​Watching a candle flicker this morning during my meditation, it dawned on me that a flame on a candle can keep lighting other candles without diminishing anything from itself.

It got me thinking about business. 

Sharing content. Getting on discovery calls. Going on a coffee date so someone can 'pick your brain.'

The big-time marketing gurus out there tell you to be careful what you share. Leave them hungry, so they'll come back for more and then charge them your 'premium' pricing.

It's made people like me and my clients hesitant and sometimes even afraid to give away our knowledge because we have taken in the limiting beliefs that it will diminish something we have. Or that prospects will gobble it up for free and will not hire us.

But what I realized this morning is that we've also been taught, especially in the religious and spiritual arena, that giving doesn't diminish our light. 

If anything, it makes us better. It makes us feel good to help someone, and it shows our true intentions, which are unselfish, loving and kind. 

I share this with you because I finally understand that the knowledge and experience that we have amassed in our lifetime has been given to us to share, not squander.

Sharing helps us stay true to who we really are deep down inside. It helps us grow, allowing us to shine, enabling us to share our light and ignite others without fear of being diminished.

Given this insight, I'm wondering what you could do differently to enable you to share your light so you can ignite others?

Today is my birthday, and I thought what would be something I could give myself that is valuable and might help me move forward?

I realized that it would be an awesome feat to be able to go back to visit my younger self and impart some advice if I ever had the opportunity. Here is what I have complied that I would share if given the chance...​

• Don’t compare yourself to others.
• Be YOU. Everyone else is taken. Revel in that and shine your damn light off!
• You are not alone. You have support even when you feel like there's no one but you that can help. Ask for help, and it will come to you, be it a person in your life or your spiritual support team that is always with you.
• You can get out of your comfort zone and prove things to yourself when you want, but you have nothing you need to prove to yourself or anyone else for that matter.
• Don’t be afraid. The moment you give in to fear, it has you in its hooks forever!
• Don’t judge a book by its cover. Give people a chance.
• Turn the TV off and read a book or get outside and explore.
• It’s okay to say no. It’s healthy to have boundaries.
• Exercise more. It catches up with you later, and you’ll wish you had pushed yourself when you had the chance.
• Listen more than you talk. Don’t interrupt.
• Listen to your intuition. Do what's right and correct for you.
• Be patient. There's a time and a place for everything. Timing is divine!
• Don't squander your insights on those that won't appreciate them. If it doesn't feel right, don't share! There are those that are going to be in your life that are the correct ones that speak to when the timing is right.
• Study psychology and anything else you can get your hands on to understand yourself and others.
• Learn about being emotionally intelligent where you see a situation from all perspectives before you respond. And it’s okay to walk away and say nothing.
• Don’t take things so personally. Most times, it’s their problem, not yours. Don’t take that on yourself.
• Money isn’t as fun as it seems. It’s necessary, but it doesn’t solve your problems.
• You will always have problems. Learn to love them and find the silver linings.
• Failure doesn’t exist. You win or learn.
• Someone doesn’t have to like you. It’s alright not to be someone’s cup of tea.
• Nothing is wrong with you. You are not broken or defective.
• You don’t need to have it all figured out.
• You are not alone. It’s okay to ask for help or support.
• Respect people‘s opinions, even if you disagree with them. 
• Don’t make someone else the center of your universe. You are the most important person in your life. 
• Investing in your happiness pays the highest dividends.
• You can be anything. Don’t underestimate yourself or play small.
• Don’t listen to those that put you down or make fun of you. They are struggling just as much as you are to fit in and belong.

What would you tell your younger self if you had the chance to go back and speak with them?

Do you ever find yourself dreaming and setting goals, only to find that things don't end up as you expected?

Have you tried manifesting and found that you are left disappointed because something didn't happen as you envisioned it?

Dreams are the magic of possibility. They call for a leap of faith – trusting in yourself AND something bigger.

Expectations are the emotional investment and criteria we set up around our dream or goal so that things come out perfect and manifest as we intended.

But perfection is an illusion. Control is a limitation and pretty much an illusion too.