Tag: personal-growth

True Greatness Is Knowing Where We Are

We all have those days where we feel we will never amount to what we wish we would become. We feel small, distant, lost. We don’t know how to find our way forward along the path to find our “greatness.” Instead, we spend so much energy and time seeing all the ways we haven’t reached our life goals.

One area I want to focus on is spiritual growth. In working on our spiritual goals, our spiritual growth, this inability to focus on where we are versus where we aren’t can make it feel like we aren’t having success. We feel distant from our desires to be more connected to our faith, our religion, our trust in Gd. But are we really so far away? Perhaps we aren’t distant but how we perceive things is what is leading to think we are distant. So much of growing along the path of life comes down to the mindset we bring to the moment. I think this is illustrated in the following teaching:

Someone asked the Rebbe Shlit”a how they should deal with their feelings of lack of success. They hear so much from the Rebbe about the high and lofty spiritual levels one should reach, but they feel so far from reaching any of this! The Rebbe answered that the Zohar HaKadosh says that “he who is small is great,” therefore, by a person simply acknowledging where they are truly holding i.e. that they are “small” and not yet on these high levels they learned about, they are showing that they are truly great.

Sea of Wisdom, Parshas Bo 5784 – R. Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern

When we embrace the notion that we aren’t there yet, not in a negative way, but in a growth mindset way, we change the paradigm. It is no longer that our distance from our desired goals is a sign of what we are lacking. Rather, our place now is our “greatness” and through this current greatness, we are on the path to higher levels of spiritual growth. 

Today, and everyday, when we take stock of where we are, not where we haven’t gotten to, I hope that we can see we are in the place of today’s greatness, knowing full well we want to journey further to tomorrow’s greatness. May we embrace where we are now and find the inspiration from this spot to move along the road of becoming more and more.

Looking for help in recognizing the greatness that is you? If you or someone you know is looking to forge ahead and set new goals or trying to find a sense of meaning in life, we are here to help foster spiritual and emotional growth and change. Schedule your appointment today here. For more information, please contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

Change the World by Fulfilling your Role

Who doesn’t want to change the world? I imagine most of us wish things would seem better. We wish we could do something dramatic and monumental to change things for the better. And yet, most of us are taught adages like the one in the image above, that wisdom and life experience will teach us how the best way to bring about change is to make changes to oneself. Through these changes, we might find that we are doing our personal part, fulfilling our life’s mission and through our work and changed approach, we are in fact changing the world around us.

“When we fulfill our divine mission in the world, we elevate not merely ourselves and our immediate surroundings, but ultimately also the entire cosmos (Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook)” 

RCA Siddur Avodat HaLev P. 20

In my work with others, I often find that one of the biggest barriers to success and to change is spending too much time looking outwards. We all know the harms of comparing ourselves to the images put out on social media. We get lost in the shuffle of seeing the fun, the excitement, the slick marketing. We start to day dream and wonder and feel a sense of jealousy. And then we go down the rabbit hole of beating ourselves up for not being like…

A lot of the work of coaching others through challenging points in life is helping them look back inside. This comes about through exploration, creating space for the client to do self-detective work, bringing forth aspects of who they are and who they want to be. This is true in grief work while helping someone navigate the muddy waters of re-emerging into a different world without the deceased. This is true in working with people on self-discovery as they work towards forging a new road along the path of life. This is true for people trying to make a choice, helping them find THE question that will help unlock the door of the decision they wish to make. 

When we have that moment of discovery, that new insight into the life we are trying to live, we are then open to the changes we want to see outwardly as well. Now, of course, there are things we wish we could change that all of this self-discovery and focus won’t change. At least not on our own. Nevertheless, we must do our part, for without it there would be no chance for change at all.

Our mission in this world is to leave it better for the next person. By discovering that each step along the way is not just lifting up ourselves but all those around us, we will hopefully discover some of the change we wish to see.  

It’s a New Year and a new opportunity to start fresh. If you or someone you know is looking to forge ahead and set new goals or trying to find a sense of meaning in life, we are here to help foster a spiritual and emotional growth and change. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

Podcast Episode Recommendation: The Importance of Giving Thanks


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I know this theme gets played out many times, yet it is so important to remind ourselves again and again about the importance of gratitude. Gratitude is not just merely about saying “Thank You,” but it is a mindset we would do well to cultivate. To live a life of gratitude is a daily spiritual practice, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep.

Unfortunately, there are many moments in life when it is quite challenging to maintain this gratitude mindset. We face moments and times of tragedy and trauma and we get subsumed by the all too real powerful emotions crisis presents to us. Yet, we wish to persevere, to live and to grow. And we can, with much work and support. Gratitude can be one of the various tools we can work to harness in those difficult moments.

As we think about gratitude today, I invite you to listen to one perspective on the importance of giving thanks I had the opportunity to listen to this morning. My colleague and friend Rabbi Benyamin Vineburg, BCC, recorded a conversation on Thanksgiving with his father Rabbi Dr. Sid Vineburg, Ed. D for the Be Wholly Podcast. I highly recommend listening to this episode, as it is a personal look at finding gratitude living with chronic illness. See below for the links:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2277823/14028305

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/be-wholly-with-rabbi-ben-vineburg/id1716208253?i=1000636720404

If you or someone you know is struggling, spiritually and/or emotionally, trying to find a sense of meaning in these times of struggle, know that you are not alone. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com