YOU, UNLEASHED

The self-assured leader’s handbook to exponential fulfillment.

Oliver Villwock
 Copyright © Oliver Villwock 2022
All Rights Reserved

Visit the author's website at www.oliver.club

DEDICATION:
This book is for You.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Elephant In The Circus
Chapter 1: Quit Trying Harder
Chapter 2: Step Outside The Circle
Chapter 3: Leave Empty Success On The Table
Chapter 4: Listen To Your Heart’s Calling
Chapter 5: Attune To Your Inner Compass
Chapter 6: Drop The Weight Of Foreign Dreams
Chapter 7: Eliminate Doubt
Chapter 8: Speak Your Freedom Into Existence
Chapter 9: Make Space
Chapter 10: Cultivate Your Energy
Chapter 11: Allow Bigger Visions
Chapter 12: Move Forward
Chapter 13: Act Before You Are Ready
Chapter 14: Embrace Failure
Chapter 15: Celebrate Opposition
Chapter 16: Create Environments That Uplift You
Chapter 17: Find Freedom In The Space Beyond Choice
Chapter 18: Let Life Surprise You
Frequently Asked Questions
Back Cover
About The Author
 INTRODUCTION:
ELEPHANT IN THE CIRCUS

Unleash yourself.

I must have been in my final year of elementary school – maybe

nine or ten years old – when a travelling circus passed by my quiet
rural hometown. As we went to see the performance, I was giddy
with excitement.

I prayed that the circus staff wouldn’t call on me in order to

demonstrate some sort of trick; the thought alone caused my guts
to wrench and my face to flush a shameful red. Lacking confidence
in my ability to turn myself invisible as needed, I would probably
have declined to go – if it were not for the animals. The prospect of
seeing a live elephant gave me the needed incentive to confront my
fears.

As the curtain dropped, I was awe-struck.

The elephant was huge.

Legs like trunks. Ears like sails. So powerful – and, to my surprise,

chained to a comparatively tiny iron rod.

Some time into the show: “dad, why doesn’t she just break free?”, I
asked with big eyes, pointing in the direction of the animal.

“She has been trained not to,” came, matter-of-factly, the

response.
“Wait… how do you train such a big elephant to stick to such a tiny
pole? She hardly has space to walk”, I inquired. I was hoping they
had not been cruel to the gentle giant.

“I will tell you when we’re home and it’s more quiet. Let’s watch the
fire show now, look, they’re coming!”

I could not quite focus. Amidst the spectacle, my attention kept

nervously darting back to the elephant: each one of her legs would
have been plenty to kick the pole aside and claim her freedom –
and cause quite the kerfuffle.

Just one movement.

It would have been so easy.

Fortunately, we were not seated in the first row.

As time passed, my nervousness faded, and made space for

commiseration. “But.. does she not know how big she is?”, I
wondered to myself, silently, and attempted in vain to send the
elephant telepathic messages. “Come on, just lift your foot, and
show us just how wild and powerful you are!”

Instead, she was calmly unchained at various points during the

show, and demonstrated her strength by dutifully lifting different
objects and trumpeting on command, before being guided back to
the pole.

Later, once the show had ended, I learned how they had trained
the elephant to remain in place. They had raised her in captivity,
and bound her to that very same metallic rod when she was still a
baby.

Back then, she had made attempts to break free, and to lift her
foot.

In vain.
The pole had been stronger.

And so, she learned that the metallic rod was too powerful for her.
That she could not break free. That she had to obey. And even
when she grew to her full stature, weighing in at several tons – she
still remembered.

And so, she never tried again.

Not once.

This was many years ago, and much has happened since. Now, in
hindsight, I can say that I have lived most of my life just like the
elephant – bound by invisible strings, attached to stories about
myself that I had long outgrown, and in complete oblivion to my
true power.

Deep down, some part of me had always been slightly confused

about my role in the world, as if there was a knowing that the
shackles that bound me were not meant for my size. However, for
the most part, I had simply become accustomed to it, and
comfortable – and did not even try to lift my foot and do something
different.

I did not even pause to question whether “more” was available to

life, or what made the difference between the people who seemed
to be living truly and deeply meaningful lives and the people like
me.

Until I made a discovery that radically changed my life.

The shackles are not real.

