Hey guys. It’s Sunday here around noon and I just wanted to update you guys on what’s going on at FromBottomUp. There are going to be some new changes here. I’m taking the CSET: English (California Subject Examinations for Teachers) in a couple of weeks, so that means I’ll have less time to produce content on my site because I have to prepare for it.

That was the first thing that I wanted to talk about. The second thing is I’m going to change the design of the site. I’ve had this header for almost a year now and it’s starting to look like milk to me. The layout will also be changed. This means instead of having 10 blog entries, I’m just going to have 1 main one, and then a couple of the other ones below it.

I feel like there’s too much going on here and readers are getting confused. I want to stop worrying about how many readers I get and just focus on what I like to write about.

Finally, about what I’m writing about. I feel like I’ve been not as passionate writing about personal development. What I really wanted to was to write on people and or biographies of people, like interesting facts or little stories about how they have changed other people’s lives. Except I was afraid to change this because people aren’t that interested in reading biographies, so I said no to myself. But I realized that it’s a topic that I want to write about and I thought to myself that if I’m happy with what I’m doing, than that’s probably better than not being completely happy with what I’m doing and to please others.

So yeah, starting tomorrow – March 1st, 2010 – you’ll see different changes. Again, I’m going to have less time to produce content on my site. I have to prepare for the CSET. There will be a site design change, that emphases on mainly content as well as a header design that expresses influential people. Finally, I’m going to be writing on biographies and how it relates to personal development, rather than just personal development itself. This reason was made partly because of my happiness. So yeah, basically that’s it. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up before I made these changes, and I hope you guys will still stick along.

Photo Credit: gaab22

I was having writer’s block today, thinking of what to write. I get a lot of inspiration from reading, but today I just had massive writer’s block. This happens sometimes. Many hours went by and I took a look at my blog. It looked back at me. I was stumped.

I looked back at the archive and all the titles of the articles I’ve written since when I started. They reminded me of some of the struggles I faced when blogging. Some were minor, others were really frustrating. Some people may claim to have no problems when it comes to blogging. But I don’t think this happens to most people. Have you ever had days where you just struggled with blogging?

These days can include days where you take the extra amount of time to write a perfect paragraph. They can include days of submitting articles to article directories. They can include days of figuring out what to write to your audience. They can include days where you have no idea if your article is too long or too short, or days where you have no idea how to reply to comments that don’t make any grammatical sense. So the best thing you can reply with is with one of these – .

Other times, blogging may feel like you have a deadline so while others are outside playing, you are at home thinking, writing, and finishing on time. It also can involve contacting people through emails, only to wait days and months to find out that they will never email you back. It involves going to the library and using the computer there – so you got to be extra quiet. One of the worst feelings is going to your favorite coffee shop with a laptop and midway through typing, the power runs out. You check your bag, but forgot to bring the power chord.

I’ve gone through all of these experiences since March of 2009. And usually I can get past the writer’s blocks phase within an hour, but today I had no idea what to write about. I was struggling. So I decided to go take a shower. Too much was going on. When the hot water was splashing on me, I stop thinking about what to write on. During this period of time, I thought about nothing. I felt the hot water and steam surround my body. Suddenly, I realized that all my struggles that I went through blogging in the past didn’t matter. In fact, when I started to think back, I couldn’t even feel them at all. They were nonexistent and felt like they had disappeared or vanished. It was a refreshing feeling.

I’m assuming that most of the people who comment on my blog are bloggers. We all may be currently struggling to achieve success. But in 1 or 2 years, I honestly think that the struggles we have now will be nonexistent when we think back. They won’t even matter.

The point I want to come across is that when you find yourself struggling, don’t get so worked up. You might be forcing the situation to happen, rather than letting it naturally come to you. Sometimes, when we stop thinking, answers start to appear. Don’t worry so much about the future when you get stuck. Take a break. Take a walk. Go outside. Eat something. You may find the answer doing some of the things that take the least amount of thinking. Even something like showering can give you an idea to write about and get over writer’s block.

