My recent article The Wheel of Life discussed the "high end" of personal growth - the transpersonal realm where a developed personality merges into the "higher self" of unbounded consciousness. This is a world of integration. The tools that The Insight Project provides are some of the best available for becoming aware of this spiritual dimension in your life and opening up your life to a whole new degree of potential.

I also emphasized in that article that although we have this spiritual dimension, that we may be aware of to a greater or lesser extent, nevertheless the foundation of our lives is the body-mind experience... we feel and express ourselves in the very solid, physical dimension of our life on Earth. This is a world of separation. Each of us is a unique player in the game of life and as a result of our experience, we learn: both positive learning (helpful skills, insightful knowledge) and negative learning (developing fears and limiting beliefs, for example). A few years on this planet and we can get into a right stew! I know I did. My attempt to sort out my personal life involved psychotherapy and I naturally wanted to pay back the help I received by helping others similarly: I became a psychotherapist.

It became apparent to me, however, that psychotherapy was focused too much on undoing the negative learning; there was an imbalance. We also need to make headway with our positive learning or we remain dependent on further therapy to continually dig us out of the next hole. We need tools for positive learning - indeed, simply having and using such tools makes the psychotherapy work largely unnecessary, except as a rescue stage for those new to personal growth.

It was this realization that first interested me in the personal development field. Following some years of experimentation and discovery, I became well grounded in "positive psychology" and had great results, both for myself and others I coached. This included mind development, taught by my mentor at that time, Gregory Mitchell. I developed further tools to fill gaps I perceived in the brilliant heritage that positive psychologists such as Alfred Adler, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Eric Fromm and many others have left us. And I decided to devote my career to this direction - the Trans4mind website was born at this juncture, to share what I had learned... again, my "payback."

The Character Strengths and Virtues handbook by the Values in Action Institute, represents an attempt on the part of the research community to identify and classify the positive psychological traits of human beings. This manual identifies six universal values that lead to increased happiness when practiced...

1. Wisdom and Knowledge: creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective
2. Courage: bravery, persistence, integrity, vitality
3. Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence
4. Justice: citizenship, fairness, leadership
5. Temperance: forgiveness and mercy, humility, prudence, self control
6. Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality

These qualities are innate potentials in each of us and are developed naturally as the result of positive learning. Practical applications of positive psychology therefore help individuals to identify their strengths and further develop these virtues, to build and broaden their lives.

The way out is the way through - it's not by denial or avoidance, it's by acceptance and responsibility. The power of love, in other words, replacing fear. This is the way forward. But for most of us, we can use some support and guidance, to get our head above water and start to swim ahead - then we can approach dry land, walk, run and eventually learn to fly. The latter - ascending in the spiritual dimension - seems the trickiest bit, but actually it's a continuation of the same path: that of ever-increasing mindfulness and integrative love.

The "foundation" course that Trans4mind provides, to help a person overcome their negative learning, to get on "dry land" and start to develop in a positive, empowering way, is the Start a New Life! home study course. The course comes with personal support from myself. It is firmly based in positive psychology and aims to uncover and nurture one's innate qualities, and to make normal life much more fulfilling. The course aims to give you a real good start on the wonderful path of personal growth.

Start a New Life! is entirely a practical course and it works very well as the "Workbook" to accompany my paperback book, Daring to be Yourself, that was published in 2007. So now I give a copy of this book to new students of the course. The course and book complement each other: they have the same theoretical base and they are both intended to give you the motivation and courage to get "out of the rut" and start what is, in effect, a new life - a new you... the real you this time!

Imagine…

• Imagine a life filled with enriching relationships
• Imagine deciding quickly the best course of action when faced with any challenge
• Imagine staying calm when in potentially upsetting circumstances
• Imagine finding the right solution to any complex problem
• Imagine organizing your life efficiently
• Imagine feeling really good about yourself
• Imagine living at your full potential

This is not a fantasy - this is the life you will lead when you have completed Start a New Life!

Peter Shepherd is the founder and producer of the Trans4mind personal development website. A transformational psychologist by background, Peter supervises Start a New Life! and The Insight Project, and is author of 'Transforming the Mind' and 'Daring to be Yourself.' He edits and publishes the weekly Cultivate Life! ezine. Get in touch with Peter Shepherd here.

Daring to be Yourself The aim of the new book, Daring to be Yourself by Peter Shepherd, is to help you achieve a 'wide-awake' state of consciousness, with integrated use of left and right brain abilities, forming the bedrock for breakthroughs in personal consciousness and spiritual insight. The practice is based on the premise that we have learned disabilities which set boundaries to our action and knowing. But no one need accept that they must remain as they were shaped by their hereditary body-mind and by the conditioning of their childhood and culture. This 264-page paperback book is like a "best of" Trans4mind - that you can read snuggled up on the sofa, away from the computer! But much more than that, it's also an incredibly powerful program for personal growth. Remove the barriers to self-knowledge and reveal your full potential with this step-by-step approach... Daring to be Yourself Our Blog features excerpts from the book plus current news, views and links. "I realize many people use praise in ways that sound frivolous...but I must tell you that your book has changed my life AND I mean that in all ways. I found the entire work wonderfully upbeat, readable and valuable! It really was quite a wakeup call. In the midst of my "trials and tribulations" I had failed to be "me." Anyway, this "talk with you" really did change my life. Thank you! I needed this kind of "kick in the pants." It worked. WOW! You made a huge difference in my world."–Becky, USA Daring to be Yourself is included with purchase of the Start a New Life! home-study course, which is effectively the practical "workbook" that accompanies the paperback! Working through this course enables you to dare to be yourself and design a brand new life. Expressing your true needs, wants and feelings, you can start to live your life's purpose! After you have purchased the course, Peter Shepherd is available whenever you wish by email, to guide you every step of the way from where you are now, until you are established in a brand new life - the life that you have designed... Start a New Life!