Let me share a secret with you:

Self-actualization is much more simple than you think.

Stop working harder in the confines of your prison.

Instead, just dare to lift your foot.

Take a bold step. Release the chains. Discover your freedom.

Unleash yourself.

You, my friend, are a magnificent elephant.

- Oliver Villwock
 CHAPTER 1:
QUIT TRYING HARDER

If you want something you have never

had, you have to do something you
have never done.

The elephant may be unshackled a thousand and one times,

balance on a barrel, stand on her head and perform all other kinds
of nonsensical tricks that entertain a desensitized audience.

But no matter how smooth the performance, no matter how often

the tricks are repeated, and no matter how loud the applause: the
elephant returns to the iron rod, and will never experience herself –
and never glimpse her own power, if even for a moment – until she
lifts her foot and liberates herself from the phantom prison.

Self-actualization is not achieved by doing the same thing, harder.

Self-actualization awaits when we stop putting the audience first,

recognize our power to take the step we deeply desire, and move
confidently into the paradigm that corresponds with our exponential
fulfillment.

There is a tenacious belief in western society that the future is

bright if we keep doing what we have done in the past.

Somewhere, we tend to believe that more of the same input will

eventually lead to a different output.
We are mistaken.

More of the same input leads to more of the same output.

If your current work situation is not bringing out the best in you
and fulfilling you deeply, working even harder in order to receive a
promotion is not going to solve the issue.

If you are not having as much impact in the world as you would
like, it is not going to get better by complaining about it and staying
in the same environment.

If you are not making the money you desire, putting in extra hours
to receive a small bonus is not going to make you feel free.

All of these:

Well-intentioned, kind-hearted elephant steps –

In the same old circles.

Doing the same thing, harder – hoping that it will, eventually, lead
to different results.

Linear progression.

Now:

Stop.

If you wish to break out of the paradigm, stop trying harder, and
create some distance.

Sit still.
Take a breath.

Remember a situation in which you felt profoundly fulfilled; free,

and one with all. Bring back the textures and details, make it vivid,
let yourself drop and relax.
Feel it.
Bask in it.

This is your true place; your home.

The memory merely serves as a reminder, and so did the

experience itself; they are pointing to what you already are –
beneath the surface.

The elephant remembers freedom.

The opportunity is here:

Quit trying harder.

Play a different game.

Lead yourself – into exponential fulfillment.

 CHAPTER 2:
STEP OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE

I have found, through painful

experience, that the most important
step a man can take is always the next
one. – Brandon Sanderson

Relax your heart, and see:

You have the power of an elephant.

Today.

You are already positioned in a way that allows you to tap into far
more power and harness deeper freedom than is currently available
to you. All it takes is for you to lift your foot; and to take a step
outside the habitual confines of your world.

You were born as an expression of the same force that is creating

the universe, moving the planets and animating all living beings. In
that, there is no fundamental difference between you and the
geniuses of all time, great innovators in business, arts and
technology and the saints and sages. We all stem from the same
source, and every human being carries the blueprint of infinite
potentiality within them – and so do you.

The difference is not in structure, but in behavior: those who live

boundless lives have allowed themselves to be moved in
unforeseen, non-linear ways, and to be continuously expanded in
their power, freedom and creative expression by how life moves
them from within.

They follow the subtle inner signals and cues that set them on a
journey of discovering their magnificence, their unique gifts and life
path, with ever-deepening clarity.

And you can do the same.

In any given moment.

A simple, courageous choice.

Stop dancing around the iron pole.

Optimizing yourself within loops and thresholds, and within the

limits that you have set for yourself and that you are comfortable
with, takes just as much time and energy as it does to lean into a
completely new paradigm.

Taking a timid step takes just as much time and energy as taking a
bold step. Playing “not to lose” takes just as much time and energy
as “playing to win”.

Forget the logical next step.

Instead of aiming for the next gradual improvement:

Dare to break into a completely new paradigm.

We all fear the unknown.

What sets the great geniuses apart from an average person is not
the absence of fear, or a fundamental difference in potential –

But simply the choice to step boldly in the direction of our

greatness, despite the fear.

There is a part in you that is just waiting to come forward, and to

play a bigger game.

Self-actualization is available, and closer than close.

Just one step:

Invisibly, inside yourself, and then – visibly – outside the circle.