So what about you? What kind of blogging struggles have you had in the past? Do they still bother you today?

Photo Credit: cesarstudillo

Whoa, I’ve made it! A hundred posts. This probably will be my most reflective post on what it feels like being a blogger, in my own words. Also, this will be last post this year.

At first I thought being a blogger was easy. I mean, all you do is write right? Boy was I wrong. I think all bloggers out there have to realize that blogging is like a real job. You can’t just sail through it, and most of all, you have to stay committed! Sometimes I go to other blogs to post the latest comment, and before I’m done commenting, I realize look up at the date and realize that it’s one or two months old! Other times, I see that people have not posted in months!

I think when everybody starts blogging, we feel like we’re the “only ones” doing it. Then before you start to explore, you realize that one person is blogging here, another person is blogging here, and before you know it, everyone’s doing it. But like I said above, half of those people stop.

You know, I’ve read a statistic that there are than 50 million blogs and counting, that 175 thousand blogs are created every day, and 2 blogs are created each second of the day! Although it’s an overwhelming feeling for me since it feels like there are so many blogs out there, and I’m just so small in comparison, it’s a good feeling that everybody that is doing blogging is doing something to contribute to the world with their own ideas and seeing how diverse the atmosphere is.

Blogging, is essentially just writing, and I think through writing, we can see a lot about a person’s personality as well as their maturity – what they have gone through in life and what kind of unique experiences they are willing to share.

Some people write short posts. Some people write really long posts. I try to keep my posts at least a thousand words because that stretches my mind. Even though there are days where I say, “Oh man… I don’t want to do this…” I can’t just put anything up there – a thousand words actually makes me have to put effort, and I never want to develop a habit where I’m just putting three to five hundred word articles that take under thirty minutes just for the sake of it. Usually it takes me at least two hours complete a blog post and publish it. Doing this ensures that I at least growing a little bit more every time I write.

What’s was fun about blogging was the firsts of everything. I remember before I started WordPress, I used a website designer called XSitePro2. Oh boy, was that hell! I had to design the entire website from scratch and the end result was a blog that looked like it came out of the 80’s. (I wish I still had the blog so you guys could see it). It was really frustrating because I even needed to make the own comment section! I’m so glad someone looked at my blog back then and brutally told me to switch to WordPress now.

Excuse me… how can I make this blog better?

Switch to WordPress now! Just do it now!

Well, it wasn’t exactly like that but he seemed very angry for no reason. So I did. Everything in WordPress came included like comment box which made me happy.

For most of my life, I have I consider myself a “late bloomer.” I didn’t get my driver’s license until after my three best friends got theirs (four of us). I didn’t get a girlfriend until my first year of college. I didn’t get my first blog comment until six months after I written my first post! From March to September, I seriously thought I was writing to myself. So sadly, I pretended that my posts were read by thousands of imaginary people which kind of made me felt better. (But… please don’t tell this to your friends).

But after my 80th blog post, somebody left a comment on my blog! Thank you! I was such in a state where my blog was empty, that when that happened, I felt I had been beamed in the head. You ever get that feeling?

I think persistence is the key to success, but not only that, you got to also work smart. So I’ve changed my ways to not just writing and waiting, but to go out into the scary internet and interact with people. Although this gives me less time to write as many blog posts as I use to, reading what other people have written has opened up my knowledge to the vast world of bloggers and great writers out there.

I hope everybody had a good 2009 year. The honest truth is that when you constantly surf on the internet, this year hasn’t been going so well for a lot of people. I encourage all you guys to not give up. Just because there is one year that most not have been so well, think of next year as a beginning of the next ten years. Where do you want to be ten years from now?

I also encourage everybody to look back in the year and reflect on what they have learned. What kind of grateful experiences did you have in the past? For me, it was kind of just a transformation of a new culture. I spent most of my year on an island called Taiwan, next to China.

