“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”
-Epictetus
Long-time readers will remember that my creative collective, PRST, stands for Passion, RELATIONSHIPS, Self, and time. When I saw this quote from Epictetus make its way across my IG feed, I smiled because the importance of who we surround our Selves with has been known for a very long time. Yet, so many of us keep people around us who do not call forth our best. It’s hard to live your authentic life when the people in your life are not aligned with where you are going, and while it may not be easy to reduce their influence on you (aka reduce the time spent with them) it will be necessary if you’re serious about living your authentic life. You owe it to your Self to be surrounded by love, support, positivity, encouragement, accountability, and appreciation—allow the people who will provide this and for whom you can return the favor into your life. They will find you if you allow them to. I know this because I am continuously meeting people who are more and more aligned with my authentic life. An example of this is my friend Grace Nikae; you know Grace from her appearance on LifeDesign+. Since that episode, we’ve continued the conversation and support of each other’s work, and a couple of weeks ago, Grace invited me to lead a Masterclass for the Kizuna Studio, and later that day, we recorded an episode of her podcast, With Grace—I teased both of these in yesterday’s Weekly Note. I’m excited to share that podcast interview with you today: If your authentic life seems to be just out of reach or you’re having trouble fully embracing it, take a look at the people in your life and be honest about whether or not they uplift you and call forth your best. See you tomorrow and keep pursuing, JC |
I'm on a mission to help more people find and live their authentic life. Check out my Daily Notes where I write a short note each day about the connection of spirit, mind, body and money on the Pursuit of your authentic life.
Happy Sunday! I hope you're having a great weekend! A new episode of LifeDesign+ dropped this week with an episode of The Next Episode with my dad. This is a "show" that we don't film enough episodes of but when we do they are always fun and some of the most listened to and viewed episodes. In this episode we discuss "authenticity", whether or not it's a buzzword, and how different generations view the term and living authentically. I think this is the best episode for us yet. I also dropped...
Yesterday, I exchanged a couple of voice notes with one of my closest friends and shared a belief with him that helped me connect another dot in the Pursuit of the authentic life. My friend shared that so many things in his life were right where they needed to be—aligned with his values and allowing him to live his authentic life and continue to evolve. His family.His finances.His health.His career. All great! But despite all of those important aspects being aligned, something was missing....
“There’s beauty in completion. And always faith in the unknown.” - Kendrick Lamar This remains one of my favorite quotes. As you continue to pursue your authentic life, you will have chapters that end, leaving you to trust in the unknown. For most, the unknown can be scary and sometimes keep you in a chapter longer than you should be just to avoid the unknown. But, the more you experience venturing into the unknown, the stronger your faith will become making it easier and even exciting to...