching session.
In all seriousness, I’ve got an underlying reason for this piece.
Being present in your life – and this is all this is – isn’t about being happy all the time. It’s about taking life as it comes. The happy, the sad, the messy, the neat, the ugly, the beautiful…
Living from your open heart isn’t always pretty or neat. But it opens you up to the biggest possibility of all.
Living your life with an open heart opens you to the possibility of joy. And joy is the holy grail of personal transformation.
And isn’t that what we want from life?
I’m trying these on for size myself. Let’s check in in a couple months to see how this is going for y’all.
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I certainly can relate. Thanks for the reminder to embrace a sense of fulfillment.