Info: Peter at omnidigitalbrain@yahoo.com

Work hard vs Think smart vs Feel joy

A career can happen at three levels: body, mind or spirit.

In other words, you can:

• Work hard (body level)
• Think smart (mind level) or
• Feel joy (spiritual level)

When your career happens primarily at the spiritual level, you feel inspired and ideas come to you naturally, and you act on them to produce results almost effortlessly.

It feels natural.

This dosen’t mean you’re not using your MIND or your BODY, just that they are under the guidance of your spirit. So body, mind and spirit are aligned.

Think of the body as a soldier, the mind as a captain, and the spirit as a general.

Your spirit or your soul, is the Highest You. It has the big picture, it knows — deeply and thoroughly — what you intend to do in this life.

At the same time, it is a soft voice, almost a whisper, so it’s likely to be drown by the noise and cacophony generated by culture and society.

This is why a peson is wise to set aside time for meditation or silence, in order to discern and listen to this inner voice. The voice of one’s spirit.

When you let this spirit in, you are inspired. That is, “in-spired.”

This “in-spiration” can eliminate a LOT of unnecessary struggle, frustration, stress and hard work in your career.

Indeed, if you’re working hard, it’s NOT working!

Working hard, means you put a lot of burden on the body and THAT is precisely why stress occurs. The body was not meant to do so many things.

Such a body is like a soldier being put on the battlefield, and not receiving proper orders so that soldier is running around and tries to do many things, but is not getting results.

If that soldier is working under the guidance of a captain (or the mind), then it can accomplish many things more effectively. Yet, even the captain cannot ensure ultimate victory — only small victories.

Ultimate victory — or the ideal career — comes when you align body, mind and spirit. That is, you listen to your inner guidance, your spirit, your soul’s intent.

The spirit has wisdom and can see what the mind or intellect CANNOT see.

How do you know when you are aligned with your spirit?

When you do what brings you the highest joy!

This joy or excitement, is a clear signal from your spirit, telling you: “Yes! Now, we’re aligned!”

So as long as you stay on the path of joy, you CANNOT fail. You are being your true self. That is what life is all about.

Why no one can stop you!

If there is one productive activity that you are naturally inclined or even driven to do when you have nothing to do, then THAT might be your ideal career!

The question is, “What do you do when you have nothing to do?”

Here’s an extreme example, from Mr Warren Buffett himself. He says, “Some men read Playboy, I read annual reports.”

First of all, I resent his accusatory tone, I need to relax once in a while. Just kidding.

What about you? What do you like to do?

Parents often advise their kids to “do what they love.” Perhaps a better question is, “What do you love to practice?”

To practice is the same as “doing”, except that you tend to get better and better at it.

So for example, you CANNOT practice “eating ice cream”! But you CAN practice public speaking or designing clothes or coaching someone or writing or singing or acti ng, etc.

The bottom line is that if you choose a line of work where you can’t help but do it, that is, it feels natural for you to do it, then you’ve hit the jackpot and will never have to work a single day in your life!

Not only will work feel like play, but also no one can stop you as you pursue your dream career. That’s because you can’t even stop yourself. Such is the power of an ideal career!

“Stop fooling around, just do it!” I said to myself

There’s one fact that most people keep forgetting, yet this one fact could clarify their thinking and help them to choose correctly the actions that will improve their lives.

Here’s the fact: Your life ends.

Yes, you will die one day. For most people, this fateful day comes much sooner than expected.

Now, don’t panic. Everybody dies, so you’re not the only person who’s afflicted with this thing called mortality.

Let’s recall the famous line that Mel Gibson’s heroic character utters in the movie Braveheart: “Every man dies. Not every man really lives.”

Are you really living at work? Are you jumping out of bed every day, looking forward to do your work?

If not, you might not be living the life that is worthy of you.

Let me share with you my own experience. I was very satisfied professionally after I graduated in 1999 and started to work for a publicly traded firm specialized in corporate training. Yet, after 7 months, I realized I was NOT where I was supposed to be.

Even though I had the best boss, the best coworkers, the best clients, and was working for a firm ranked as one of the top 50 best managed firms, I still felt I was just “fooling around” and not doing the work I was born to do.

So in June 2000 (I had just turned 31), I decided to leave Corporate America (or Corporate Canada, to be precise).

I’ve never been happier, nor more peaceful, ever since.

