1. Compassion involves seeing others as "self."

No matter how different others are, or how different their circumstances are from yours, we all want essentially same things from life. We want happiness, satisfaction and love. We want connectedness, safety and understanding.

When you are struggling to feel compassion for others, struggling to put yourself in their shoes, struggling to understand what they are going through, remember this similarity. Remember that everyone ultimately wants what you want.

2. Compassion does not involve self-sacrifice or martyrdom at your expense.

When in a disagreement with someone -- whether your partner, a friend or your boss -- remember to see other as "self." At same time, be careful not to mistake compassion for being a pushover. Don't justify another's behavior at cost of your feelings or discount your feelings.

As we grow and change, we eventually run into outer limits of our safety zone known as our "belief system." The belief system confines our existence, and consists of knowledge and experiences that shape who we are and what we value in our lives. What was fulfilling, is now a burden. What was exciting, is now boring. At this point, we must learn how to extend, or change, our belief systems to allow us to move forward and find new meaning and new fulfillment.

--- Spheres of Belief ---

A belief system can be viewed as consisting of three distinct, yet interconnected, "spheres of belief." Each sphere represents an area of our lives that we maintain as our own secure zones. Our core values and beliefs that affect our daily lives are taken from combination of these three spheres.

* Sphere One: The first sphere contains relationships and our interpersonal goals. It represents our interaction with others in our lives including family and friends. It provides us with a foundation of security for interpersonal interaction and growth.

* Sphere Two: The second sphere contains professional goals. This is area of our life that supports ability to work toward a vision with knowledge to provide security for ourselves and our family.

* Sphere Three: The third and final sphere contains personal goals. This sphere contains our knowledge and experiences that define our personal desires, goals, and direction. This is also area in which we store our personal identities.

The primary benefit of building and maintaining your spheres is that they provide a solid and definable arena in which you can live and work comfortably. However, problem is that, occasionally, these spheres become too confining and eventually limit your growth. In essence, when you hit outer wall of any sphere, you must determine best way to increase size of sphere to accommodate your growth and still maintain your security.

--- Establishing Core Values ---