The path to conscious living

Life means only one thing to live consciously. How can I do that? ( Read it, because it pays off )

This is my first article on Medium. My name is Markus, and I am 38 years old. I have been dealing with myself and the improvement of my ego since I was 14 years old.

I am happy that I can now share my experiences and insights here on Medium.com.

So, let’s start.

We have a huge problem in our society: the problem of lying to ourselves, and that goes on around the clock.

Most people, when asked if they are liars, deny this. However, the fact that they lie to themselves does not seem to count.

What you have to learn is to observe yourself as an outsider. Not to judge or evaluate yourself in any way.

But how can I observe myself from the outside?

This works in small steps. Please don’t try to do this too fast because habits that have been trained over decades and passed on to us by our ancestors for thousands of years can be untrained within minutes, hours, or weeks. This process can take years or a lifetime to complete. What sounds like a long time at first is not long at all because it is enough to start on this path to observe the first positive effects on one’s life.

The first small steps to personal success.

First of all, try to become aware of small everyday things.

It starts when you wake up. Stay in bed for the first moment after waking up. Keep your eyes closed. If they open automatically, that’s good too. No problem; the main thing is to do what feels best, completely without any compulsion.

Now, you wake up and stay in bed. Don’t think about anything. Don’t ponder how hard this day will be, what appointments you have, or anything else. Don’t regret what happened yesterday.

Don’t worry; you will have enough time later to waste thinking about these things — things you can’t influence or change.

Just lie down and breathe. Try to concentrate consciously, I mean really consciously, on your breathing. In the beginning, you have to say to yourself:

“I breathe in, I breathe out.”

You have to say this to yourself in the beginning because if you have never done anything really consciously before, you don’t really feel it — the feeling of 100 percent absolute satisfaction.

But don’t worry. After a short time, you will feel it, maybe even the first time. When you feel it, you don’t have to say it to yourself to internalize it because it has become a feeling — a feeling like any other.

You have to extend this tactic. For example, when you stand up on your two feet, breathe deeply and say to yourself,

“I stand with both feet firmly on the ground.”

This also turns into a feeling at some point. Immediately after that, take the first step through a doorway. Stop in front of the door and say to yourself,

“I am going through the door.”

You can do the same when you go up or down the stairs.

“I am now going down the stairs.”

“I’m going up the stairs.”

Most people clean their teeth, go to the bathroom, and take a shower.

Also here, when you want to sit on the toilet, stop and say to yourself,

“I am going to sit on the toilet.”

Observe the feeling when you relieve yourself.

And also, when you brush your teeth, do it with 100 percent control over your body and your life.

Think or say to yourself,

“I put the toothbrush in my mouth, I turn it in a circle from right to left.”

Believe me, this too will eventually turn into a feeling when you realize that you have never really lived your life for a second.

But don’t worry; it is never too late. One minute of conscious living is more than most people have ever done.

When I ask you,

What does this have to do with self-improvement?

Since you can only improve what you know, since you can only improve what you control.

How does this change my life for the better?

First of all, through this consciousness, one gets a life that one can improve because whoever does not live consciously does not live at all. Whoever does not live consciously walks as an illusory living person through the time they have been given here. Only those who act consciously notice what they do, how they act, what they can improve, and then actually improve it.

How do I control my life?

Only what is discovered, accepted, and acknowledged can be controlled. Knowing what you are doing means control.

How will I bring about improvement in my life through this?

I will be able to choose my path in life. I will be able to choose because for the first time in my life, I know what I am doing.

I will end relationships with “friends” who are absolutely not good for me, who take advantage of me, lie to me, ignore me, and cheat on me.

I will recognize toxic love relationships, and since I now live consciously and see what is bad for me, what influences me negatively in my life, I will let it go.

Let’s take the example of smoking cigarettes. Many know how difficult it is to quit, even though they are well aware of the health risks. Many find it challenging, even when faced with dire consequences such as lung cancer, strokes, or heart attacks. Yet, they continue to smoke. They claim they know what they are doing, but in reality, they don’t truly know. Because if they genuinely knew, they would stop, and they would stop for sure.

Smokers say to themselves:

“I’m going to quit now. I have to. The doctor told me if I don’t stop smoking, I’ll end up in the hospital again. Or I have already lost one leg due to smoking, if I don’t stop, I will lose my other.”

But still, they don’t stop. They disappoint themselves, their families, and friends.

Why is it like that?

It is because one has never learned to transform one’s thoughts, words, and knowledge into a feeling. Change is only possible when you feel it, truly feel it. Saying it, knowing it, is not enough. You have to feel it — this feeling that tells you NO, reaching deep into our subconscious.

Exactly that is what one learns — or better said, feels. One does not have to learn; one must only retrieve it from our deepest being.

How does this improve my financial situation?

Living consciously means making decisions consciously and with 100 percent certainty, which is absolutely necessary for financial decisions.

To think, speak, and act consciously means doing every step, every word, every decision, and every action unmanipulated. It means seeing things as they are, through the veil of automatism, without the fear of the future manipulating and influencing your own decisions. I will delve into this in a later article.

You will make more accurate, better, and more forward-thinking financial decisions.

So, just try it. For those who need help or tips, feel free to leave a comment on my article. I will respond if it is possible for me.

I am happy that I can now share my findings, which are not just theories but my lived experience.