So what I’m sharing in this blog and in the workshop called My Ideal Career, comes from personal experience and much reflection. I’m not a career “counselor” and the knowledge I share with you is not abstract and theoretical.

What I share with you is the truth, as I have been able to perceive it. We all want to be happy at work, and there are definitely many ways to get there. The way I share here is only one way, and you will know if it’s for you once you try it and see if it works.

It’s my job to offer what I know to be the truth, and it is up to each person to evaluate this truth and apply it in her own life in order to know this truth personally herself.

The truth is we deny ourselves the amazing and fulfilling career we all deserve.

The cure is simple: Just do it! (As the Nike slogan says).

This sounds simple enough, yet most people can’t just do it. They have too much resistance internally, and their mind has been conditioned by society, the educational system and their parents to do the “responsible thing.”

The trick is to change our mindset from “I should do this” to “I want to do that.”

The vitality and dynamism of Life comes from WANTING, not from SHOULDING (if that word even exists!).

“I want” comes from joy, freedom, faith, self-confidence, self-worth, while “I should” comes from places of doubt, fear, lack of self-confidence, conformity, peer pressure, lack of purpose, etc.

So by adopting the wrong mindset (”I should” rather than “I want”) and turning it into an automatic, unexamined belief system, we deny ourselves the pleasure and joy of doing work that could fulfill us and enable our personal growth.

This is quite insane, yet this is what our so-called “modern” society has led us to.

Every person owns his own life, yet has been conditioned by society to sacrifice himself at the altar of political correctness.

The good news is, there IS a way out of the insane modern workplace.

I will write more to expose how this perverted way of thinking leads to self-sacrificial lives.

Normal career vs Natural career

A natural career, or what I call an “ideal career”, feels good and peaceful because it flows NATURALLY from who you are. There is no conflict and no stress. It’s all about YOU growing through your work.

The normal career is different, and comes from what you THINK you should do in society, in order to fit the “norms.”

Here is a brief, but not exhaustive, list of differences between the normal vs the natural career:

NORMAL CAREER is based on education and skill

NATURAL CAREER is based on education, skill and TALENT, PASSION AND VALUES

NORMAL CAREER gets you dollars

NATURAL CAREER gets you dollars and peace of mind, passion, fulfillment

NORMAL CAREER is controlled by external factors (your boss, your employer organization, office politics, industry, marketplace, the economy)

NATURAL CAREER is controlled by you. You can stop anytime, start anytime, change anytime.

NORMAL CAREER focuses on you as a “human resource”

NATURAL CAREER focuses on you as a “resourceful human and spirit”

NORMAL CAREER is unremarkable. You can be replaced relatively easily if something happens to you.

NATURAL CAREER is remarkable. You cannot be replaced, as a creator of unique solutions.

NORMAL CAREER is based on actions, and the execution of routine cognitive functions.

NATURAL CAREER is based on ideas, inspiration, and actions flowing from ideas and inspiration.

NORMAL CAREER focuses on you as a worker.

NATURAL CAREER focuses on you as a creator, an artist, a being capable of infinite creativity.

NORMAL CAREER allows your bank account to grow.

NATURAL CAREER allows YOU to grow, and as a natural result, your income grows (without any limit imposed by the employer).

NORMAL CAREER is something you do out of necessity, to pay the bills or save money for retirement.

NATURAL CAREER is something you do because you can’t help it. It’s who you are. You’d do it for free because you enjoy it so much, and because you grow through your work.

NORMAL CAREER forces you to “fit” into the current employment system created by society and corporations. You have to abandon certain aspects of who you are, and sacrifice your uniqueness to fit corporate standards and culture.

NATURAL CAREER allows you to create your own solutions, and offer it to anyone in society who could benefit from them. You don’t have to “fit” anybody else’s standards or culture. You simply offer your talent to the client’s reason, and there are tons of clients so you never have to compromise on critical matters (although you can adapt your solutions to specifically fit each client situation or challenge).

NORMAL CAREER won’t likely give you financial freedom. The best you can hope for is to be able to retire at age 65.

NATURAL CAREER can give you financial freedom in your 40s or even 30s, since income is not based on number of hours worked, but on the value of your solutions and the quantity of those solutions offered to the world.

NORMAL CAREER is one where you have only ONE client: your employer.

NATURAL CAREER is one where you can have an unlimited number of clients, resulting in unlimited income (multiple streams of income, both passive and active; multiple formats of compensation; etc.).

