All of us know the answer. It is right in front of us. It’s what separates our dreams from reality. The sad truth is that it boils down to ourselves. But do we want to take the blame?

Taking responsibility is one of the hardest truths to learn in our life. We like to shift the blame to anyone but ourselves. When we do this, though, we are robbing ourselves and stunting our own personal growth.

So, what can we do?

It’s simple yet complex. You see, there are more things we can do than we realize. The first step is acknowledging the fact that we do, in fact, have power. That power can be particularly hard to locate, though. To get that power, we have to sit with our discomfort.

How long, you say? Until we realize that no one is going to save us from facing ourselves.

We always have that option to face ourselves, but many times we are afraid. Afraid of the discomfort. What discomfort?

The discomfort of unpleasant emotions and the dreaded voice inside our heads that never shuts up. There are two voices that speak to us. One being your ego, and the second being your highest self.

First, I will talk about your highest self. Your highest self speaks in whispers. It is never commanding and always feels light and gentle. Despite feeling light and gentle, you can still hear it. It’s a deep feeling in our body. This is also referred to as your intuition. Many of us have no idea when our highest self whispers the next action or right move. A lot of the time, we ignore this voice, never thinking anything of it. But this voice repeats itself. Not in a forceful way, but instead as a reminder. It is your reminder to course-correct.

The hardest part about following “the voice” of your highest self/intuition is that it can be scary. It involves completely and utterly getting out of your comfort zone or even committing to some hard work. It takes energy to dedicate yourself to these decisions. One could be starting a company, leaving a job that is no longer serving you, traveling alone across the world to meet that potential lover, devoting more hours to chores and your relationships.

We all know the answer, but it is still extremely hard to motivate yourself to commit. Especially because there is never a right time.

This brings us to our second voice - the ego. The ego is a much harsher voice. It is the reltentless voice that wants you to do things for your personal gain instead of for service like your highest self. You are out for yourself and what it is you can gain. That voice is never friendly and rips you apart. “I’m too fat”, “I am not man enough”, “no one likes me”, “I am not enough”, “they're hot, I want to sleep with them”. I can go on forever because we hear that voice the most.

The question is, how do you find inner peace? Peace where our mind is at rest. We know we can’t turn it off, so we must find a balance. Let's take the example again of starting a company. Your intent could be mostly pure. You want to create a product that will help solve the problems and improve the lives of those you serve. But another egoic part of you wants to rake in some serious dough. What will you do?

Like I said, you must strike a balance. You need direction. There is nothing wrong with making a little money, as long as you don’t let it consume you. It’s okay to look in great shape, but not tracking every calorie and weighing yourself every half hour. It’s okay to sleep with several people, but not overdoing it. Less than 100 seems about right to me.. I’m only kidding.

So do what’s hard and make the monumental decision(s) that is going to change your life. Don’t get lost slaving away at your ego’s desires. Find the balance my friends. Life is good in balance. What do you think? Are you leaning more towards your ego or to your highest self?