Raising Your Level of Consciousness
It's sometimes difficult to explain to others exactly what's happened in my life over the past 8 years. Every circumstance in my life has upgraded. I have more money coming in, a super healthy and powerful relationship with my wife Angie, my children are healing from the scars of the battlefield which used to be our home, and I've dropped about 100 pounds and run and lift regularly. But none of those are the most fulfilling result of my transformation. In fact, let's call it what it is—the past 8 years have been an awakening.
How It Was
For the first 43 years of my life, I can only explain my daily experience as suffering. I was constantly stressed, angry, upset, dissatisfied, unhappy, and in many other lower states of emotional distress. Angie and I both battled addiction, our marriage was abusive in every way, and I punished my body, treating it like it didn't matter. I would turn from super fun, loving Daddy to angry and controlling instantly, and I hated my work in the world. There was nothing pleasant about my life except that I held big titles in corporate America, made plenty of money, and owned nice things. But my inner world was a combat zone. I just thought that was how normal people felt. I had been taught that it was normal by people who lived the same, but it was not normal at all.
When I felt anxious, stressed, angry, or dissatisfied, I turned to work, sex, alcohol, food, or television as a quick fix. I just wanted the pain to stop, but I spent so much effort distracting myself from the pain within me that I didn't know how much pain was present. I became good at finding unhealthy outlets to soothe the pain and make it stop temporarily, but it always resurfaced and needed to be stuffed and suppressed again. I was literally living a life of mental and emotional survival. I hated myself and everything about how I felt inside. My mind and thoughts were punishing and abusive. The voice in my head was my harshest critic. I just thought that was the plight of humankind.
How It Is Now
The war in my mind and body has, for the most part, ceased. Every once in a while, a burst of anger, frustration, and stress emerges, but that's the exception instead of the baseline. My inner world is filled with inspiration, love, joy, peace, and optimism instead of dread and self-loathing. My war with myself is over, and the inner voice that once was my harshest critic is now forgiving. I'm not saying it's perfect and always a constant state of zen in my mind and thoughts, but now when I notice the dis-ease within me, I allow it to pass and dissolve, and I return to a state of inner kindness.
The old Mike could not even imagine that the state of love and acceptance that exists within me now was even possible. Internal harmony and inspiration have replaced the always-on pain and suffering of the past, and there's nothing to escape in my inner world—just temporary flare-ups that naturally resolve themselves with patience and understanding.
The biggest blessing that came from this internal transformation and awakening is that I have more love to give others. Some people want to be near me because of how they feel when we're together: energized, inspired, loved. That's a drastic change from the distance my anger and pain once created. I often describe this as a change in my energy. I see it in how I listen, respond, and show up in my relationships.
I'm definitely not faking the peace and love I feel in my heart.
Raising Your Level of Consciousness
When I talk about raising your level of consciousness, I mean becoming more awake and aware inside yourself, and bringing that awareness into how you live. You begin to notice the beliefs, reactions, and expectations you've been carrying. You become more able to pause, question a familiar story, and choose a response that reflects what matters to you.
When I was in the depths of my pain, I thought that life happened and life "made me" think and feel in certain ways. I lived a life of reaction to circumstances, and the more my circumstances didn't match my preferences, the more miserable I'd feel. The epiphany came when I realized that life rarely matches all of my preferences at the same time, so I was constantly trying to rearrange the external world as a means to find some peace and comfort within. When you do this, you might find minutes of happiness in an otherwise ever-changing world.
I started my awakening because I got fired from two executive-level corporate positions in 20 months, my family was tearing apart at the seams, and I was a physically toxic mess. I swear nothing would have changed in my life unless I literally hit rock bottom and almost committed suicide. I paused life to try to make sense of why I felt so empty and broken and was constantly unhappy and stressed in my mind and body. I was working with a consciousness teacher at the time, and he had me eliminate all distractions, sit with myself in silence and stillness for a few minutes, and journal about what I was really thinking and feeling in that moment. That's probably the first time I ever really faced myself, and it wasn't easy or pretty. He also had me look myself in the eyes in a mirror and say, "I love you," and I couldn't spit out the words.
Over the coming months, I took notice of the painful beliefs, stories, thoughts, and emotions I had run from and distracted myself from during my life, and I began to face them and let them go. As I practiced letting go, I could feel the painful beliefs and emotions leaving my mind and body. I experienced that as becoming lighter inside, with more room for love, joy, and peace. This takes daily intentional effort and focus. The spiritual journey is a lifelong process.
Even today, when I feel uneasy, stressed, dissatisfied, or angry, I still go within, identify what I'm thinking and feeling, and practice letting go. I experience that as releasing some of the heaviness within me. In your own life, awareness can also help you recognize when a situation calls for a conversation, a boundary, or practical action. You can bring what you notice into the choice you make next.
You can begin this work while life is already good. Curiosity, ambition, and a desire for more freedom are enough reasons to understand yourself more deeply. Self-awareness can help you see where you're following someone else's expectations and where you want the courage to choose something uniquely yours.
States of Consciousness
There are many books about consciousness and raising the level of your consciousness. Two that have been super useful in my own journey are Power Vs. Force and Letting Go by Dr. David Hawkins. Hawkins describes a scale ranging from shame, guilt, and apathy to love, joy, peace, and enlightenment. I draw on this as a spiritual framework for reflection. Its language of energy, frequency, and vibration expresses that perspective, rather than an established scientific measurement of consciousness.
For the purposes of this article, I like to call out three broad states: survival, creation, and freedom. These are ways of reflecting on how we're meeting life. We can move among them, and an uncomfortable emotion doesn't make us less worthy of love or respect.
Survival Mode
In survival mode, it can feel like you're at war with life, fighting to protect what you have or get what you need. Your attention narrows around the next problem, and familiar stories of insecurity, inadequacy, or insignificance can influence your choices. I know this experience well. Recognizing it gives you a chance to ask what needs practical attention and where you might have more choice than you first thought.
Creation Mode
In creation mode, courage begins to guide your choices. You become more interested in what you want to experience, create, and contribute. You can still feel uncertainty while taking a step toward a stronger business, deeper relationships, better health, or more freedom. You are still driven to accomplish, accumulate, and achieve, and you get to enjoy creating for the sake of creation.
Freedom
I use freedom to describe the love, joy, peace, and spaciousness explored by mystics and sages. In my spiritual understanding, this is a deeper connection with the divine awareness within. In everyday life, it can look like appreciating who you are, allowing other people to be themselves, and loosening your need to control every outcome. There can be room for ambition and a sense of being enough right now.
Putting It All Together
Begin by pausing long enough to notice what's happening within you. Name what you're thinking and feeling without making it your entire identity. Ask yourself what you genuinely want in this situation and what choice would move you toward it. You get to practice this in ordinary moments: a business decision, a conversation with your partner, or how you choose to spend your time.
Put a vision for your whole life into writing. Describe the experience you want to create, including your relationships, health, wealth, impact, and freedom. Then choose one action that expresses that direction today. The growth becomes real in how you live, including your willingness to listen, learn, and begin again.
If you want to explore this work alongside entrepreneurs and growth-oriented people, the Inner Wealth Mastermind is a community for understanding yourself more deeply, building courage, and bringing your vision into everyday life. What would you like to create from a more conscious place?