 CHAPTER 3:
LEAVE EMPTY SUCCESS ON THE
TABLE

When your life does not deeply fulfill

you, you are not executing your
dreams, but somebody else’s.

We must see clearly the nature of the ever-repeating circle in order

to leave it behind. Let us look at the phenomenon of empty
success.

What is success?

According to Webster, succeeding means “to attain a desired object

or end”.

Or, in other words, to succeed means to turn something formless –

a desire – into manifest reality.

Like a dream catcher: you have caught a dream and realized it.
Truly, a magnificent process: the process of creation itself, on the
microcosmic scale.

“Success.”

Perhaps you were celebrated for your creation: what you did
resonated with somebody, and they expressed their gratitude and
goodwill. They might have paid you, promoted you, bought your
services, praised your skills or given you extra attention.
However, if your creation did not deeply fulfill you, the dream you
caught was simply not yours.

It did not come from inside.

You borrowed it from somebody else.

It might have been your family’s dream, the dream of your life
partner, your boss or your colleagues; the dream of a group of
investors, of a demographic or the dream of your grandparents.

It might have been convincing and beautiful, and perhaps

“beneficial” at large.

It might have been a big or a small dream, or something you have

carried for a long time.

It might have been a positive dream, or a nightmare.

But to the extent that it did not fulfill you, it was not yours.

Empty success, or success without fulfillment, is that: the creation

of something that does not ring true to your heart.

Typically, such success is rewarded just enough through external

means to keep us motivated and longing for the next hit. Until we
succeed again, and find out that, once again, the deep fulfillment
that we were longing for is not to be found.

Understand that you clearly have the capacity to manifest dreams:

Every success you have had in your life –

Every thought you turned into reality –

Every fortune and misfortune that happened in accordance with

how you had foreseen it:
You are a manifestation genius.

Your surroundings, in this very moment, are a reflection of your

success at turning your inner world into manifest reality: whatever
you see, hear, and feel in this very moment is a reflection of
consciously and unconsciously “caught” and realized desires.

If your life is not as fulfilling as you sense it could be, the problem
is not that you are not successful1.

The problem is that you are successful at realizing dreams that are
not truly yours.

More is available.
And you have access.

I invite you to leave the empty success on the table.

And become successful, instead, at realizing the things that ring

true to your heart.

1 Even the experience of “not being objectively successful” is but a successfully realized dream: the lack of
“objective success” in life is not a lack of ability, but the realization of a belief pattern of disempowerment that
you have received in your past and – consciously or unconsciously – agreed with and held in your subconscious
mind.
 CHAPTER 4:
LISTEN TO YOUR HEART’S
CALLING

In any given moment, your heart

knows the way toward your self-
realization.

Ultimately, we long to feel love, connection and fulfillment.

We wish to feel that we are doing exactly the right thing, at exactly
the right time. We wish to realize our inmost dream of existence,
and, in that, feel at one and at peace with all.

Unfortunately, we lack encouragement and education to move

skillfully in this direction.

We have been taught to think in order to attain the inner states we

desire.
We have been taught to strategize our lives from the mind.

When really, what we desire is not a thought-out sense of freedom,

love and connection, but a real, felt, sensory experience.

The disconnect is this:

We wish to feel fulfilled.

But we do not align the direction of our lives with our sensory
feelings of expansion.
Instead, we follow the direction that we think will make us fulfilled,
and end up creating empty success: from dreams that were not
really ours.

We get lost in our minds and attempt to conjure a life path that
“makes sense”. We come up with a trajectory that, we hope, leads
to fulfillment while minimizing unsafety – instead of following our
deep heart’s fulfillment, in this very moment, and using our mind to
navigate the demands of the journey as we walk.

We have forgotten –
That the compass is already there.

In any given moment, your heart knows the way toward your self-
realization.

Your heart knows how to distinguish your own dreams from foreign
dreams that, upon realization, will only leave you depleted.

The elephant is already free;

And this is the elephant’s step:
Set sail in accordance with your heart, not your mind.

Then, let your mind be a tool to drive forward on the path of

fulfillment and bring it into worldly fruition.

You can choose to keep rummaging the same thoughts, and

remain, forever, in the same old circle of gradual improvements,
foreseeable steps and different degrees of empty success; a life
that is socially agreeable, but – if you are meant for other things –
will not bring you deep fulfillment.

