Do you have such high hopes and expectations for yourself that you hold yourself hostage to achieving them?

Personal Standards. Lofty Goals. High Expectations. Ever had any of these? Perhaps you have them even now!

And, do you, perhaps, carry a virtual whip around in order to make sure you “toe the line” and never deviate from your “designated path”?

Well, in many respects, this behavior is quite understandable.

When we are young, we look up to the adults in our lives, and the advice they are only too happy to give us is no doubt intended to help us succeed in the world. But the truth is, we’re set onto a road of never-ending self-improvements from a very early age. Almost all of us have messages like these fed to us like a constant diet of don’t-let-me-down gruel:

• Get good grades.
• Do your best.
• Make me proud.
• Come back a winner.
• <Add your own favorite here!>

Do you by any chance remember this line from one of America’s popular songs from the 70s?

Oz never did give nothin’ to the Tin Man, that he didn’t, didn’t already have.

You see, you can listen to the advice of others all you want. And some of it may even be useful and helpful. But you already have all the wisdom, knowledge and ability you need in order to live your life in the best way possible. The truth is, if you let yourself just BE YOU, you’ll be good at pretty much anything you do. A parent. A partner. A friend. A business owner. A ditch digger. No matter what your passion might be.

However, there is still the problem, isn’t there? You may hear in your mind that you’ve never quite made it yet, that you’re not quite there, that you’ve got to keep trying. This is because the encouraging voices of others that you heard before can transform themselves into the demanding voice of your own inner-personal disapproval. As a result, you may carrying some unconscious disempowering beliefs like you can never have what you need, or that you can never meet the expectations that have been set for you.

We picked up and adopted expectations that were told to us over and over again, until we believed them wholeheartedly. And now, we hold our own feet to the fire in order to ensure that somehow, some way, we finally fulfill some high hope. Before we die. Please.

The Soul Talk Guys think it’s high time we stop doing this to ourselves. There is no need for any of us to seek to be perfect and make ourselves crazy in the process. David & Tommy want to encourage you and help you to lay down your burden once and for all, and start living the kind of life that really matters to you.

Check out this week’s video, and start untying another knot so as to set yourself free.

And please remember to leave a comment below!

The post LMTV #64: Internal Hostage Situation appeared first on Life Mastery TV (Archive) - All LMTV episodes prior to 2018.

Do you like to have control? When you get control, does it actually change anything?

Do you ever get frustrated when things don’t go your way? Do you ever find yourself getting angry when someone is rude on the road? Is it just possible that you notice all the other “stupid” things that “stupid” people do? And if you do happen to get a little upset, what happens when you hear someone say something like,

Relax. Calm down. Let it go. It is what it is! It's all good.

When you are in the heat of your frustration or anger, there is a pretty good chance you even react to someone else’s attempt to help you calm down, right? But even if you don’t find yourself reacting with statements like:

Really?? Are you kidding me? Don’t you have any idea what I’m going through?

…well, there could be a possibility that this kind of monologue could still be playing out in your head. And if that is true, then you are probably creating a lot of pain and suffering—not only for yourself, but also for the people around you.

Well, guess what, friend? As hard as it might be to believe (especially in your moments of upset), it really is true that

It's all good.

You’ve heard David & Tommy talk about this before, but it bears repeating here. When you consider where you are in your life right now, you have to admit that you’ve made it through some difficulties, challenges, and obstacles during your life. You didn’t always have control, no matter how much you might have wanted it. And yet—as if perhaps by some miracle—you made it where you are today. In fact, all of the circumstances, events, and conditions of your life helped to shape you into the person you are today. Really, now, how bad can that be?

This week, the Soul Talk Guys bring this point home, so check out the video and find out for yourself. And please share this with your friends and remember to leave a comment below!

The post LMTV #57: It’s All Good appeared first on Life Mastery TV (Archive) - All LMTV episodes prior to 2018.

Freedom from Attachment…What does that REALLY Mean?

Have you noticed that we humans seem to like to achieve things? Sure you have! In fact, being human, you probably like to achieve things yourself, right? Well, achieving things is certainly a wonderful thing for us to do, but have you ever noticed that the desire to achieve things can sometimes get in the way of actually doing the achieving?

Well, that’s exactly what this week’s webinar is all about. Tommy & David are going to examine and discuss the issue of attachment—specifically, attachment to a particular outcome—from the perspective of how it can hold you back.

You may not have noticed this before, but when you obsess about the outcome you are trying to achieve, then a number of things tend to happen:

• you stop enjoying the process;
• you begin to experience resentment—and probably anger as well;
• the outcome you are trying to achieve is probably not up to the standard you know you can reach;
• your life seems outside your control.

This can lead to an unpleasant cycle in which you become convinced that,

No matter what I do it’ll never be good enough, so why bother starting another project?

This week, Tommy & David are going to help you to:

• recognize this cycle as soon as it starts;
• unwind the story that feeds the cycle;
• stop the cycle in its tracks;
• reconnect to the joy of achieving—without the stickiness of needing to achieve a particular outcome.

Please watch the video—and remember to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

The post LMTV #46: No Strings Attached appeared first on Life Mastery TV (Archive) - All LMTV episodes prior to 2018.

Expectation is very different from anticipation, and attachment to desired outcomes can lead to disappointment.

We humans tend to think of expectations as necessities. We expect fresh food at the market. We expect others to follow the rules of the road. We expect people to behave in a civilized, if not nice, manner. But what happens when things don’t go according to our “plan”? What happens inside us when our expectations aren’t met?

Expectations are one of those double-edged swords that can cut into our peace and happiness. While one part of us may think it’s important to have expectations, another part of us knows how much misery and suffering our unmet expectations can cause:

• When we get bad service at the restaurant, our “meal is ruined”.
• When the price of gas keeps going up, we get angry.
• When somebody doesn’t show up on time, we get stressed.

And what’s the common theme every time one of our expectations goes unanswered?

WE FEEL WORSE. . .

We set ourselves up for something, and then when that something doesn’t happen, it takes a toll on our attitude, emotions, and energy. Expectations are one of those “problems” disguised as a solution!

In this episode, we discuss this issue in some depth. Check it out and learn how to distinguish between realistic anticipation and frustrating expectation.

The post LMTV #11: Expectation is the Mother of Frustration appeared first on Life Mastery TV (Archive) - All LMTV episodes prior to 2018.

What makes a good friendship? Should we expect anything from it? What kind of friend are you?

Friendship. This is an important topic, and no doubt you consider friendship to be one of the most important things in your life. We all value friendships in life, and friendship takes on many forms. Friends support each other in many different ways, and it’s easy for us to take our friends for granted, don’t you think? In fact, for some people, it may not even be clear who your friends really are until the going gets rough for you.

In this week’s episode, we discuss the topic of friendship from a variety of angles. Some of the questions we examine are:

• What constitutes a “good” friendship?
• What kind of friend are you?
• What kind of friend do you want to be?
• What is reasonable to expect from a friendship?
• What happens when expectations are not met?
• When is a friendship over?

And as always, we follow the conversation wherever it goes, so be prepared for some surprises and some interesting turns! After you watch the video, please remember to leave a comment—your feedback literally feeds us!

The post LMTV #10: A Friend Indeed appeared first on Life Mastery TV (Archive) - All LMTV episodes prior to 2018.