NORMAL CAREER is what the educational system, the government, the news media, and corporations encourage you to have, because it fits THEIR norms and thus allows them to easily “manage” masses of people.

NATURAL CAREER is what successful and inspiring ideal careerists encourage you to pursue. It is an individual journey that requires courage, guts, enthusiasm, knowledge and inspiration from authentic leaders and teachers.

NORMAL CAREER is centered around the corporation, or what Shoshana Zuboff, in her book The Support Economy, calls the “enterprise logic.”

NATURAL CAREER is centered around YOU, as a creative, sovereign being endowed with an infinite capacity to imagine and create solutions. It is based on your heart’s longing, supported by your mind’s logic.

You need a job, you want a career

When I teach the Ideal Career workshop, I mention clearly that “ideal” in this case refers to “identity + deal.”

That is, an ideal career is based on who you TRULY are (your identity) and how you negotiate a deal with employers or clients about what you create for them, and how you are compensated in return.

I also mention that an ideal career is something you want, while a job is merely something you need.

It is precisely the WANTING in a career that sustains your passion and excitement.

If you want to get up every day, and get to work as soon as possible, then you probably have an ideal career. If not, then maybe not.

That is, you have a job.

There’s nothing wrong with having a job. It’s something you need. And often, it gives you time to develop many skills as well as get to know more about yourself and other people.

Then, after you have enough stability, you can begin to set your sights higher and aim for an ideal career.

Another important distinction is that a job prevents you from losing, while an ideal career allows you to win. In other words, having a job does NOT mean that you are winning. It simply means you are NOT losing.

To use the hockey metaphor, a job is like defense while an ideal career is like offense. You need both.

Sometimes, an artist who is talented (or so he thinks) might try to go for an ideal career without taking care of his finances (that is, without having a job, whether it’s part-time or full-time). This often invites catastrophe.

This is why it’s important to develop financial discipline and get a part-time or full-time job before trying to embark on one’s ideal career.

If your job is related to your ideal career, then it’s really great. For example, an aspiring actor who works as an administrative assistant or coordinator for a movie production company.

My point is simply that everybody needs a job. But not everybody wants a career, let alone an ideal career. And that’s okay.

The Ideal Career course is not for everyone, it’s for those who want something meaningful and psychically rewarding from their working lives. After all, we work about one third of our lives, so wanting to feel happy and fulfilled during that time is not an unreasonable demand.

Your amazing career is waiting for you

Your amazing, creative, fun-filled, passionate and rewarding career is waiting for you.

It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to realize this, your amazing career will always wait for you. That’s because it is INSIDE of you, as David was in the block of marble before Michelangelo set him free.

Your amazing career is based on your passion, your talent, your values and your desire to be of service to other people. I’ve been teaching this through a workshop called My Ideal Career since August 2005, and it has opened the eyes of hundreds of people.

Check this blog often, I will share all the knowledge with you. Free of charge, of course.

The inspiring audacity of presidential hope

I wrote the previous post (”Stages of evolution”) this afternoon, before the election of Barack Obama as the new president of the United States.

It just occurred to me that President Obama represents hope to so many people, not only in America but also in many other parts of the world where America has her hand.

He is hope incarnate himself, and that is what inspires so many people.

So when we look at the stages of evolution of one’s ideal career (see below), I’m confident that he will help many people who are currently frustrated in their lives, to move to a higher emotional plane where hope is present and fills their heart.

I even have the idea of mailing all my Ideal Career materials to President Obama, so he can share the knowledge with his two daughters, Sasha and Maliya. I’m even interested in applying the Ideal Career Framework to his own journey, to create a case study that will drive home more concretely several key points for his daughters.

It would be such a honor to serve the presidential family.

1. In denial
2. Frustrated
3. Hopeful
4. Learns about the Ideal Career Framework
5. Discovers her passion
6. Discovers her talent
7. Creates a solution for clients
8. Expands her circle of concern to more people (spiritual/moral evolution)
9. Achieves creative power over her ideal career and life

Stages of evolution

1. In denial
2. Frustrated
3. Hopeful
4. Learns about the Ideal Career Framework
5. Discovers her passion
6. Discovers her talent
7. Creates a solution for clients
8. Expands her circle of concern to more people (spiritual/moral evolution)
9. Achieves creative power over her ideal career and life
10. Becomes a supreme Jedi Master like Peter (just kidding)

The above should give you a very rough idea of the various stages of evolution expected of most human beings.

