I’ve spent the last few days touring Meteora in Greece and it inspired some thoughts on the place of divinity in our lives. What is the role of spirituality in this material world we live in? Read on or watch the video to find out more about our three selves and the 4 simple steps to reconnect with your higher self.

In one of the monasteries at Meteora, I found a text about the “purpose” of the monks that live here. To live at the service of God. To erase themselves so they can fully live by the laws and in service of God. But what is God? And should we serve God?

Those that have read my book know that I believe we to serve society and the other. Not by erasing the self, but instead deeply developing it. In order to become more of ourselves, live a life of joy and fulfillment, we need to connect more with what I call our higher self.

The three selves

There are three selves:

• the higher self
• the self of roles
• the material self

The higher self, or divine self, is the purest, most aspirational self. It is who we really want to be. It holds our principles and values, our high order needs. To connect with the higher self is respecting who we are as human beings. It’s where we are connected with ourselves, without the clutter of society, where we are who we are. The place of true noble purpose. We can’t fulfill our noble purpose, without developing this higher self.

The self of roles sits directly below the higher self. We all have different roles. I am a child, partner, entrepreneur, investor, friend, real estate owner, art collector, author, business philosopher… Everyone has a set of different roles.

When we get distracted from our purpose and the higher self, we start identifying more with our roles. Typically, we will unconsciously gravitate towards the role in which we feel best, that allows us to protect ourselves and serve our lower-order needs. That’s where the ego starts kicking in. We develop an important connection to one specific role and it becomes predominant in everything we do.

For example, I could be drawn to the role of investor and start bringing the investor mindset into all aspects of my life: into my friendships, into my work with clients, into my relationship with my partner. This means I can no longer organically evolve from one role to another in different contexts. Ego is when one role becomes our protection and we color all our interactions through that role.

The material self, the “lowest” in our existence, is when we get attached to a material aspect of our lives: a title, a career, money, a house, cars, clothes… People who are very connected to their material self, get shaken when that material part is taken away from their life. They may even say they lose their life when this happens or they might consider their life as a failure.

Obviously, the goal is to move up towards the higher self, even if material aspects of our life and our roles are important. Both are an essential and necessary part of life. But it should not be the predominant way we define ourselves.

4 simple steps to reconnect with our divine self

So how do we reconnect with this higher, divine self, while we live in a material world?

1. Ask yourself questions to get clarity on our current state. How do we feel in general? How do we relate to the things we consider important? How do we interact with others? What gets most of our attention?
2. Stop. Step outside of your habits. Go into silence. We need to let go of the daily obligations and clutter in order to dive into our heart, mind and soul. To get a helicopter view. Silence is powerful and healing, so stop all the noise.
3. (Re)connect with nature. We often don’t have or take time to look at the amazing nature around us. To get inspired by the biggest ecosystem. It’s the source of all wisdom and balance. Reconnect through anything from a simple walk, to a complete days-long retreat. Find those moments of awe.
4. Journal. Put your thoughts into a concrete form. Write them down, record a voice message, or whatever is your preferred way of processing your thoughts. Through this process, you’ll find out what your fears, guiding principles and beliefs are. This helps you become clear on what your pure self is and how you will honor it. This is what a life of Noble Purpose is.

Will you take the time to go through these 4 steps? Perhaps this weekend? Let me know how it went.