It was really neat to see my family members, especially hanging out with my only grandparent left – my grandma – who often brought me to the temple nearby in order to pray to the gods for better health. She is very kind, as well as the people in the streets. Also, about every weekend early morning, my uncle would take me hiking in the green mountain valleys of Taiwan, and although it was tiring walking up the trail, it’s a very exhilarating experience to be able to see the world of the busy city below you. It feels like time is going in slow motions when you’re at peace with nature. I will never forget grateful experiences that have helped me grow as a more worldly person.

Perhaps this year didn’t go so great for you. Sometimes when I’m surfing on the net and it seems like this year many people were depressed. Whether it’s people not being able to find jobs because of the economy, people spending Christmas time alone, or people generally just hating their life, know that in every moment of our down times, there will always be another day ahead.

Times may be difficult for some of us this year, but don’t put your head down. I’ve had some pretty depressing times in the past too. Sometimes you feel like nothing is ever going your way, no matter how hard you try. Just keep going, believe in yourself, and I assure you that you will find a moment where you totally snap out of the blues and find your groove again.

What’s nice about the internet is that you can communicate with people when you have problems. But I wouldn’t recommend it as a problem solve forever. You need to get out of the house! Even if it means jogging around the neighborhood or taking some jump shots at a neighborhood (sometimes that I prefer). Most people don’t know that just some simple exercise will go a long way to fill your mind and body with calmness and clarity.

It’s a beginning of a new decade and I think that this decade technology is going to explode. We’ll have robots that can sense or emotions and make us happy. We’ll be able to have flying cars that are affordable. Things are going to change, but not just the world, but for you and for me. Make a decision right now that it’s going to change for the better and eventually, you’ll find that it will.

Anyway, this will be my last post for the end of the near year. I think I need a three day break. So, before I end this post, I just wanted say thank you so much for a wonderful year, thanks for reading my blog, thanks for existing, and thanks for being you! You are awesome and I hope next year will bring your joy and success for the new, upcoming decade. See you in a couple of days and have a happy new year!

photo credit: stanrandom

Hey guys, sorry for not posting lately. I have encountered a problem in my blogging life and that has been troubling me for the last past few months. And it was whether or not I would continue to use my blogging name Tristan, which is the name everybody probably knows me as, or my real name.

But after months of dealing with inner conflict, I have decided that it’s time. I have decided that I have decided that I will be blogging, writing, and using my real name from now on…

Ever since the very first post here, you guys have known me to write each and every blog entry under the name, Tristan Lee. But I have changed that today, and I’ll be writing under my real name, Hulbert Lee from now on.

It’s kind of weird you know? When I started out with this blog, I didn’t know if I should use my real name or not. Since on the internet, it’s really easy to check out other people’s information, I kind of felt anxious that my friends, family, or people who knew me as me, would start checking everything about me. I didn’t want my name to be all over Google, and that’s why I decided to use a pen name – a secret identity.

The reason I picked the name Tristan was because I’ve always liked that name. I thought it was a cool, unique name, which sounded a lot better than my name, Hulbert, a name that I have always been self conscious about my entire life. But during these last past months, I really thought that I was hiding myself behind an alias or behind somebody elsewhich made me feel uncomfortable, even though, we’re both the same people.

I tried to tell myself that there were many people on the internet who use pen names. There are also many famous authors/writers that use pen names, some of which you may know.

• Pen name: Steven King / Real name: Richard Bachman
• Pen name: George Owell / Real name: Eric Arthur Blair
• Pen name: Lemony Snicket / Real name: David Handler
• Pen name: Mark Twain / Real name: Samuel Langhorne Clemens
• Pen name: Stan Lee / Real name: Stanley Martin Lieber

But for some reason, it just didn’t go well with me. Some people even complimented on the name Tristan and I said thank you. It felt good for a moment, but a part of me felt like I was being somebody else when I was using another name. I wanted to use my real name at the point when I figured out that even though I’ve made some mistakes in the past, I should just stand firmly behind them with my real name instead of hiding behind another name, even though no one will really notice.