The first stage is “denial” and this is probably one of the most difficult stages, because a person who’s in denial, by definition, does not know that she is in denial. Similarly, a person who is drunk cannot know that she is drunk!

The source of this denial is the ego, which drives the person to want to be “right” rather than ” happy.” People who are in denial are often very argumentative, very critical of others and of anything that’s going on in the world, and very judgmental. They defend their point of view all the time, insisting that they are right and that others are wrong. They have a very fragile self-esteem, and therefore they feel vulnerable and will attack anyone who “seems” to attack them or their decisions or their lifestyle. They will do everything the system requires of them, because they want to be right. They are addicted to routine and are afraid of anything new (which they will instantly criticize because they fear change and they prefer to “stick to the tested and proven”).

Regarding their careers, some people can be in denial for 10, 20 or even 30 years. They may have issues that they want to work on, at their own pace, so do not give in to the temptation to “judge” them for you would then be expressing your own ego. This will be difficult at times, because they will not hold back in criticizing YOU! Their negative comments will sometimes hurt you, but just realize that they are in trouble and are only seeking help, and their criticism or anger is just a cry for help.

Next, we have people who have come out of denial, and have an idea of what they want. What they REALLY want might not be clearly defined, but they KNOW that what they currently have is NOT what they want. In short, they’ve stopped believing the illusion they’ve created, and have escaped the self-denial trap.

So now, they’re frustrated, because they know that THIS job or life is NOT what they want, but they feel there are obstacles that prevent them from getting what they want (even though what they want is not clearly defined in their mind).

However, “frustrated” is good, compared to “self-denial”!

At this stage, the key is to fill one’s mind with positive success stories and to seek the company of successful and inspiring people, like Peter Nguyen. Just kidding.

The key is to move from “frustrated” to “hopeful”. To paraphrase the future President of the United States, Barack Obama, it takes audacity to hope. It takes a certain daring of the heart to seize hope when one is frustrated.

I will write more about how to increase your sense of hope.

From “human resource” to “resourceful human”!

In the movie The Matrix, mentor Morpheus shows to an incredulous Neo the truth: that humans are used by machines as mere batteries.

I don’t want to shock you, but doesn’t this sound like how corporations use human beings? Are we not “batteries” or “human resources” being used to power the machines called corporations?

The first step to awakening is to accept that fact. It’s not a horrible fact, it’s just what it is. Don’t be upset about. Just see it for what it is.

The next step is to decide to transform yourself, from human resource to resourceful human.

Here’s the major difference: a human resource does a job while a resourceful human creates a career.

Allow me to repeat that there is nothing wrong per se with being a human resource, as long as you know that that is how your corporate employer is using you. This does not make your boss evil, nor does it make your corporate employer a bad entity.

In fact, most corporate employers are indeed machines, fueled by capital provided by shareholders or business owners. Corporations need labor, and so, you voluntarily decided to join the organization you currently work for in order to exchange labor for dollars.

This is the responsible thing to do since you need dollars in order to sustain your life. Your physical life, that is.

So a job is necessary, and is like the first step on a stairway.

However, there are many more stps afterwards, and the entire stairway itself is a process where you transform yourself — at the pace that suits you best — from labor to creator.

It is a very rare human being who can become a creator without first being labor, and that is because we all need to learn and acquire qualities like discipline, time management, communications, creativity, etc.

At the same time, ALL human beings have the capacity to become creators.

But to become a creator and be in a position to create an amazing, joyful and fulfilling career, you must first realize that your current job is only a step on the stairway. You are capable of going much higher, much further.

But to go higher and further, you will need everything you’ve got. And that includes your passion, your talent, your values (or convictions) and your natural desire to be of service to others.

What is your talent?

A talent is not the same as a skill. A skill can be learned and acquired by any person of reasonable intelligence, while a talent is quite unique to each person.

Read Tom Rath’s Strengths Finder 2.0 to discover what your 5 top talents are. It’s a little book that won’t take more than 2 hours of your time, but it will CHANGE your life!

I define a talent as “a superior ability to use things, ideas or people to produce a paid result.”

You know you have a talent when it fulfills the following four criteria, mentioned by Marcus Buckingham in his book Now, Go Find Your Strengths: (Note: the acronym S.I.G.N. will enable you to easily memorize those four criteria)

SUCCESS: You’ve done it  before and have had success doing it.

