The battle between the higher and lower self is a never-ending battle that is being fought, and the battleground is in your thoughts, actions, and beliefs. The lower self would be the ego which is constantly battling for existence and for control and usually this is accomplished through fear-based tactics.

The higher self is associated with the spirit, the eternal energy or consciousness that is beyond the physical body and the mental plane. The higher self is unlimited, undefinable, and always based in love. There are an infinite number of ways to move closer to your higher self, and the following techniques are some that I practice which work very well in my own battle for being the best version of myself.

VISUALIZE

Visualizing the higher self is what should be the first step. Close your eyes and imagine yourself at the best you can be. Do your best to be detailed and specific. How does your higher self look and feel? What does your highest self do? What would the thoughts of your highest self be like? How would you act at your best? How would you walk, talk, eat, sleep and breathe as your higher self? What is your health like?

Get deep into your visualization until you FEEL your highest self, your potential, within you. This may sound silly, but how would you know what to aim for if you never tried imagining it? To make the idea tangible, you must create an ideal that you can comprehend so that you know what you are working towards.

THE “HOW” AND TURNING POTENTIAL INTO SOMETHING KINETIC

Once you have visualized, your mind (the ego), will attempt to disprove the potential you have to become the higher self by creating doubt and problems. Why? The ego is fighting for its existence! It doesn’t want you to fulfill your spiritual potential because when living in the spirit, the ego cannot exist.

So you must create the “how”. Any self-doubt or challenges presented by the mind must be met by a creative, positive, spiritual, “how”. You (the spirit) must tell the mind this is how it shall be and this is how I will do it.

When the mind presents a negative thought, you tell the ego this thought does not empower me and thus I shall not entertain it. Then replace the negative thought with an empowering and positive thought. The spirit must control the mind. Choose your thoughts and empower only those thoughts which empower you and your ideal. Find creative ways to convince the mind of the “how” to the goal.

Now that you have realized your potential, you must turn that potential energy into kinetic energy. You must ACT. You will only ever actualize the amount of personal potential that is equivalent to the amount potential energy you made kinetic through action. Not acting the way you would as your higher self will never get you there. Only action can take potential and make it kinetic to produce results.

FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT

This expression is well known throughout the world of self-improvement because it works. Simply imagine the higher self and ACT the part. Literally pretend you are your higher self until such behavior becomes natural.

When you wake up in the morning, visualize the higher self, and then go throughout your day assuming that role for as long as you possibly can. If you realize you are straying, then refocus and recenter and start again.

It will be difficult to sustain the effort when you first attempt to build this habit because you will be using a lot of energy in enforcing an awareness of what you are doing, and adjusting accordingly. It can be demoralizing failing so often, but dig deep into the Virtue of Perseverance until the habit is formed and strengthened.

The longer you practice and foster the spirit of practice, the easier it becomes because you no longer have to dedicate as much energy into doing things once you have done them enough times to become natural. Reinvent yourself everyday and as Jesus said, “die to self,” so that you can be born anew.

WHAT IT IS? WHAT IT DO?

I’ll never forget the day my brother asked me these simple questions. We were sitting on his porch joking and laughing, drinking beer, and having some good ol’ fashioned brotherly bonding. I asked him his opinion on a topic we were discussing, and I received an answer I didn’t expect.

He suddenly turned to me, eyes wide and smile stretching ear to ear, and said to me in a comical voice, “What it is?” I laughed, thinking he was being ridiculous, but the next thing he asked hit me like a train, “What it do?” He was being comical, but his questions got right to the nature of the subject.

The simplicity of his questions held a profound truth. You are what you do. Say anything you want about yourself, the person you really are can be truly seen by your actions. You are what you are. You aren’t what you’re not. You can know who you are by looking at what you do with your thoughts and actions.

The only way to be the higher self is to do what you believe it is that your higher self would do. You have to make the effort to think like your higher self would think. If you get it wrong, then simply adapt and adjust. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get things right the first time or the hundredth. It is a life-long process. If anything the failure only improves your ability to get it right because now you know what doesn’t work.

ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST

Another simple yet profound technique to being the higher self is to always try your best. Your best self IS your higher self. So if you are always trying your best, then you are actively being your highest self.

You many not be what you see and feel in your visualizations yet, but you are actively becoming closer to resonance with that image and actively being better than the person you previously were. The Principle of Vibration teaches us that to attract what we desire, we must vibrate at the frequency that is in resonance with the thing we want. If you are making the effort to be better, you are raising your vibration and attracting to yourself those qualities of character that you desire.

This technique is also one of the best ways to live a regret-free life. If you always try your best, then you leave little room for regret to creep into your heart. Regret doesn’t come from trying your best and failing; it comes from not trying hard enough and knowing that you could’ve had what you wanted if you had only given your best effort.

BE AWARE OF WHERE YOUR ACTIONS AND THOUGHTS ARE BASED

Ask yourself if what you did or thought was based in fear or love. Though the roots of thoughts and actions can be complicated to discern, most can be categorized into either side of the broad poles of love or fear. The Principle of Polarity teaches us that we are always polarizing ourselves to one pole or another in all things. Are you polarizing toward fear or love, or towards progression or regression in what you think, say, and do?

Be honest with yourself and dedicate your self-observation to truth. Was that an act of greed? Did I have good or bad intentions? Why did I do that? What was I trying to gain? Was that the best I could do? Be a scientist and ask yourself the important questions and make observations about what you do and why you do what you do.

Avoid justifying improper actions or victimizing yourself and just get down to the nitty-gritty. Listen to that voice that tells you not to do things you know are wrong. Listen to that gut feeling that warns you about people and situations, or cautions you about the thoughts you think or about the actions you might do. The voice of intuition and the voice of the higher self are one in the same.

BE MINDFUL AND MEDITATE

Mindfulness can be a confusing subject and though the concept is simple, you will not fully grasp the idea until you start practicing it. Being mindful means being aware that you are not your mind, that you are not your thoughts, and that you can silence the mind and choose your thoughts.

Being mindful is acknowledging your thoughts and bringing yourself back into the Now (the present moment) which is the realm of spirit. See for yourself how long you can be present (conscious) in the Now without thought. See how long you can just BE before the ego starts trying to take control of your mind again by directing your awareness to negative thoughts or into dwelling the past or worrying about the future.

I was amazed and shocked by how little control of my mind I had when I first started practicing mindfulness. I suddenly became aware of all the constant chatter polluting my head-space about nonsense or things that had nothing to do with what I was presently engaged in.

It was even more stunning to become aware of what a habitually negative thinker I was. When I first started practicing mindfulness, I had difficultly trying to stay present for even a few minutes. My mind would start subtly slipping thoughts in or recklessly bombarding me with them.

Eventually, with lots of effort and practice, I became more mindful and experienced more peace in the time-span that I was immersed in the Now. In our busy world we train ourselves to constantly be thinking, worrying and plotting the nest move and that constant use of energy is draining and prevents us from simply enjoying our lives. Mediation is a practice that will help break that stressful habit.

Mindfulness is a form of meditation, and meditation is a practice of simply focusing your awareness on an act (being present), usually in the form of concentration on the breath. Any form of meditation you wish to use will help bring you closer to the higher self.

For readers interested in learning more about mindfulness, the author recommends The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat- Zinn. There are meditation techniques available on The Eclectic Method for further reading on meditation practices which will be linked below.

NEVER GIVE UP

This last technique is exactly what it sounds like. Life is just a spiritual test and a temporary one at that. All is subject to mujo. So don’t get discouraged with failure and don’t let life beat you down because life is temporary, but the spirit is eternal.

This is the reason why you must constantly work to become the higher self. The lower self is the ego, which is temporary, and the ego knows this and so it puts up a fight for survival. The spiritual warrior endures the battle for they can see the trials of life are not given to hurt, but to help elevate the spirit. Adopt the Virtue of Perseverance into your moral code and take heart in knowing that if you do not quit until the goal is achieved, that success is guaranteed.

The sacrifices you will have to make to become the higher self are egotistical and usually materialistic in nature which will only give way to greater spiritual freedom and joy once you learn to let go of those attachments.

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