Or you may begin to listen to the callings of your heart, and, with
shivering steps in a new direction, set yourself free.

In the heart, the elephant knows the path to freedom.

And so do you.
 CHAPTER 5:
ATTUNE TO YOUR INNER
COMPASS

Learn to abide by your inner compass

and watch your spirit soar.

I invite you:

Take two minutes.

Feel from your heart1.

Feel your body, with an attitude of relaxation.

Take a look around your surroundings – observe how different

objects in the room make you feel.

Is there an object that lights you up in particular?

Or something that makes you cringe inside, ever so subtly – the

mess on the floor, or an old painting or photograph that reminds
you of times long gone?

As you feel with curiosity, your inner decision-making matrix widens

to include a new dimension: beyond customary thought forms and
habitual perception, a subtle, fluid and constantly fresh inner
feeling-sense gives invaluable cues and directions.

To create an initial sensory bandwidth, you may bring to mind the

thing or person you most dearly love in this life; or a fantasy of
what you would like to experience if anything were possible. Make
the image come to life, then feel how it resonates in your body.

Take note of what you feel, and where you feel it. Perhaps there is
a sense of expansion, freedom and lightness in your chest; or a
tingling in your limbs or in other parts of your body.

Then, bring to mind a difficult memory, or something you disdain;

the most gruesome injustice, a painful episode of your life or your
personal dark fantasy of apocalypse. Feel the resonance in your
body. Again, take note.

Any choice you take during the day results in a subtle sensory
impression in your body – it either feels expansive, or it contracts
you inside.

Become curious.
Throughout your day, whenever you can remember, listen intently,
yet without pressure.

How does it feel to go to the office in the morning?

How does it feel to meet a friend for dinner?
How does it feel to plan a sexual date with your partner?

Your inner resonance to your outside experience may be subtle, at

first, or you may think that you cannot feel anything at all.

Stick with it.

Give it time.

To support the process, you may commit to a daily practice of five

minutes: take in your physical and mental environment – your
thoughts, your plans, your surroundings – and consciously observe
your inner response.

For many years, you have been trained to ignore the subtle cues of
your heart.
It has made you more controllable, and more useful in fulfilling
dreams that were not your own.

Now, allow yourself to open to the subtleties of your perception,

and reclaim your inner authority:

Listen to your heart, and your heart will answer.

Recalibrate to your inner compass.

1
It may take some time and practice to understand what is meant by “feeling from the heart”. This is a literal,
intuitive experience of allowing your awareness to emanate from your chest area with an attitude of softness and
relaxation. If you do not understand this instruction in particular, don’t be discouraged; simply feel with curiosity.
 CHAPTER 6:
DROP THE WEIGHT OF FOREIGN
DREAMS

Everyone is a genius. But if you judge

a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it
will live its whole life believing it is
stupid. – Albert Einstein

When we do not learn to feel and abide by our own inner

experience, we are highly susceptible to picking up navigation cues
that are not ours.

Or, in other words: when we do not pay attention to our own inner
radar, we are very likely to sail in accordance with maps that lead
elsewhere.

The result is low-profile misery.

Most of the world population live like fish, trying to climb trees.

Devoid of inner guidance and bombarded by outside influences and

economic agendas, we subscribe to the collective consciousness,
rule books and beliefs of society. Longing to experience our deepest
fulfillment and expansion, we attempt to perform in the context of
societal norms and standards – and gradually disconnect from our
own inner compass.

We long to feel connected to life; at home in ourselves.

Yet, in a system that does not teach us to find our wholeness inside
ourselves, we forget who we are; and look for a home somewhere
else.

We start to sail in a direction that is not ours, and the perpetual

circle of empty success starts spinning – in unison with confusion
and increasing desensitization.

Until we become tired.

And the elephant steps outside the circle.

We all carry the spark of genius inside of us.

It is revealed gradually in finding and walking our unique

expression and life path; not in following somebody else’s map.

When in doubt, ask yourself:

Are you living your innermost dream, today, in this moment – or

somebody else’s?

Be honest with yourself,

Feel from your heart,

And assess:

If you were already, and forever and timelessly, perfect, free and
complete, without constraints, without history: would you be doing
what you do?