INSTINCT: You feel naturally inclined to do it. For example, when you have nothing to do, you naturally think about using your talent to do something.

GROWTH: You feel your mind is growing in complexity as you use your talent, because you are able to create more and more distinctions which enable you to make better and better decisions based on increasingly superior evaluations.

NEED: You may feel physically tired after exercising your talent, but psychically, you feel satisfied. In other words, you have a definite psychic need to exercise your talent.

Invite me to your workplace!

Whether or not your employer has a budget for my training, consulting and speaking fee does not matter. If you’d like me to come share the Ideal Career knowledge with you and your coworkers, thereby helping everyone to embark upon his/her ideal career sooner and faster, just let me know. Write to me at peter@powerknowledge.net.

This knowledge is just too powerful to be locked inside my little head!

This is why I’m blogging all over the place, and am offering my services to everyone, whether you have a budget or not.

I’m also available to talk to small groups of friends. This is cool, because you get to know what your friends REALLY WANT out of life and you can then be in a position to support them as they pursue their dream. Of course, they’d do the same for you!

Success = Potential – Resistance

The above formula is a powerful reminder that the only real obstacle to your achieving phenomenal success, joy and peace in your ideal career, is an internal resistance that is within your control.

In other words, the obstacles are never outside of you. The obstacle lies within, and could be your self-doubts, your fears, your low self-esteem, your negatively charged emotions, etc.

Indeed, in most cases, you know your potential and you know what you want in life (unless you’re 10 years old!). What you may not know is that how you think of yourself (i.e. your self-esteem) and all the emotions you associate with yourself, are often negative and ARE the major obstacle to realizing your potential. Your negative emotions build up an internal Resistance that prevents joy, peace and happiness to flow to you.

Look, you have great potential. You know it. I know it. And your mom definitely knows it!

But you also have resistance within you. It could be the belief that you don’t deserve to have an amazing career, and this belief could have been inculcated in you by various people as you grew up. This feeling of unworthiness could have come from past lifetimes (for those of you who believe in reincarnation).

So there is a conflict between your Potential and your Resistance. All you have to do is let go of your prejudice or tendency to judge things before you experience them. This release of resistance could save you YEARS of struggle, frustration and stress.

For example, some people have so little resistance that they embark upon their ideal career in their early 20s. They just go through life doing everything they want to do. They are not influenced by other people’s opinions or negative judgments. Sometimes, close friends, siblings and parents can be the source of much negative judgment. So love them because they have good intentions, but realize they have their own emotional issues so do not be sucked into their negative thinking for it will increase your own resistance.

Then there are people who resist, resist and resist until they are 50, because they prefer to be “right” rather than be “happy.” They will do all the normal things that a normal person “should” do and yet, they will miss their purpose in life, not realizing that there is no need to sacrifice one’s happiness at the altar of political correctness. Sometimes, at age 50, they finally understand (if they are lucky) and abandon their stressful or meaningless job to launch their ideal career. Other times, they face a severe medical crisis and they “awaken” sooner.

One path is not necessarily better than the other since every human being has absolute freedom of choice in regards to the timetable of his/her evolution. So even for the person who awakens at age 50, it is never too late.

My role is simply to offer guidance and knowledge to those who WANT, right now, to embark upon their ideal career. My function is to save you time (and suffering, pain, frustration, stress, illness, etc.).

By the way, illness, stress, fear, frustration, etc. are all UNNATURAL. They arise because a person is RESISTING her own well-being by having negative thoughts and by judging others and by being critical.
As mentioned in a previous post, your body is only a learning device for your mind. The state of your body (its health, its vitality, etc.) is a reflection of how well you are using your mind.

But let’s get back to my formula, or Success / Joy / Fulfillment = Potential – Resistance.

As you clarify your potential and write down PRECISELY everything you want to experience in your ideal career, you naturally begin to shift your attention AWAY from whatever resistance you are offering to yourself, and begin to clarify your thinking.

As a result, you will succeed more and more, and you will feel joy and passion flowing through you. That’s because your Potential becomes clearer and clearer while your Resistance is progressively reduced.

However, if you focus on your Resistance (negative feelings, criticisms, prejudice, problem-seeking, etc.) without trying to heal your emotional issues, you will cloud your perception of your potential (which never changes). That’s when you begin to experience what people call “failure.”

