1) You Can Express Gratitude for What is and Want More

At one point, when I wanted to leave one of my jobs, I judged myself. I thought about how fortunate I was to have a white-collar job, especially coming from a blue-collar family, and felt like because I wanted to leave, I wasn’t appreciating what I had.

Then, it occurred to me that I can wake up every day, be grateful for my job and salary, and still want something different. The gratitude I expressed made it easier to get through the work day and at the same time, I was able to hold onto my aspiration for something else (and not feel bad about it).

2) You Are Both a Teacher and Student of Life

In order to teach/inspire others, you only need to be one or two steps ahead of them. This means you could teach/inspire someone who may be in a situation that you found yourself in just one or two years ago. Wherever you are in life, you probably can help someone who’s a younger version of yourself.

At the same time, you are also a student of life — The more you know, the more you realize how little you know and how much more there is left for you to learn.

3) You Can Care for Someone and Set Healthy Boundaries

As someone who grew up with a co-dependent relationship with my caretaker, I used to believe that caring for someone meant that I needed to do everything in my power to make sure said individual was okay. This, inevitably, led to my inability to prioritize myself and eventually, burnout.

I’ve learned that you can care for someone and set healthy boundaries, which means giving the individual the space to solve their own problems, rather than feeling like it is your responsibility to do so. You can care for someone, say no to their requests and not feel bad for saying no. It may take practice and it may feel odd in the beginning if you’re not accustomed to saying no but like any muscle, the more you flex it, the easier it gets with time.

4) What Scares You (And What You Might Not Want to Do) is Probably What You’re Meant to Do

What scares you (that’s not life-threatening) is meant to test your limits and demonstrate to you that you are so much more capable than you think you are. For this reason, what scares you is probably what you’re meant to do.

Last year, I almost turned down an opportunity to perform stand-up comedy in NYC because I was afraid of freezing and bombing on stage. If I had let my fears get in the way, nothing would’ve happened and I would’ve chalked it up as “Stand-up comedy isn’t something I’m meant to do.”

However, I chose to get on stage, despite my fears and I made the audience laugh! Because of that one experience, I then ended up performing stand-up comedy in Bulgaria and Portugal. Had I sold myself short, I wouldn’t know that I have it in me to perform in front of different audiences, in different countries, no less.

5) There Are So Many Gurus Out There; You Are Your Own Guru

The number of gurus out there is endless — you have the spiritual gurus from India, teachers from the New Age movement, and New York Times best-selling authors, just to name a few. And yes, these people have broadened my horizons and expanded my knowledge. However, I’m also aware that these people are human, just like you and me, which means that they, too, make mistakes.

Simultaneously, not everything that these people teach resonates with me, which means that I can pick and choose what I want to keep and what I want to discard. I’d also like to note that true gurus will not tell you that they know the way, but instead will equip you with the tools for you to find your way because, at the end of the day, the answers you seek are within you. You are your own guru, if you are able to tune out the white noise of the mind and tune into the inner wisdom within.