Shadow Work is about breaking your own barriers.
We are endlessly entertained by an avalanche of music, and food, and movies, and porn, and drugs, and booze, and social media, and books, and podcasts…we are even entertained by different flavors of self-help. This shadow work guide even serves as a form of entertainment…It can be just another blob of content that you consume and do absolutely nothing with. The only thing all this shit has in common, is that you feel no sense of pride or accomplishment after doing any of it. Sure, you might be able to talk to somebody about it and share a moment of connection on the off chance that you both watched the same movie or enjoy the same kind of music, but you don’t get to feel the rush of bragging rights or growth…or a sense of positive ego and self-pride.
All of this endless stimulation tends to make us forget that the only thing we really want in life is to become a pure channel for creation.
We want to start that charity, or build that business, or make personal connections, or achieve amazing physical feats.
We forget that most of the time the only thing we need in order to begin moving toward our desires is action.
Even if we take the wrong action, taking action is still better than reading another book or going through therapy or taking on some sort of psychedelic experience.
It’s just another pointless form of entertainment. The problem with all the entertainment (I’m nothing special because I’m still a consumer…) is that you get all of the positive feelings and dopamine hits up front without any effort taken. When you have to really put effort towards something to change your life you are going to feel stress, you are going to feel fear, you are going to feel nervousness and anxiety, and you are going to go through all kinds of ups and downs before you finally reach success, and then you get the big rush of dopamine…the big amazing feeling from winning or achieving.
Want me to blow your mind?
You don’t give a FUCK about the success…you just want to enjoy engaging with life again…YOU WANT THE DOPAMINE HITS TO COME FROM LIVING YOUR OWN LIFE…but you’ve been so dumbed down by entertainment and watching others take action in fantasy stories and movies that you can’t even FATHOM enjoying the WORK of life.
YOU WANT TO LIVE.
TO LIVE IS TO FULLY ENGAGE WITH YOUR BODY AND BRAIN IN THE MOMENT AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.
It has nothing to do with success…success is nothing but a bunch of shit you get AFTER you have lived your life. That’s why so many people with money are miserable…they don’t have success…they have money. People who get money without engaging in creation feel useless and cram entertinment down their own throats until they can’t even think straight. Life becomes a constant stream of entertainment and comfort.
The whole point of shadow work is to DO things you typically don’t do.
People think it’s about trauma or backwards rationalizing your feelings.
NO, dummy.
When you are living life, you very quickly find that you don’t give a shit about the past truama…the trauma was just another form of entertainment.
Okay, Dummy…Here’s your shadow work guide:
Alchemizing (transforming) through shadow work is about taking your shadow (everything about you that keeps you powerless) and converting it into light (…thoughts, words, and actions all aligned that put you in positions of power).
Moving from powerlessness into power.
Self-Amusement: Make yourself laugh. Make yourself feel amazed by what you do. Make yourself suprised by what you say…the truth you speak. Make yourself secure by the work you commit to and the boundaries you establish in life. Make yourself feel love by prioritizing your own values. Make yourself think thoughts and say words that are powerful.
Your self-amusement may lead to pissing people off. It will also lead to inspiring other people into power. Don’t be surprised by or in need of either. Your transformation has nothing to do with the quality of other peoples behavior…it’s for you.
Check Your Tension: What are the people, places, and situation in life that make your afraid, stress you out, or make you angry? Let your intuition be your guide here a little bit. You can list these things out if you’d like. These are the things that need to change or be completely removed. I don’t care what bullshit excuse you have for keeping them in your life. Transformation is not easy nor is it meant to be.
“If you want things in your life to change…you’re gonna have to change some things in your life.”
Kevin Trudeau (Quoting a mentor in ‘Your Wish is Your Command’)
Check Your Excuses: Everyone has excuses for why things are the way they are. People who succeed don’t give a fuck about those excuses and find a way around them. If you always have some sort of a REASON that you are stuck where you are…the reason you are stuck is because you are addicted to the excuse. Seek solutions and alternatives all the time. The perfect solution might not show up right away, but if you keep focusing on the excuse, the only thing that will keep showing up is the problem. Furthermore, I don’t give a fuck if you want to keep feeding yourself excuses. There’s a party going on…and no one is going to care if you decide not to show up.
Futrhermore, if you’re still leaning into excuses to win an argument or to get people to feel sorry for you, you are serving as the anti-shadow work guide for yourself. It’s just another form of quitting.