It is 4.30 am and I just opened up my laptop.
I love the quietude and stillness of these early mornings, and they are my most creative space. The rest of my family is fast asleep, and my mind hasn’t been influenced by the onslaught of worldly impressions and sensory inputs yet.
I had actually planned to draft a completely different article, though. Last night I even did a rough outline of it, because I was so inspired, and as I went to bed, it was all I could do not to get up and jot down ideas and points as they rushed into my mind.
And yet, when I woke up this morning, Spirit had planted a completely different seed within me. As I, over the years, have learned to listen and obey- meaning, when I feel intuitively pulled to go in a particular direction, that’s where I go- and so if Spirit wanted me to write this article, then this article it is.
As I write this, I don’t yet have a title for this article, but the core message is simple: what we focus on expands. While most of us are aware of this truth, very few consciously focus their time and energy on what actually transforms their lives.
Let me explain what I mean by using myself as an example. For well over a decade, I was a great student of spirituality.
As a result, I have deep and profound realizations as to the nature of God (which is a Benevolent Loving Presence - not a man in the sky).
I have insights about who and what I am as a unique, perfect, whole, and complete expression of Spirit, and the purpose of all of life.
I am deeply grateful for this profound spiritual foundation, as it allows me to move through life with a deep sense of peace and a close-to-unshakeable knowing that All is Well, regardless of how it looks or feels.
About a year and a half ago, however, I realized I had no idea how to manage money. I was good at making it, but we spent almost everything that came in, and at the time I believed my only option was to find ways to make more.
My choices up to that point had led me to a life where I traded my time for money, and so to make more, I needed to either add more billable hours or raise my fees and prices.
I usually resorted to a combination of both, but we always found new ways to spend that extra money too, leaving me with an ever-increasing internal stress to make even more.
This had been going on for a number of years, and I saw no way out, until I was intuitively pulled to start studying money and to learn the money game inside and out.
I bought my first two financial books, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki and Tony Robbins’ “MONEY Master the Game”, and started listening to them for hours on end, over and over again for about six months.
I was like a sponge, soaking it all in. I literally couldn't get enough.
They talked about money in a way I had never heard anyone talk about it, which gradually helped me start viewing money differently and, more importantly, start making different choices about money (and my life).
Gradually, I started listening to other books on the subject as well, like Ramit Sethi’s “I Will Teach You To Be Rich”, T. Harv Ecker’s “Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind”, and the most recent and my big favorite, “How Rich People Think”, by Steve Siebold.
I am learning so much, and listening to these books over and over again has completely transformed my thinking and my life trajectory in such a beautiful way.
Recently I've shifted more of my focus toward studying the mindset of world-class entrepreneurs and high-level achievers, since that is where my next growth spurt is - transforming my business model.
The point is that listening to these books has shifted how I move through life, and the direction my life has taken more this last year than the last 10+ years combined.
I was talking to my wife a few weeks ago, and I shared that I had actually woken up a few days earlier angry with myself for not starting this deep and intentional study years ago.
I even felt embarrassed that it had taken me all these years to discover books as a form of study, not just entertainment.
I felt a sense of missing out, thinking about what my life would have looked like had I picked up these or similar books ten or twenty years ago.
Now, I know that perfect preparation and unfolding are always happening.
Had someone handed me these books ten years ago—or even two years ago—I would probably not have been even slightly interested in reading them, let alone absorbing the information they provide.
In other words, I wouldn't have been ready for the deep transformation taking place today.
So, All is Well, even when the ego tries to convince us things should have been different.
Everything We Need is Already Here
I know of so many people, both professionally and personally, who are experiencing challenges in their lives. I mean, we all do; it's part of this earthly journey, but more about that another time.
We have financial challenges, health challenges, career challenges, relational challenges, and so on.
And all most people do is complain and bemoan their life circumstances.
Feeling victimized, we sit around waiting, wishing, and hoping for things to change, for our conditions to miraculously change or for someone or something to come save us.
But we rarely get off our butts and actually do something to change our experiences.
Once again we are reminded of the first principle of the Spiritual Warrior; if we want anything to change in our lives, we need to change.
