Level up! 5 Steps to Upgrade your Life

What does it feel like to experience an upgrade to our personal system, continuously embodied? For years we’ve talked about activations, downloads and reprogramming, working away sometimes quietly, often times loudly, trudging through the time consuming and tedious task of clearing out our internal worlds to make room for the new one that seeks to emerge.

Waiting, waiting… sometimes getting glimpses of it. A minute, an hour, a conversation, a day… Maybe we’ve even had a full week. Thus, we become skeptical. “I might be feeling eternal joy, peace, inspiration, guidance, etc., right now, but what’s around the corner that might take this away?”…Because something always happens that takes it away. Until… it doesn’t. We wake up one day and realize our roots have grown with an astonishing reliable sturdiness far into the reaches of the earth, our core is powerful and reliable, unshakeable. Our branches start growing fruit, first just a little here and there… but then… Like laughter carried on a forever breeze, we experience the never-ending abundance that is ultimately our true nature.

We eventually arrive at a new plateau, our branches poking through heavenly clouds and we think… damn. In the midst of all that hard, gut-wrenching, tear-dropping, on-going personal work, you grew! And you became everything you ever wanted to be.

So what does it take to level up, and how do we know it’s really happening? I’m here to give you five tips to consciously move into the next level of your personal existence.

Number 1. You have to become aware.

I’m not saying how you do this exactly, but I do recommend to try a little bit of everything! Meditate everyday for at least 5 minutes, read inspirational books, go on long walks in nature, sit at a meditation retreat for a week and don’t talk to anyone (I’ve done a handful of retreats like this- you can often find a Vipassana course nearby, but there are many others to choose from), dance, write, practice mindful breathing, develop daily positive affirmations, go to a yoga class, draw, sing… Whatever it is, choose activities that help you to develop a deeper awareness to how you are moving through the world.

We are multi-faceted beings and the more stimulation you give to your system, the more opportunities we have to become aware of these different aspects of our design. Mental, physical, emotional, and through all of this we discover the underlying and continuous current of the spiritual. Each thing you choose to bring into your life will beneficially connect with the other areas, and in time you will find a beautiful tapestry to call you own.

Number 2. You need to get inspired.

Who are the people, what are the places, the sounds, the songs, the books and the sensory experiences that make you feel most inspired and alive? In order to level up, you need to begin curating a list of the things in life that make you feel passionate about being here. Surround yourself with things that make you want to get up in the morning. Learn things that make you say “WTF. Being human is awesome!” Even if you’re not personally doing it or living it, find people who are.

Pay attention to what other people are doing. Who are the influencers? What are they doing that you admire? It is what they’re wearing? How they speak their truth? How they treat others? Is it what they’re creating? Pay attention, because what you’re attracted to is signaling to your internal system about where you could go, if you wanted to.

And figure out the things that make you feel love. What do healthy relationships look like and feel like? What does it feel like to love yourself unconditionally? What does it feel like to love other people fully? What does it feel like to be in love with your life? Get curious, and find opportunities where you can see love in action.

As you do this, start making more time for these things in your everyday life. Figure out how to practice them and make them your own. Play around with it: what works for you, what doesn’t, what would you change, how might you improve upon it? Get serious about inspiring yourself through your own actions.

Number 3. Figure out your bullshit.

You’ve got to get a hold on the baggage you’re lugging around, and then figure out how to let it go. …Can’t level up when you’re weighed down by the past, addictive behaviors, manipulative personality traits, continuous procrastinating behaviors or toxic relationships. This is where the mindfulness comes in. What is your relationship with these things? Even if you don’t know how to change them, or to leave them behind, the first step is just becoming aware that you have them.

Go to therapy, read self help books, journal… But begin looking for your own patterns. They’re tricky and like to hide, because that makes our ego feel better if we don’t have to shoulder any of the blame. Of course it’s not YOU that is the problem; obviously it’s your neighbor, boyfriend, best friend, mother, blah blah blah… They said this, did this, etc. But the truth is that if you’re being negatively impacted by it, then you need to do some work.

This might mean setting healthier boundaries, leaving relationships behind, understanding how your personal behaviors impact others, figuring out how to bitch less when you’re doing normal day-to-day activities, or maybe you need to get comfortable receiving feedback from others and not take things so personally. What I’m saying here is that somewhere within the equation, it is YOU that is contributing to the experience that you would rather not be experiencing right now.

And here is the BIGGEST step into leveling up…

Number 4. You are the Creator of the Next Level.

Did you hear that? YOU are the creator of the next level. Want to move into a better life? Then start figuring out what that looks like, and dream BIG. It’s like you’re Mario in level 1, going through the motions, wondering when you’re going to get to level 2, scratching your head because you feel like you’ve been in level 1 forever. Well yeah… You haven’t created level 2 yet, so why would you be there? It doesn’t exist yet.

Unless you figure out what the next level feels like, sounds like, looks like, and what you’d like to be accomplishing in that level, then you’re going to keep living the same life. You might move, change jobs, get a new relationship… But at the end of the day you’re the same person living the same life. THE NEW LEVEL DOESN’T EXIST UNTIL YOU CREATE IT. That’s where step 2 comes in, because unless you identify the things in life that are awesome and the people in life that rock your world, then you’re not going to be surrounded by those things and those people and be that person that has done the work to get there. DREAM IT INTO EXISTENCE.

Number 5. Live into it, and leave the old behind.

That’s right. Keep doing the work, practicing mindfulness, making yourself inspired, trudging through your BS and dreaming BIG ASS BEAUTIFUL DREAMS. Even if the outside world doesn’t change immediately, you’ll begin to see shifts within yourself. One day you write something and you’re like, “where the heck did that come from?” Or you wake up at 6:00am and are ready to do things with your day, when you usually sleep until noon. Or you eat healthy for a whole damn day and you’re like… “Whoa, I feel really good in my body.” Or you make a new friend that is way better than any friend you’ve ever had and you’re like… “Wow, this person is really cool. I’m really grateful they’re in my life.”

And each of these moments bring us a little bit of joy, and it feels good. And then as time goes on we find even more joy, new creative abilities, new opportunities to grow, healthier relationships… and it feels so GOOD. So we keep on with the cycle: practice mindfulness, find inspiration, hold yourself accountable, envision the best possible future, and joyously live into what it feels like to be there.

And then one day, you’ll see the opening. A big life decision will need to be made where you’ll have to shed some aspect of your personality or your life that you’ve been clinging to, and it’s going to suck. Trust me, you won’t want to let it go- even if you know it’s not serving your highest good. By this point though, you’ll know what needs to happen, and you’ll love yourself too damn much to stay back in level 1- you’ve been working on this for way too long. So then you do it. You make that scary, outrageous, life-changing step and you say sayonara to the old.

This is the big moment where you’re challenged beyond anything you’ve ever experienced (releasing level 1 is not easy). In the process of letting go though, you begin to blossom. This is level two. And with time and persistence, you suddenly realize you’re not the same person you used to be. You’re happier. More fulfilled. You’re seeing connections you never saw before. Your mind is sharper, your emotions calmer, your body stronger and your soul is radiant.

By this point, steps 1-5 have become part of who you are. And level three is just on the horizon.

Little by little, we are leveling up. We are the heros of our stories, the ugly ducklings turning magnificent swans. As I awaken, we awaken. As we awaken, they awaken. Keep on keepin’ on sacred friends… there are beautiful views up ahead.