In fact, there is no “failure” really, it’s just that you chose a tough path to follow. Eventually, every person — in this life or the next — will find and achieve their ideal career.

The Ideal Career Framework was created to allow you to get there sooner, with less pain, frustration and stress.

Peace and joy are the goals

Christmas is around the corner, so we’ll hear a lot about peace and joy in the coming weeks. But did you know that you can have peace and joy EVERY DAY, if you choose the right career?

In other words, if you don’t wake up every day looking forward to going to work, then it’s possible that you are still searching — consciously or subconsciously — for your ideal career.

Your ideal career has little to do with money, prestige, status, benefits, salary, etc. It has EVERYTHING to do with you. With who you truly are.

An ideal career has to do with creating the ideal conditions within you for fostering personal growth and expanding joy. It has to do with enabling your true self, along with your passion, talent and values, to express itself in a creative and productive way.

So far, society has not taught people how to create their ideal career. We mostly have “normal” careers that fit certain norms in society. We are mostly human “resources” being used by corporations for making corporate profits.

There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that, since money is necessary to sustain life.

But a job is just a job, whether you’re a janitor or a high-paid executive.

You, on the other hand, are everything that matters in life.

As you begin to shift your attention and thoughts from what society expects and wants of you, to what you TRULY want as a career — as your life’s work — you will begin to notice many changes occurring within you and right in front of you.

Like me since June 2000, you will begin to see life differently. You will feel power surging from your newfound perception and philosophy.

This power comes from your growing awareness that you are the creator of your life — all of it.

Right now, you may not believe what I just said and might believe that you have no choice but to do the job you are currently doing.

This is because you are viewing yourself as a “body” that has no spiritual vision nor power. This is the same problem of people who have addictions or problems with controlling their emotions such as anger. It’s the same problem of people who want to get rich but can’t make it.

All these problems are caused by your belief that you are a “body” that has no power.

Yet, I have discovered — and many other teachers have as well — that the body is nothing. The mind is everything. Your mind controls your body, and it controls also all of your life.

Your body is just showing you how skillfully — or how unskillfully — you are using your mind.

So if you’re stressed at work, or are addicted to anything, or feel depressed, or are prone to sickness, etc. then that is a sure sign you have not achieved mind control.

Fortunately, mind control is not difficult. It just takes practice, alertness and discipline.

The results are peace and joy. In your career as well as in ALL areas of your life.

Indeed, by learning to master your mind at the workplace, you will begin to see improvements in all other areas of your life.

In upcoming posts, I will share ways for you to train your mind so as to create what will seem like a miraculous life.

Choose the ego or choose your true self

Most people pursue a career based on what the ego wants, not based on what they — their true self — really want.

This is the simple, yet invisible, reason why so many people are involved in a job that does not fulfill them. They have basically sacrificed their happiness for the APPARENT SUCCESS that a well paid job brings.

This worldly success is apparent and not real, because the only measure of true success in life is one’s personal evolution. A job where you are not allowed to express your passion and talent in order to become your best self, is not worthy of who you are.

Many authors have begun to highlight the importance of focusing on one’s strengths and talents: Tom Rath and Marcus Buckingham, for example.

However, the deeper question still remains: Do you want to be TRULY happy and successful, or do you settle for apparent happiness and apparent success?

In other words, do you choose the ego or do you choose your true self?

Here’s a simple test to know whether your current job is more about the ego or is about your true self.

Suppose you had all the money that you could possibly need, and no longer need to work for a living. Plus, suppose you did not care what other people thought about how you make a living. Would you remain in your current job?

If the answer is no, then the ego has deceived you. It has “stolen” your life and has prevented you from finding your true self.

Notice that I say “the ego” and not “your ego” because ego is an impersonal unconsciousness pervading all of society, a cover-up machination that prevents people from discovering their true, unique self.

On the other hand, if you had all the money you needed, and STILL decided to keep doing your present job, then it’s likely that your job is based on your true self. That is, it enables you to self-actualize and fully realize your potential as a human being.

In most cases, people will admit that their current job does not fulfill them, but they “have to” do it. Why? To pay the bills, to survive financially, to pay debts previously incurred.

I’m not suggesting that people become financially irresponsible, quit their job and run to join the circus!

What I’m suggesting is a gentle recognition that ego may be running your life, and has usurped your power to shape your life to become the masterpiece you want it to be.