Many of us have this notion that once we have completed our formal education, college, official educational programs, degrees, or whatever the case may be, we have learned everything we need to live a happy and fulfilled life.
The fact that very few people actually are living that happy and fulfilled life is conveniently forgotten or disregarded.
Formal education, while teaching us some basic skills, does not generally prepare us for living a good, happy, and healthy life.
And when we finally encounter anyone who is truly happy, fulfilled, or successful, we attribute that to a stroke of luck, to them being in the right place at the right time.
But we never realize, or have the courage to admit to ourselves, that we are the source of every single one of our experiences.
That we are 100% responsible for everything that is in our life and everything that is not - to quote T. Harv Ecker.
Our outer lives are always a direct reflection of our inner lives, our states of consciousness. As within, so without, as the maxim goes.
So we keep blaming, pointing fingers, and burying our heads in the sand like ostriches, hoping that our problems will one day magically disappear.
Many of the amazing books I have been reading these last couple of years were written more than 10 years ago, some even 20-30 years ago. In other words, they have been around for a long, long time.
I am not a literature expert, but according to Google Gemini, there are between 150 and 170 million unique book titles in the world, covering pretty much every aspect of human life.
In other words, there is probably not one single challenge any of us has ever faced or will ever face in life that has not been extensively written about by others who have experienced and overcome that very challenge.
And all this vast knowledge is at our fingertips. I mean, we don’t even need to go to the library anymore, let alone read an actual physical book - unless we want to.
I have all these books on my phone, literally at my fingertips, only a few touches away at any moment of every single day.
Literally, all I need to do is plug my earphones in, tap the book, and there it is, being read to me while I take a walk, do the dishes, drive, or whatever moment-in-between I am having.
Most favor entertainment over education
In “How Rich People Think” by Steve Siebold, who interviewed over 1,000 self-made millionaires and shares how they think compared to how most others (“the masses”) think.
He states that while most people would rather spend their time scrolling or watching entertainment (series, movies, shows, whatnot), the “world class” self-educate themselves.
There are very few people I know who are educating themselves on how to transform their lives.
Some educate themselves on how to do better at their jobs or learn new hobbies. But few, if any, study subjects that could dramatically improve the quality of their lives.
And if and when they come across a big transformational idea, at best they note that it is interesting, toss it away, and go on about their lives without letting that big idea change anything about them.
Most often, we hardly even acknowledge that big idea, but just walk right past it.
I once heard someone say something to the effect of: when most people get a transformational idea, they compress it to fit their current paradigm rather than letting it expand and transform them.
I am not judging; I used to be that way too, so I know how much “easier” it is not to take responsibility for what isn't working in our lives than to wake up and start making new choices.
I recently heard an elite entrepreneur share how he chose to stop watching TV.
He used to watch a couple of hours each night, but always turned it off, feeling he had just wasted a couple of hours of his life. One day he decided to stop watching TV and instead use that time to work on himself or his business.
He shared that over the next five or so years, he reclaimed over 4,000 hours of his life to do things that actually improved the quality of his life.
And that’s just two hours each day.
We all have 24 hours at our disposal every day. We're obviously free to choose how we use the time we have been given, but we are wise to be conscious of it and choose in ways that serve us in continuously improving the quality of our lives.
Imagine the difference it would make if we dedicated only half of that time each day to studying topics that would make us happier and more fulfilled.
Pause and Reset 🧘🏾♂️
Let’s take a moment to pause and reset. I invite you to close your eyes, bring a gentle smile to your face, and take three deep, conscious breaths with me: Breathe in... release. Breathe in ... release. Breathe in... release.
I invite you to say out loud or in your mind: All is Well. Something Wonderful is Always Happening. Everything is Working for My Highest Good
The difference between Knowing something and knowing about something
There is a tremendous difference between knowing about something and actually Knowing it.
A lot of people can quote and reiterate deep, profound wisdom about how to live life to the fullest.
Many of us are super fast at handing out well-meaning advice, imparting our wisdom, offering our two cents on subjects we hardly know anything about.