However I encountered a big problem. I started questioning myself. What would people think of me if I all of a sudden started to use my real name? Would people be discouraged if I suddenly changed my name from Tristan Lee to Hulbert Lee? Would people start not liking me? Would I lose trust in the people? Will people leave my blog? I didn’t want to confuse people! But I didn’t want to confuse myself either… I thought about it for a while, sort of like when you walk back and forth when making a decision.

I finally boiled it down and said that when I communicate with other people on the internet, whether it’s through forums or email, I want to trust a person and talk to them for who they really are, even if they happen to have a bizarre name. It just shows that they are happy with who they are and the name doesn’t matter as much. It’s more about what they do and how they influence other people.

I guess it really is a person that makes a name special, not a name that makes the person special. You can see these from examples of the best players in the world such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. If they have not done what they have done, would their names even be memorable? Well, maybe not Tiger Woods now but still, you know what I mean right?

I think it’s more about a person’s identity that matters. A name is part of a person’s identity, but it’s only a smart part of it. Of course, we may “picture” what a name could possibly mean, such as the name Dr. Seuss, but would Dr. Seuss be so cool if he didn’t write about green eggs and ham? I think not.

I think being happy and comfortable with having your real name out there, you don’t have to be afraid anymore. You don’t have to hide anymore. Whatever happens, happens. It’s who you are and that’s a lot of what I have learned from blogging. You may have critiques that find flaws in your work, but you can’t always hide behind another name for the rest of your life. And you can also live with the fear of what other people think about you. If you can live with yourself, you’ll be good. You’ll be okay.

So yeah, I thought I was making a big mistake for doing this at first, but not so much anymore. I mean, it’s not like I’m a celebrity or anything and since March, I’ve been averaging under fifty visitors a day. I don’t think it’s going to be life changing if I do this, but it’s definitely something that I want to do. I want to be open with everybody here and proud to be what I’ve been called for since birth. I just wanted to write this entry here since I haven’t posted in about a week.

And again, of course, thank you, whoever is reading this, for sticking with me these times. The year is coming to an end, and it will be a start of a new year soon. I will continue to do what I love, which is to provide value to you guys. But for right now, instead of Tristan Lee writing for you, it will be Hulbert Lee. Now you know who I really am. Well, you always did, didn’t you?

photo credit: MShades

Hey guys! I’m back from Taiwan. The flight was faster than I expected – 10 hours. The flight felt very fast, except I didn’t get any sleep. I couldn’t because I don’t think I can sleep sitting up or having my face on my arms. The food was actually better than expected – simple pasta meal and an egg omelet.

When I got to the Los Angeles airport, it felt weird, as if I was a foreigner stepping into a new land, except I have been living here all my life. When I checked in and showed the counter person my passport, he looked at it, looked at me, and looked it again. Then he said, “What happened to the hair?” (I used to have spiky hair, now I have long hair). I really didn’t know how to respond, so I smile and said, “Changed.” He stamped my passport, looked at me, smiled, and said, “Welcome home.” At that moment, I realized I was finally at home.

The drive home was about 40 minutes from Los Angeles. It felt weird that the road was so wide open! When I got home, there was a nostalgic feeling. I looked at my room, the old pictures of me, and the books I have read in the past and felt a numbing feeling go through my body. I guess it has been too long inside this room.

Because of jet lag and lack of sleep in the plane, I slept early… about 8PM. I found myself waking up kind of early too – about 3:45 AM. There was nothing to do so I kind of just browsed around on the internet to see what was there. But my mind was still on what was going back in Taiwan, what I had experienced living there for almost an entire year. For the first time in a long time, I felt… alone, and empty.