“Usurped” is actually not the correct word, for you ALWAYS have power over your life; you only THINK that you’ve lost power.

As you realize, more and more, that you do have power — the power to discern, evaluate, decide and make up your own mind — you will gain greater clarity about what you want and the means to get it in life.

So even though you might currently be in a job you don’t like, you will begin to see opportunities to escape from it. For example, you might see opportunities to work elsewhere, or you might decide to launch a business, or you might reuse your skills in a different way in order to get a more fulfilling position within the same organization.

What is certain is that once your eyes are open, you WILL see many more opportunities than you are currently seeing. Of course, as can be expected, the ego wants you to live your life with your eyes closed.

How do you know if your eyes are closed or not? Well, if you are blaming others, are complaining, are criticizing others or the “system”, are justifying why you can’t do this or that, etc. then it is certain that your eyes are closed.

A new life full of possibilities await you, if only you opened your eyes, and see Reality for the first time.

This Reality (notice the capital “R”) is not the same reality that you’ve been accustomed to in the last few years, where you are merely a “body” living in a world populated by 6.5 billion other “bodies.”

This Reality is one where you are truly the creator, in every moment and situation, of your life.

All are called to experience this amazing Reality, but few choose to open their eyes. If you are among the few courageous ones, then a life of infinite abundance, happiness and fulfillment is waiting for you.

If you do not yet have the courage to awaken from the ego’s dream, then it’s okay too. But eventually, you too will awaken at precisely the time that you choose to.

Every person chooses to evolve at her own pace. My role or function is simply to offer the guiding knowledge to those who choose to awaken now, and who need a brother to help them to become masterful creators of their careers and lives.

I awakened partially from the ego’s dream in June 2000, and my brother Joe awakened about two years ago. Through PowerKnowledge.net, a portal offering highly valuable knowledge free of charge, we wish to help those who seek knowledge and guidance in order to create the amazing, limitless life that they deserve.

In the end, all human beings deserve to have an amazing and fulfilling life. I know that. The question is, do you believe that you deserve an amazing and fulfilling life?

If you do, bookmark this blog for this is where I will share with you the best knowledge, gathered from over 800 books as well as my own exhilarating journey, so that you too can reclaim and learn to use your power to create your dream life.

True Self & True Love

In my youth, and I think this is true for many people, love has been a struggle.

Most young people think they know what love is, when they fall in love. The greater their certainty, the greater the emotional damage of the eventual breakup.

I say “damage” but in fact, it’s only an illusion, as most people realize later on in life. The illusion serves to teach a memorable lesson, and exists for the evolvement of the person.

But what is “true love” exactly?

And why are we talking about love in a blog that is supposed to be about one’s ideal career?

As Tina Turner would say, “What’s love got to do with it?!”

Well, it turns out that True Love flows from True Self. In fact, True Love is the same as True Self Love.

In other words, when you truly love your Self, you are capable of unconditional love, and that’s when true love occurs.

Misunderstanding about the connection between True Self and True Love leads many single people to search for a lover on dating sites or in places where they expect (hope?) to find a soul mate.

Yet, if you are not connected to your Self, such searches won’t likely be fruitful. Even if you DID find “Mr Right” or “Miss Right”, you would not have much to give, since we can only give what we are.

My point is that when you connect to your true Self, you not only empower yourself to create an ideal career, but you also create all the right conditions for receiving your soul mate into your life.

On the other hand, a person who identifies with her ego and is not connected to her true self, is just another “body” seeking to attract the attention of another “body” so they can both have fun for a while. Eventually, the relationship cannot last because it is not based on the communion of two true selves (or two souls). Failure to learn this lesson, will lead such persons to repeat the mistake over and over again, but with different “bodies.”

It’s the same situation for those who merely have a “job” (where their body resides 9 to 5, five days a week) vs those who have found their ideal career (which is beyond time and space).

Indeed, the ideal career is nothing but a conduit through which the creative Higher Self expresses itself. This Higher Self is not encased or imprisoned by any corporate employment system because it operates at a higher level, above the ego.

In other words, true love is like the ideal career, in that both are spiritual phenomena. And to be on this spiritual path requires a great deal of sensitivity on the part of the seeker, whether he/she is seeking true love or an ideal career.

She will find true love only when she is true to herself. Surprisingly, when she finds her true self, she finds the only Prize in life worth seeking.

