If you really want to improve and transform yourself, the first step is to become aware of the weaknesses which may be holding you back and preventing your evolution; your shallowness, your lack of sincerity, your indifference, your frivolity, your fear of commitment.

Although it sometimes seems easier to me to climb the rungs of the career ladder out there in the real world, if I merely sacrifice my domestic life, I am only trying to fool myself. I should accept the fact that my domestic life is the true basis and foundation of my development. All my career endeavors and success will be even more rewarding if they are supported by a safe, warm personal life.

Rich Robinson’s emotions are fluctuating and unstable. Although he has the ability to detach himself from his emotions to analyze and observe them, this tendency sometimes prevents him from truly engaging himself in emotional terms and may act as a defense against any emotional impact. This is the reason why he subject all his feelings to an intellectual interpretation rather than yielding to them. It is also the reason why he might falter, hesitate, contradict himself and seem to say both yes and no when he has an opportunity to commit himself emotionally. He should make a conscious effort to overcome this unconscious conditioning which may be related to his childhood. He must first learn to observe and assimilate other people’s feelings instead of rejecting them. This exercise will teach him to understand his own reactions and affects better.

To trust yourself better and gain self-assurance, the first thing you must do is learn to say no. Once you are capable of saying no to others, you can say yes to life. You must develop your awareness of all the good things in your life and all the changes you hope to make in order to enjoy life more. This is the foundation that will support you, the inexhaustible source and center of the transformation of your personality. Infantile anxieties which arose in childhood when you were helpless may be obstacles to your evolution. Sometimes they actually prevent you from daring to confront challenges you would be altogether capable of assuming now! One of the reasons you yield to these childhood fears so readily is that they procure a feeling so familiar to you that, although it is negative, it is a reassuring part of your identity. However, the more often you reinforce this complex by yielding to that feeling, the more unaware you become of your true emotional state. The irrational childhood fears have also reinforced your pessimistic tendencies. It is difficult for you to believe in the sunny side of life because of the pernicious little voice inside you that claims you don’t really deserve all this goodness. This side of you could undermine your vitality and force you to compensate or flee from reality. In doing so, you limit your power to bring about a positive change in yourself or your life. It’s a vicious cycle, and to free yourself, the first step is to free yourself from the fears which prevent you from taking full advantage of life. You can succeed if you arrange a relaxed, positive environment for yourself, establish sincere relations with one or two special people, and, if possible, find a setting – perhaps a yoga class – in which you can practice relaxation exercises.