The morning went by slow. I saw the sunrise from the window. It was very beautiful, a small glow of orange surrounded by a faint layer of blue sky. The whole process only took 30 minutes to turn from dark to light. I always thought it took longer. Then out of the blue, I grabbed a recorder from my sweater and pressed play. I listened to a recording session by Will Smith talking about how we have the ability to make a choice, to make a decision about what we want to be and where we want to go. I thought it was very powerful and his voice motivated me to look up again.

I have decided that I am here. It was a good time in Taiwan, but I have no control of that. I will make the best of what is now and what is in the future. I will continue to blog and not let anything stop me from doing so. I am grateful that I have a home and family to be there when I need them to be. And I think that is what today is all about, Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a day of giving and I hope I have given the people who have visited my blog something to learn about in life so they can grow. I had just finished a great dinner and spent some quality time with family and friends sharing about our past experiences. I hope your turkey was delicious too! So, I just wanted to end this special article to me as a new day towards continuing my blog in a different country. With that said, hope you had a good night and Happy Thanksgiving!

photo credit: egmb757lover

When you take 23 million people, and put it on an island three times as big as Hawaii, you get Taiwan. I’ve been living here for 11 months, and today is the last day. I’m leaving soon to airport to go back to America.

Instead of writing a self improvement post, I’d like to briefly write a personal post about what I’m feeling right now so it might not have to do with personal development – sorry.

Anyway, I’m not sure if a lot of people know where Taiwan is or what Taiwan is because on a map, it looks so small. That’s what I thought at first, and it’s so weird (If you look on a map, it’s a small country barely right next to China. Like how people immigrated from England America to gain freedom, back then many people from China immigrated to Taiwan for freedom and to create a democracy instead of communism). You see all these continues and countries on a big map – United States, Europe, South America, Australia, and the last thing you would think that appeals to you is this tiny little barely visible place called Taiwan.

Having lived here for 11 months, I want to say that it doesn’t really matter how big you look at a country on a map! The truth is when you look at a big country; chances are you won’t explore the whole area. I’ve lived on the west coast of America all my life, and I’ve spend most of my life within 3 hours max driving. That’s it!

Within 3 hours of driving, you can cover 1/3 of Taiwan’s land. So I’ve learned never to judge a country by what it looks like on a map because when you’re actually there, you fill up a small space on a grand scale of land. And that’s why I love staying at Taiwan.

Within a small space, everything is pretty convenient. Since there’s so much traffic in the streets, having a car might be a disadvantage. A lot of people ride bikes or take the organized metropolitan station to get to places.

What I learned most about staying here was getting to be more involved with my family members. My mom and my dad immigrated to Taiwan after they got married, so I was born here. Only a few of my relatives had the privilege to live outside of Taiwan. Before revisiting the roots here, I think I had taken my stay in America for granted.

Even though everyday in America, you probably here news on CNN that the economy is getting worse and that people are in desperate income panic, the truth is when you step outside of America and see how other people live or their living standards, you feel grateful for just living in a standard house with a front yard and a tree.

Taiwan is not near a third world country, and although America’s economy is not in good shape, the living standards are still better. I really want to imagine how crazy it gets in a third world country.

Many people sell things in the streets in order to live. It’s kind of a depressing feeling walk through my street everyday and see so much competition because it feels as if it’s overcrowded. Yet, most people are very friendly and make you feel welcomed. It just makes me feel grateful to be able to have a chance to see what it is like outside of Taiwan – America, a place that many people here have not seen yet.

I think I have grown as a person here. I hope that in the future, I can be able to travel to different parts of the world and open up my horizons on what is really happening, what is outside the world of media and what they show us on TV.

Today ends a journey of my stay here. I just wanted to say that even though I do not have that many readers, thanks for sticking with me through these last few months here. I really appreciate it! I’ll be leaving to airport in a few hours so I need to get ready. Tomorrow, I should be in the Los Angeles airport and I hope to continue with my journey of blogging there.  Thank you, and see you on the other side of the Pacific Ocean!

photo credit: Simon Grubb

I will never forget a funny moment that happened to me in college that made me change about how I view human interactions in public. It all happen one day when I was on my way to the gym.