Connect to your Source and create with power

There is a source of awesome power within you that you have not yet discovered.

I’ve been blessed in that I was, in my youth, connected to my Source. This explains how I was able to receive four standing ovations before I turned 18. I will share the exciting details later on, but my point is that I am intimately aware of the power of being connected to one’s true self.

Unfortunately, I lost my holy connection in my early 20s and began a journey of increasing disconnection. I was pretty much heading toward the Dark Side when an angel miraculously crossed my path and she helped me to return to the Light Side in 1996.

It was necessary for me to become disconnected so I could enjoy the process of reconnecting. Also, as a teacher, I had to undergo this risky process to be able to talk about it with full knowingness and be in a position to guide all those who seek to reconnect with their true self.

You see, your mind is powerful. Very, very, very powerful. But it can only serve one master. You have to choose between your ego or your true self.

There is risk, danger and suffering for those who choose to follow the ego, for that leads to the Dark Side.

Women are closer to the Ideal Career path because their ego is less developed than men, in general. On the other hand, women suffer — often unconsciously — from the collective victimization that women have had to endure historically, and this negatively charged memory creates fear and doubt in the minds of women.

Yet, both men and women are fully capable of reconnecting to their Source and rise above any and all negative vibration arising from past experience or karmic history.

This ability to connect to Source is not something I mention in the usual Ideal Career workshop, but I thought I’d talk about it here so you understand that YOU have full power and control over  your destiny — at all times.

In fact, I created a separate workshop called The New Self, based in part on Eckhart Tolle’s excellent book, A New Earth, to show people how to master their emotions and energies.

The New Self workshop was created because I felt, through my coaching and consulting interventions, that women carry an unusual amount of subconscious fear and doubt. The more courageous ones will admit and confront their fear and doubt while most operate without acknowledging that there is a great enemy within that sabotages their every effort.

By helping you to reconnect with your Source, I hope to show you how to summon from within the power that has always been yours, and that you can use to create the marvelous life that you deserve.

What is an “ideal career”?

My sister Zoonie and I — oh, before I forget, Zoonie was interviewed yesterday by a radio station, and she talked and talked and talked (talking is her forte, haha!) about Talentelle and the Ideal Career workshop, I will upload the interview soon! — co-created the Ideal Career workshop in August 2005.

We’ve been teaching it since then, and have had SO MUCH FUN sharing the knowledge with people (mostly women, lucky me).

Basically, the Ideal Career workshop says that we, as human beings, have four fundamental dimensions of our being, and that by developing those four dimensions, we will inevitably have an AMAZING and FULFILLING career (plus, we’ll make lots of $$$ too!).

These dimensions are: passion, talent, service and values.

What is passion? Well, passion is basically what I feel when I look at pictures of Kirsten Dunst. Oops, sorry, Freudian slip.

Passion is emotional energy expressing itself without interference. Just look at kids at play and you’ll instantly get what I mean by “passion.”

Zoonie is the epitome of passion. She is very, very, very energetic. In fact, without her, Talentelle would not exist, and perhaps my ideal career (as a charismatic and brilliant intellectual) might never have launched. She’s like a rocket of energy, as anyone who has met her will testify.

But you know what? YOU have the same energy. The only difference is that most people RESIST their energy and, for various reasons, BLOCK their energy from flowing forth.

So although everyone has the same energy that Zoonie has, they also have internal resistance. Zoonie has nearly zero resistance, and this explains her joyful spontaneity.

This secret is not easily discernible, but since I’ve always been a gifted student, I was able to observe her and reverse engineer her state of mind. As a result, I’ve learned to reduce my own internal resistance and experience sustained joy as a happy consequence. Now, you also know Zoonie’s secret!

There is much more to talk about regarding joy and emotional intelligence (leading, ultimately, to emotional invincibility of the Jedi variety). We talk more about that in the workshop.

In my next post, I’ll talk about the second axis, my specialty: talent.

Hello!

Welcome to this site, where we’ll share with you a revolutionary method for envisioning, designing and building your ideal career!

Created by serial entrepreneur Peter Nguyen in August 2005, the Ideal Career workshop teaches people that an ideal is based on four fundamental dimensions present in all human beings: passion, talent, service and values.

To receive the free ebook describing the method whereby you can create your ideal career, please contact Peter at peter@powerknowledge.net.

Good luck in all your endeavours!

Peter Nguyen