Bring up any topic, and most people gladly share their opinions and take on it. And yet, most people are struggling their way through life, mentally, emotionally, physically, financially.
So how do we know when we truly know something rather than just knowing about something?
The simple answer is: when we live it.
When we are a living, moving, breathing expression of physical health, we know what it takes to attain physical health.
When we live in financial abundance, freedom, and independence, then we know money.
When we have loving, nurturing, and compassionate relationships, then we know relationships.
When we move through life with a deep and unconditional sense of peace, harmony, joy, love, compassion, and gratitude, we either consciously or unconsciously have a deep understanding of spiritual principles.
And unless we live it, we need to be honest enough with ourselves to admit that we don’t yet know it. No more hiding behind one of humanity's most common catchwords: “I know this”.
If there is an area in life where we are not yet fully happy and content, we are wise to learn from those who have gone before us and mastered that particular area.
Conversely, we are equally wise not to ask anyone (friends, neighbors, co-workers, family members, etc.) who has not yet demonstrated by their own results that they have mastered this particular area - no matter how seemingly knowledgeable and well-meaning they may be.
In one of the books on mastering the money game, they say something like: The only way to learn how to become wealthy is to learn from one who has become wealthy.
Consider this simple question: If you wanted to get into physical shape, who would you rather ask - a personal trainer who is 150 pounds overweight and is gasping for air after walking up the stairs, or one who appears to be perfectly fit and healthy?
The Purpose of this Blog
We live in a society where so much information is available at our fingertips, which often leads to information overload—and ultimately, paralysis by analysis. We do nothing because there are too many options.
My mission with this blog is to help curate some of it.
Every Tuesday and Thursday on The Path to Freedom Blog, we explore spiritual principles that empower us to transform our lives and live in ever-expanding peace, love, joy, harmony, wholeness, and abundance. Regardless of external conditions and circumstances.
This blog is both my path forward toward that simple, peaceful, and quiet life - unbound by time and place- and allows me to step even more into my Dharma, which is to help people transform their lives, forever and for the better.
🎧 Complimentary Audio Treat
The complimentary audio for this post is a talk called “We Need To Choose It”
If you enjoyed this audio, I invite you to check out the Path to Freedom App right here on Substack. It is the home of all of my recorded content: hundreds of hours of courses, talks, meditations, prayers, and much, much more.
Transformational Invitation
In the brief breathing exercise we did, you were invited to scan your life for the area that currently is the most challenging for you, be it money, mental, emotional, or physical health, your career path, relationships, or something else.
I now invite you to commit to starting to transform that area.
Find a verified expert in that field, someone who has truly excelled in that area, and start learning from them.
Read their books, study their teachings, listen to their podcasts, watch their YouTube, for at least 30 minutes every single day for the next 30 days.
And most importantly, act on what you learn; give it permission to move you into expansion.
Acting on what we learn ensures that we move from knowing about something to ultimately actually Knowing it.
As unwavering and unstoppable Spiritual Warriors, let’s vow to be part of the 5% from this day forward. No more waiting, procrastinating, or putting it off.
As Apollo Creed angrily shouts to Rocky Balboa in Rocky III, as Rocky wants to put off training for his rematch against Clubber Lang, “There is no Tomorrow!!”
As always, I would love to connect with you, so leave a comment below or simply drop in and say hi in our community Chat.
If this article resonated with your heart and soul, I would deeply appreciate your support in expanding this blog—whether through a financial contribution or by sharing it with someone you know who might benefit. All support is received with deep gratitude.
Until next time, my fellow Spiritual Warriors, I bless, bless, bless our days, and I bless, bless, bless our ways. Knowing that All is Well, that Something Wonderful is Always Happening, that Everything is Working for Our Highest Good, that Perfect Preparation and Unfolding are Happening, Now, Always and Forever.
With much love and many blessings,
Namaste ✨💜🙏🏾
daniel roquéo
Thank you, Daniel, for sharing this. I’d also appreciate it if you could recommend any books you believe can teach powerful principles that, when implemented, can genuinely change the course of someone’s life.