As I was getting out of my car, I walked through an outside path that lead to the beginning of this really long sidewalk. As I stepped foot on it, the distance between me and the gym was about 100 feet. t was a clear view from where I was standing to the gym, or so I thought…

From nowhere, this very attractive and fit woman appeared on the beginning of the other side of the sidewalk. “Oh no,” I said to myself, “There is going to be an awkward moment soon. ” And because there was absolutely no one in between us, increasing tension began to happen from the moment both of us made eye contact 100 feet away from each other.

The following thoughts were going through my head at this moment.

There’s only one path….

(80 feet away)

It’s okay… I need to get to the gym…

(60 feet away)

I want bigger muscles!…

(40 feet away)

I don’t have to walk through this…!

(20 feet away)

I could skip at a day at the gym… right?

(10 feet away)

No, I must work out today! Do it!

Usually, I would have done nothing and just passed by people. But I don’t know why, my internal being just decided to say, “Hello!”

However, judging from this woman’s facial, non-eye contact expression as we got closer and closer to each other, I was almost 100% certain that she would not greet me and pass me by if I did not do anything.

So as we were 10 feet away from each other, my heart sort of jumped. I knew I would only have one second at most to say hello. Everything at this point just telling me to just walk to the gym, as this was not worth the trouble.

But I said, “no” to my brain. What is wrong with saying a friendly hello to somebody you don’t know in public and making their day. So the the moment came.

As we passed by, I squirmed out “Hello,” with a half smile, and my hand half way up, looking somewhat foolish. I had made it just just in time for her to react. I will never forget her reaction.

When I said hello, her body like jolted for a split second. The moment felt as if I had done something wrong or like she had been hit by lightning.

Then you know what she did? She  looked at me with her straight face, and she did the most incredible thing that I will never forget.

She smiled and said… “Hello.”

It lasted for less than a second. Then she walked away, and I walked away too towards the gym.

The feeling that I felt was incredible, like I had just defeated a beast in the back of my mind. I also knew just from the way she reacted also, that not a lot of people in the day who walk past her in public to greet her. I had a good feeling that that one small act I did somehow made her day brighter and more positive, as I did when she acknowledged me. The rest of the time, working out at the gym was a breeze.

In the world of our parents telling us not to talk to strangers, it’s easy to judge strangers with a sense of fear to protect ourselves. Consequently, not everybody will say, “Hello” back to you if you stay it to them first. The ugly truth is, many people may find it weird that you are saying hello to them and even harsher, you may be ignored. (Gasp!).

Most people in the world are not accustomed when somebody in the street says hello to you. If you don’t believe me on this, go outside tomorrow and try it. The thought of just thinking about doing this screams inside from your body, “abort, reject, fear, etc.”

Now, think of it this way.

Everybody in the world is thinking like this!

So if you step out of the crowd, and say hello (smiling helps too) to another person, expect that they will be shocked, just as you would be shocked if somebody did this to you in public. I remember some guy on TV said in New York City, you will past by thousands of people a day, but only be greeted by two of them (and the two of them you already know).

In conclusion, if you have this expectation that people will be shocked when you say a simple hello and smile, then the worst thing that can happen is that you have made their day (when later in the day about that a friendly person that came up to say hi to them), and the best thing that can happen is that you will have created a relationship with somebody new on the planet. So next time your out in public, perhaps saying hello to somebody new. You never know what kind of difference you can change in their day and the difference you can make in the world.

Oh, I forgot to mention one thing to you, my reader, before I end this post for today.

Hello!

photo credit: Mykl Roventine

Hey guys. I wanted to try something new because I got somewhat bored of my old design. The message I wanted to come across is to help people improve their lives to the best that they can. This requires motivation, and so I kind of wanted to bring that out in this design.

