At what age do we actually grow up? Is it during childhood, or perhaps in our teens? For most of us, the answer is, “No.” Some of us do a good bit of growing up during our 20s, but for most of us, it’s a lifetime journey. Why is that?
Is it possible to move forward in life by looking backwards? Sometimes, the answer is, “Yes.” When I was a kid, I wasn’t thinking about deep ideas or the long term. I was just living, which meant hanging out with friends, television, reading, and school. Life got more complicated, especially
How We Experience Breakthroughs We are meant for something more, and it’s okay for us to yearn for it. But to experience all that life is meant to be, there are things we need to understand about epiphanies and breakthroughs: They can happen incrementally – As we grow older and
Do you want your life to be better in 2022 than it was in 2021? And better the year after that? This time of year, lots of people are making resolutions, setting goals, and changing habits. But for many of us, there is a better way we can improve our
This Christmas, I know the exact gift I would like to give you. But I can’t. It is the best gift you could possibly get, and it has great value. In fact, it is the Ultimate Gift, and it would bring me pleasure and excitement to give it to you.
Playing Our “A-C-E” People’s progression into deeper and deeper personal issues normally involves multiple factors. The road out of that valley is often multi-faceted and holistic as well. Areas involved can be emotional, relational, spiritual, cognitive, medical or psychiatric, hereditary, environmental (such as a background involving trauma, where we live,
Putting Prevention into Practice There are many techniques in the STEPS “Tool Kit for Real Life” for prevention, and one of the principles involved includes helping people evaluate the outcomes of their choices wisely. For example, there are 2 techniques used in recovery called “Counting the Cost” and “Play the
There are people you know, perhaps even in your family, who are hurting and need your help. The good news is that there are things that they—and you—can do to not only improve their life, but to prevent more problems from coming along in the future. They can learn to
You can live life better. Millions of people have done it. Next Right STEPS will help since they are practical techniques based on successful life improvement principles that have worked for millions of people. You can live life better. Current habits or problems do not dictate your future. That voice
Life is meant to be a wonderful and glorious adventure. We help make it so by searching for breakthroughs, epiphanies, and miracles and treating them as key milestones along our journey. Our normal approach to life is to ensure we’re heading in the right direction and keep taking small steps
For a person, what is the real significance of strength? Does it mean being powerful or indestructible? Perhaps, for those blessed with such natural attributes. But to me, it means something deeper—more real—than that. It is being resilient enough to hold up when we’re under pressure or filled with anxiety. To
You are what you think. But do you ever think about how you think? Each of us has a body which we—hopefully consciously and intentionally—can learn to operate using our heart, soul, mind, and strength in a holistic and integrated manner. The mind is where we think. It is where we analyze
Do you believe you have a soul? How do you know? For example, is it because you … Experience or yearn for feelings such as love, justice, beauty, and goodness? Have a conscience which makes you feel guilty when you do something wrong? Feel that there must be an afterlife—heaven—where
This article has a simple—but transformational—message: Take the next right steps. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (Lao Tzu) If circumstances, or your bad choices, are keeping you from living the life you want, take the next right steps. Do something. Do anything, but get into
What did Abraham Maslow—an atheist—and the Bible have in common? Both support that life is a journey of actualization as people strive to reach their highest potential. Maslow urged people to pursue their needs and be intentional about this growth process. If you plan on being anything less than you
The last STEPS blog article on “The Journey” was a parable of a man’s hike along the Appalachian Trail. This one outlines the underlying themes of that story—the meaning of the journey. As a child, we move toward whatever fascinates us, naturally living in the moment. As we grow up, circumstances
Brian had been on many hikes before, but nothing like this one. His early walks in the woods were adventurous, each bend in the trail revealing a new animal, a creek, or a brightly-colored leaf floating to earth. He didn’t always know where he was going, and that scared him
I still remember the night times. In the darkness of early morning, I would wake to a feeling of dread. The next few hours would be clouded by fear and shame, with questions tossing in my head: “Why is this happening? What is going to happen to us? How can
We all yearn for something more than what we have. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. During my early adult life, I was searching for something, and I didn’t even know what it was that I was looking for. On the outside, life was going great: I was doing
There is a new normal for what life is like for many people today, and it is important for you to understand. Because then you can do something about it. Research from the American Psychological Association, Gallup, and other sources shows that: 8 in 10 Americans are stressed at times, and