Would you be creating what you create, or are you sailing

somebody else’s map – and doing what you do because of outside
pressures, financial and social constraints, and because there
seems to be no other, more viable option?

Look with honesty – and assess where you are hooked to outer
guidance and dreams that do not come from within.
They are sucking your energy, and they register as subtle
contractions in your inner compass.

If you wish to actualize your highest potential, you must let go of

dreams that are not yours; and discover that which wants to be
birthed into the world from within you.

Look with honesty.

See how you are bound.

In seeing with clarity, you hold the keys to set yourself free.
 CHAPTER 7:
ELIMINATE DOUBT

To win any battle, you must fight as if

you are already dead. – Miyamoto
Musashi

Deep in your heart, you know what is true; you know what serves
your highest purpose, and what does not.

You know intuitively when you are acting in alignment with your
innermost dreams and north node – and when you are pursuing
foreign maps instead.

In matters big and small:

In fundamental life decisions, relationships, leisure time activities

and questions of direction or detail, you may see that you are
following standards that do not truly resonate.

But, likely, you are also invested in them.

Careers you have built over a long time, relationships you have
cultivated, life decisions you have taken; responsibilities you have
assumed, promises you have given and big and small habits you
have formed.

Not all is bad:

Some payoffs, some growth, much comfort; some loving

relationships, some interpersonal complexity – and so, you settle.
But the resentment remains: nagging doubts that emerge from the
background when it is still, and the uncomfortable silent knowing
that you could be living something more: something more truthful,
more authentic, more fulfilling – more you. Your own dream.

The consequence of doing things with a degree of dissatisfaction is

energetic entanglement:

Neither fully in, nor fully out.

Neither fully alive, nor dead.

Neither doing what you do with the deepest love and conviction you
can offer, nor clear and free to pursue a different trajectory.

Like a fig tree, secretly desiring to bear pomegranate:

Stuck in the middle.

Amidst the fog of doubt, it can be difficult to take clear decisions.

But what is required to lift yourself out of the murk is but a single,
decisive step.

When in doubt about this move; when in doubt about whether a

dream is truly yours or not: do not lurk in the middle, afraid to take
any step at all.

Instead, go all in.

Much time has already passed in between: one foot in, one foot
out; one foot in desire, one foot in resentment.

Ensure that, before you leave, you have given your all – so that,
when you walk away, you walk decisively and without regrets.

I invite you:

When in doubt, set a time frame.

A final commitment.

In that time –

Leave nothing unsaid.

Leave nothing undone.

Dare to show up more fully than you ever have. Be radical. Ask for
the things you want. Do all you can, to make it happen – to turn
this dream of life into your dream.

You have nothing to lose:

For you know that if it does not turn out well this time, you will
leave it behind.

Fight this battle as if you were already dead, eliminate regrets and
win freedom.
 CHAPTER 8:
SPEAK YOUR FREEDOM INTO
EXISTENCE

Choose words that break shackles and

inspire your expansion.

Time does not heal wounds.

The light of consciousness does.

We can only heal that which we bring to awareness; that which we

expose.

No matter how often we shift things around in our minds: what

remains hidden, suppressed or unacknowledged has no chance to
transform and improve.

Or, in other words, thinking about doing things differently has no

value in itself, unless we expose and actualize that intention
through action – which includes having important conversations.

Feel from your heart:

What would you have to experience within your current life path,
for it to shift into alignment with your sensory expansion and
heart’s fulfillment?

Imagine what would have to happen in order for you to feel

fulfilled.
Observe the resonance in your body.

Perhaps it is as straightforward as making significantly more

money; receiving a promotion, taking a sabbatical, taking more
time off during the week, or initiating a groundbreaking new project
in your company.

Or, perhaps, it does not feel as straightforward – and involves that

your work would have to meet your deeper, spiritual longings.
Perhaps you yearn to express your innermost through what you do,
experience deeper connection with the people around you and
bring forth your creativity and hidden gifts; or dedicate yourself to a
whole different mission or vision on the planet.

Allow yourself to imagine what it would take in order for you to feel
that you are living your dream, and not sailing on foreign maps –
what would need to change within your current environment in
order for you to feel expanded and free in your body; to feel true?

Whatever it may be:

Feel it with clarity.

Let your guard down.

Acknowledge your desires in honesty.

