At the beginning of April, I read a column by Martha Beck that made me say “Wow!” She was speaking about an exercise of personal development, which I immediately knew that I had to make a copy of since it was such great tool to help my clients. Then, that same day, I was having lunch with a colleague here in Phoenix and speaking about this great new personal growth exercise when she asked me: “Did you try it for yourself?” I had to admit that I hadn't. My justification was that I had just read the article that same day and so I hadn't had time yet… Well, it took me a month but today I did it!

The exercise is about 6 steps to see ourselves more clearly, and it's a great way to explore traits we dislike in others and to discover their hidden messages. When we obsess about a situation or a particular person, when we keep thinking about it all day long, ruminating possible or past scenarios in our head – it's a way for our subconscious mind to try to communicate something to us. Many times the situations or the person with which we are obsessing about are just mirrors that are reflecting something in ourselves that needs our attention. Now that I did this exercise, I can attest to its power! What a great exercise for an insightful journaling hour!

Try it for yourself the next time you catch yourself obsessing about a conversation or something else. Click here and follow Martha Beck's 6 steps. Afterwards, come back here and feel free to share your thoughts about this exercise.

Learn, grow and evolve!

Ana