Founder & CEO @ Close
Steli Efti How much of who you are in this very moment can you fully see and accept? It’s one of the hardest questions that life asks of us every day. In this episode, I discuss the human experience of how different situations bring out feelings that are already deep within us and the courage needed to …
I’ve been spending my mornings lately reading “The Essential Rumi”. I find his writing to be so beautiful, touching, creative and poetic and I’ve really enjoyed starting my days with reading his words. One of the poems in this collection that has had a profound impact on me is “After the Meditation”. I’ve been stuck …
It’s been a very large part of my personality to define my self worth and the value I add to the world through what I’ve accomplished in a day. But I’ve learned that no matter how many to-do items I cross off my list, there’s never a sense of completion. I’m now embracing the art …
There’s a part of me that’s resurfaced recently that I haven’t had to face in months. It’s the part of me that is relentless in downplaying every single thing that I do – the inner voice that’s constantly whispering in my ear “you are not enough”. This feeling is like quicksand; the faster I try …
Since moving back to Europe, I’ve noticed how much the conversations around me involve other people that aren’t in the room. Something about this is off to me—gossip isn’t something I consume or surround myself with. I don’t like it or find any value in it. But as I started reflecting and thinking about it …
Where you do your inner work matters. Spiritual trips like retreats, yoga and meditation are vacations. The real inner work is done in the every day life – in your house, with your family and especially with those people in your life who are the most inconvenient. The ones that get under your skin and …
This concept is something we’ve discussed in previous episodes, but there’s more to this idea that I want to dig deeper into. It’s the notion that there are two sides to the same coin – that what we hate about others, we embody within ourselves. In this episode, I share a few different stories and …
“Shut the fuck up and do it anyways” used to be my mantra. I lived my life in such a disciplined, pragmatic way, which was great for producing results but I was so out of touch with my own thoughts and feelings that it was creating a negative impact in my life. I realized there …
You can’t be upset with others and at peace with yourself at the same time. Whatever negative thoughts you observe about someone else or the world around you is a direct projection and reflection of something you’re dealing with within yourself. I’ve been practicing this for years, and yet, it’s still challenging to live this …
For the last 2 to 3 months I’ve been pondering the concept of mystics and the idea of mysticism. To me, a mystic is someone that is placing the mystery of life at the center of their being. As someone who has lived so pragmatically for many years of my life, I found this concept …
I had an interesting experience recently at 4AM one morning where my hands turned into a tree. Not literally, of course, but they felt heavier, thicker, and larger than they really are. To me this was a symbolic display of how I was feeling recently with my two young sons. I had been constantly on …
I recently had such a stressful dream that when I woke up, the feelings of worry, anxiety and guilt within my dream continued to linger long after I was awake. Typically when I have these little negative thought clouds, I’m able to effortlessly puff them away and return to a sunny state of mind. But …
For the past month I’ve been doing a daily practice of asking myself one specific question multiple times a day. It’s a very simple question and it isn’t some magical, life-changing technique, but it has been extremely illuminating in helping me identify certain patterns in my life. The question is “what is your true intention …
I’ve been genuinely excited about returning to Germany – getting the chance to hug my children and see my mother, my brothers, my friends and loved ones. I had a moment of clarity when thinking about this upcoming reunion, and while it sounds cliche, I realized that every day is a gift. It’s not a …
I recently did a five day water fast, with 4 days of juice fasting (2 leading up to and 2 after the water fast). In this episode, I share how I prepared myself for the fast, what I experienced, and what I learned about my relationship with food and life simply by withholding food for …
This episode is a deeply personal one in which I discuss my relationship and experience with God. Even talking about it now is still something I’m getting comfortable with. The way I experience God specifically is tricky business—it’s partially a science, partially an art. I’ve been instilling certain practices into my daily life to help …
As I was meditating recently, I had a realization – something I already knew, but was shifted into crystal clear focus for me. It was a beautiful moment that further clarified my tremendous gratitude and love for books and reading. One of the most amazing experiences to me with reading is that you get to …
I’ve spent a good amount of time over the past 2 years working on the anger that I thought I didn’t have. And for the most part, I thought that I was good by now—I felt I had a good relationship with my anger. Until something unexpected happened: I got angry, and I hid it …
Listen to your heart. Get in touch with your body. Trust your intuition. All of these are easier said than done, because they require something from the mind it doesn’t like to do: relinquish control. The mind always wants to run the show, and it won’t hesitate for a moment to pretend to be all …
I recently had an experience where I came close to what I believe enlightenment might feel like. This happened a few days after attending a silent retreat and going on a walk in nature—the intense state of pure love I experienced I’m now playfully going to be referring to as “englowment”. It was a beautifully …
Silence is an essential element of inner work. But in modern life, it’s pretty much as rare as a precious metal. It’s so easy to always be distracted, constantly consuming some kind of information or entertainment, engaging in some activity—we’ve got infinite ways to keep our minds busy. You have to consciously create silence in …
This is part of a conversation we’ve had in August of 2020, where we discussed the courage it takes to share your weaknesses. Many people think that I don’t care what other people think about me—but nothing could be further from the truth. For most of my life, I cared deeply about impressing others, and …
Recently I’ve been experimenting a lot with timing: changing not so much what I do, not really adjusting my habits, but simply being more mindful of when I do these things. And I found that even doing the exact same thing can have an immensely different impact on my life just because of when I …
There’s a German word I really love: Bewunderung. It’s commonly translate as ‘admiration’, but that doesn’t quite capture the full meaning of the word. In this episode, I talk about the art of keeping and cultivating a sense of wonder about life, and the people in your life. TRANSCRIPT:[00:00:00] SE: You know, a word that …