Over the last couple weeks, I can’t stop thinking about cotton candy.

It first popped up in a dream where I was floating up into the sky on a giant pink puffy cloud. This reminded me of my first meditation experience in grade school which made me reminisce the vendors at fairs and stadiums selling pink and blue tiny clouds captured in plastic bags. It even popped up on a friend’s feed recently as a giant white cloud on a stick getting consumed by a happy preschooler.

All these images, made me wonder. . .How can such a small amount of sugar turn into an amazingly, ginormous piece of fluffiness, taking up so much space and creating so much sweet wonder?

Growing up in corporate America, I’ve been ultra-focused on upward mobility (a.k.a, climbing up the corporate ladder, being number one, rising to the top, getting to the next level) for a long time.

And although semi-successful, I’ve always felt something missing. Like there was something more I needed to be a part of or something more I needed to go do. It’s hard to describe but I’m sure you have felt it too.

Maybe my cotton candy dream was a hint into what that “more” was. Maybe this puffy piece of sugar was a reminder of what I had forgotten since my school days.

Maybe I had forgotten that a transformation can simply mean adding or morphing horizontally or expanding in any direction.

Then I started thinking…how do you do this? How do we grow in different directions, expanding and transforming ourselves, our knowledge, our passion, our energy into something more and into something different?

And, how is it even possible with limited time and resources? How do you reinvent yourself as something new when you’ve been such a staple for so long?

Like the bit of sugar grows and takes shape into a cloud of cotton candy, how do we ensure we point our time into personal growth intentionally so that we vibrate without boundaries into something bigger and something more?

Now, to be clear, if you think this article is about how to transform yourself on a grand scale and revolutionize your life around, you will be disappointed.

If I had those answers, I wouldn’t be writing this article right now.

I’m still figuring it out. I’m still searching for growth. I’m still looking for my more.

Here are couple of short-exercises that have helped me stimulate subtle changes, generate ideas and increase micro-moments of clarity — all inching me slowly closer towards my fullest potential:

1 / Manifestation meditation — Envision your future, your success, your goals on a daily basis [Note: I only really learned this term recently but have been doing this nightly to visualize my future for years]

2 / Energy cleanse — Protect your energy and surround yourself with people that increase and align to your level of energy or higher

3 / Gratitude practice — Thank the universe for all you already have and appreciate all the things you don’t have

4 / Intention setting — Give direction to everything you do by setting an intention before every meeting, every interaction, every action — every time

5 / Breathing exercises — Take a deep belly breath to remind yourself how simple it is to stay alive

The good thing is that as eternal learners on our journeys to discover more in life, our curiosities and our instincts will lead us in the right direction.

For now, these small steps offer glimmers of learning and insights into what more should be or could look like. They offer minutes of quiet and of calm. Moments to look inwards and see the possibility of expansion and growth.

Moments of sweetness intentionally turning into something more.

[Originally published on May 25, 2020 on Medium.com]