Although I currently get only average about 10 to 20 visitors a day, I’m still grateful that some at least some people are reading my site. It makes me happy that I’m influencing some people in this world.

Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say and update here for now. I hope you get something out of this site and enjoy the new design, as I will continue to update new content for you guys in the future. Talk to you soon.

photo credit: ashi

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in blog posts. I have finally changed the name from www.tristanleesblog.com to www.frombottomup.com. It’s been about 6 months now, or half a year into blogging. When I first started to come up with different domain names for my first blog, I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out a good name, but nothing came out. I decided to name the blog after my name and then deal with the name later.

At that time, I didn’t want to be obsessed over it. I just wanted to start blogging right away.

The reason I have changed the name from Tristan Lee’s Blog to From Bottom Up is because I wanted my website to have an identity besides my name. I know I could have probably passed for my name (there are many self-improvement blogs that just use the publisher’s name as the domain name), I feel that it is more interesting to have a name that means what I want to write about.

From Bottom Up means just that. There are way too many people in this world are in the bottom right now. I believe that anyone has the potential ability to reach the top. Whether the top is financial security or true happiness, no one just happens to start out at the top the mountain.

The purpose of this blog is to help people unlock their true potential, starting from the bottom up. Everybody has different starting low points in life which ranges anywhere from lack of motivation in life to loss or direction to where one wants to go. The first step is to be able to handle oneself. One cannot be able to tackle the obstacles in life that lies ahead if one cannot conquer their emotions, their self.

It is not an easy thing to do, but being able to deal with oneself will relieve a burden off of one’s shoulders and allow him to develop a positive mental attitude in order to reach success and personal growth, or in other words, to reach the top. That begins with walking those first steps of the staircase.

So in conclusion, I’m happy with this domain name. I want to be able to write good things whenever I see and ultimately, just to be able to help the reader out. I have kept all the posts up until now if you wish to read the in the archive section above. So  from bottom up, let’s continue our journey.

Photo Credit: audreyjm529

We have normal dreams everyday and most of the times, they come to our life as nothing. Just 7 or 8 hours of sleep gone by. Do something about those dreams, about the time that is lost forever.

Through dreams, we can enlarge our consciousness, letting us be more aware of what we experience in life… not just an awaking state, but a whole new world in a sleeping state that is revealed if the dreamer is willing to make the conscious effort to make it happen.

Sometimes dreams can be used to help us solve problems that we have a frustrating time to solve when we are awake. If things are ambiguous or puzzling, one can suggest him or herself that the problem will be solved upon awakening, putting the faith that an answer will come to the problem right before they fall asleep and finding the answer later in the conscious state.

Anything the sleeper wants to know or think of when waking up, one can program the mind to give them just that before hand and use autosuggestion, or light repeated phrases, right before drifting off into a dreamy state. This may also condition the mind to come up with new ideas and possibilities for creating a solution to a problem in life.

If one hopes to further develop ESP capability, one should continue to keep suggesting to the conscious and unconscious (this can be done through the directions on lucid dreaming below) that he or she is able to receive external sources outside of their ordinary senses permits them to do.

Katharine Cover Sabin (ESP and Dream Analysis), shows a way of how a dreamer who to have psychic dreams can do cite mantras to themselves:

The novice should begin his system of autosuggestion by pointing to the solar plexus area, and addressing the subconscious as follows: ‘my dreams are becoming progressively more outstanding and predictive. I shall remember my dreams after I wake up.’ These suggestions should be given at intervals during the day and upon retiring.”

Something similar, in your own words, through repeated daily practice and faith will also help bring out the psychic types of dreams from the books. To help this, dreamers should also always have a “dream diary” of some sort where they record their dreams. This not only helps with symbols and meanings of dreams and how they connect to the real world, but also helps us stay conscious in lucid dreams. You never know if a dream that is written in your diary will really unfold in reality.

