Ever had a girl crush? Or know someone in your life that always seems to attract high-value friendships, opportunities, and romantic relationships simply by doing nothing but be herself? Maybe it’s in the way she makes eye contact when she speaks, or the way she intentionally pauses before she breaks out into an irresistible smile that oozes feminine appeal. Or she is unapologetically herself, not shying away from expressing what she believes at the expense of fearing being rejected.

A lot of the times when we think about self-doubt, we blame the sole culprit to the internal dialogue we have in our heads. We question our ability to do things, to rise up to an opportunity where we can level up and shy away when we are confronted with the first signs of growing pains. We don’t realize that a lot of the self-doubt we experience can stem from the people we surround ourselves with. Sometimes a comment here or there from a trusted loved one — confidante, a can derail our progress rapidly because of their own scarcity mindset.

I have a close intimate relationship with burning out. I get fatigued with exhaustion whenever I let the fear of not being present at every single one of my friends’ trump my desire for alone time. After observing the same patterns of how I operate, there’s the inevitable side effect that happens when I feel accomplished by attending every single event I’m invited to, which is being whiplashed with longing for a lifestyle slowdown.

Growing your creative business will likely be one of the most rewarding ventures you will ever take on, but that doesn’t mean it won’t come with its own challenges. If you have noticed a creeping sense of imposter syndrome, creative block, or uncharacteristic tiredness, you may be experiencing the busy entrepreneur’s worst nightmare — burnout. Those who are growing their own business or working from home are naturally at an increased risk of burnout; without the opportunity to ‘go home’ at the end of the day, it can be difficult to ever fully switch off.

Getting attached to a set of belief systems keeps you locked in that reality and all of your thoughts, emotions and actions are going to be equal to that inner reality. So being as if is about identifying. The current identity you have is something that you’ve built based on your identification over what we call the past. If you have decided in your past, “This is who I am. This is the kind of person I am. This is the kind of way I show up in the world,” you have the ability to rewrite the narrative and shift the story to match what ultimate lifestyle you would like to achieve. There is the major difference between being as if and faking it till you make it. It’s with the realization that that’s not who you are.

A large part of being a high-value person is your willingness to express the sacred values you believe in for the world to see. It’s one thing to have an understanding of your convictions, but without having the courage to apply them externally, people don’t know that you have an inner light you’d like to shine. When your thoughts, behavior, actions match in complete alignment with your personal value system, your radar for attracting people, opportunities, lifestyle changes to reinforce your standards becomes an automatic consequence of your shift.

“I feel like there’s this movement happening and we’re living firsthand in it. That’s the beauty of New York. In this constant movement of change, change in chaos, you need a storm to grow. We’re always in the storm and I do see this collective consciousness evolving in terms of going back to the grassroots […]

“It’s a playful stage where we’re playing, we’re playing at life or death. We’re playing to learn to die. And it’s an incredibly powerful thing to learn to let go.“ – Ben Hemmer Liu It’s a rare opportunity to come across an individual that doesn’t shy away from talking about the hard stuff in life. […]

The Paradox of Success There’s a false misconception that when we work ourselves up to a level of standard that we perceived as greatness, we unknowingly put ourselves up on a pedestal. We get into our heads that on our first try, we will produce great work. When we work ourselves up to a state […]

“The way out of hell is to take that pain you’re feeling, overcome it, and share it with others. The more you can impact, the more you can make your way out of hell.” – Sid Bala Oh boy…where do I begin with this episode? This one, in particular, holds a lot of weight to […]