How to Have a Lucid Dream

Lucid dreams are dreams where one is completely conscious of themselves while they are dreaming. This is something completely different from a typical dream that people have. The body will most likely be paralyzed at this point (this usually freaks people out which makes a lucid dream disappear), but if one is calm and collected, then there’s a good chance that they can begin a lucid dream and even control the outcome of the dream. But, the key to have a lucid dream is to stay conscious right before you go to sleep. Here are some tips to help you out with your journey.

1. Buy a notebook and label it, “My Dream Journal.” Your goal with this journal is to help you become more aware of your dreams, that you are serious about remember dreams from an unconscious state in a conscious state and linking these two worlds together. You will jot down little tidbits of dreams you remember upon waking up and keep your dream journal nearby you when you are sleeping.

2. Before falling asleep, try your best to stay conscious. Do this when you know you are tired and are about to fall asleep within the next few minutes of lying in bed. It might help if you keep your eyelids open, while you’re drifting off to sleep, and as your eyelids naturally close, open them up again. Once you enter the dreamy state, after doing that small act, you will become more conscious in your unconscious state and be more likely to one time spontaneous catch yourself being awake in your dream.

3. If you do find yourself being awake in your dream, do not panic. Stay calm. This is because if you start to jolt of panicking, the lucid dream may stop and you may find yourself awake, then having to start all over again. Just relax and try imagining something cool happening like flying.

4. When you wake up, record your dream. The easier it is for you to remember your dreams in vivid detail, the better you will get a lucid dreaming. This is because only a person who is completely conscious of their dreams would be able to remember what they did. Think of it this way, can you remember what you did an hour ago? Of course, you will conscious when whatever you did an hour ago happened. It’s the same if you can remember your dreams just like you would in reality.

5. Throughout the day, be more attentive to your dreams and your dream journal. Look at it from time to time as once night time hits you, you to feel more conscious in your dreams.

6. Also, through the day, ask yourself, “Am I awake?” This might sound silly at first but if you seriously keep asking yourself, “Am I awake?” The answer is yes. Be conscious of this. Then when you are dreaming, if you happen to be slightly conscious enough to know dream but ask yourself, “Am I awake?” The answer might be, “Yes.” If you answered that you are awake while your dreaming, then you are in a lucid dream.

7. Look out for dream signs such as something that happens in your dream that reoccurs again and again. This may be a clue that whenever that happens in your dream, you are having a lucid dream. Write them down in your notebook.

8. As for dream signs, the purpose of them is to have a link again between the unconscious world and the conscious world. This shouldn’t be too complicated. For example, you see a person in your dream often that you do see in real life. When you see this person in real life, you will refer back to your dream. Then when you are dreaming, you will see this person in real life and ask yourself, is this person really here. If you conscious enough to know the answer is no, then you’re dreaming.

9. Try your best to relate the dream world with the real world through random signs that seem to happen in both worlds repeating steps 1 – 9 for a few weeks, or until you make that transition.

10. Have fun!

In conclusion, the world of dreams in limitless. There are dreams that help us predict the future, there are dreams that give us warning that something is going to happen, there are dreams that give us extra senses, there are dreams that let us fly outside of our body, there are dreams that let us communicate with the dead, there are dreams that show us who we were before this life, and there are dreams that don’t seem like dreams at all, but feels like reality.

All this stuff is possible but one just has to believe in it and put faith in it. Just like any other obstacle in life, psychic dreams don’t come easily. It takes consistent practice. Sometimes, even a dose of luck is needed. Programming oneself daily to have psychic abilities, like the many people in the accounts of Hanz Holzer’s book, The Psychic Side of Dreams, will help one increase the chances of having psychic dreams.

That concludes this series of dreams. Good luck on adventuring through them as you really never know what kind of new thing you will experience in your dreams that you’ll never be able to experience in the real world.

Photo Credit: pittaya