And then, lead from that place.

Have honest conversations:

Share what matters.

Ask what you want.

Let yourself be energized by the release of trapped energy – by the

unveiling of whatever you had kept for yourself.

Many of us have grown up in a collective dream in which comfort is

valued over truth – and we would rather be comfortable and not
cause too much of a stir; we would rather swallow our
discontentment, and ruminate on it over and over again, than bring
it forward in its rawness.

Enough of playing small.

Enough of hiding.

Even if your voice is shaking:

Exposing your truth is a service.

Unleash yourself.

By exposing your truth and asking what you want instead of simply
shutting the doors to your heart in resignation, you open the
possibility for your surroundings to shift alongside you – to develop
together.

Each time you give vocal expression to the call in your heart, you
affirm and empower your inner guidance, and come into deeper
alignment with who you are.

And just as house plants grow when you speak to them, so do your
dreams.

Speak your fulfillment into existence.

And if, despite your best efforts, you are not deeply moved by what
you create in any given timeframe and environment:

Step out.

Move on.

Make space.
 CHAPTER 9:
MAKE SPACE

When you let go of what no longer

serves you, you create space for what
is meant to be.

When we do not feel inspired by the output we create in the world

and harvest empty success, the problem is rarely a lack of input.

The problem is not that we are not receiving any inner guidance on
how to actualize our innermost potential; the problem is not the
absence of dreams that arise spontaneously, from within –

The problem is that we are too distracted to clearly feel what is

actually ours.
The cup is full.

The cup is full to the brim, with foreign dreams and projections.
And the crystal-clear spring water of our heart’s deep inspiration
and longings is diluted, immediately, upon entry.

Be willing to feel with honesty whether you truly love that which
you create.

When in doubt, attempt things fully. Decide for something, before

you decide against it. Play full out. Have honest conversations.

But when nothing changes fundamentally, and the silent knowing

remains that you are meant for something else, make space.
Discard foreign dreams.

Even if you do not know what comes next – step courageously

forward, into the nothingness.

Empty the cup.

It does not matter what it is – a hobby, your job, a relationship or a

place of residence – if your heart does not feel expanded and full, if
it does not feel like what you are experiencing is contributing to
your deepest dreams, and if you have tried all you could to make it
work for you – it is time to let it go.

Stop filling up your days and your bandwidth with things that do
not serve you fully.

Give yourself permission to do nothing instead.

Instead of stuffing yourself on the breadcrumbs, lukewarm tea and

flaccid entertainment of dreams that are not yours, allow yourself
to develop a healthy appetite:
For your deeper fulfillment.

Take time.
Make space.

Unclench.

With each foreign dream you discard, you create relaxation in your
nervous system. Allow the muscles and fibers of your body and
mind to remember their natural state and return to open relaxation.

You are perfect, whole and complete.

A unique emanation of the creative principle itself, unfolding in the

unending field of pure consciousness.

Create space for your being.

Something more truthful wants to emerge from within –

In its own time,

Of its own accord.

Deep inspiration arises when you least expect it, and when you are
not actively looking – but it needs space to flourish.

Clean the house; and be wary: do not let the space you create be
taken up immediately by the next foreign dream.

Instead, simply allow it to be.

Gradually, it will fill itself back up with your own energy.

 CHAPTER 10:
CULTIVATE YOUR ENERGY

Follow what naturally expands you

from within, and you align with higher
powers.

In our essence, we are infinitely powerful beings. Incredible

amounts of energy are naturally available to us, when we learn to
open the floodgates.

As you create space in your life, be mindful to not let the vacuum
be filled with new nonsense.

Instead, fill up your space with your own energy – and light
yourself on fire.

Feel your body from your heart:

And follow that which energizes you from within.

Whenever something excites you, nourishes you, expands you and

feels natural and simple, true, it means you have found a place of
alignment with who you are, on a deeper level.

Make that enthusiasm your north node.

In doing so, you prepare the soil for your dreams to naturally
sprout and emerge.

When the elephant forgets, for a moment, the memory of the iron
pole, she remembers original freedom and grace.

Observe spontaneous impulses to do things – arising innocently,

without logic, without agenda – and feel their potential to enliven
your being.

Observe, also, how your mind has been trained to overwrite them
with logical arguments. An impulse arises; then, one hundred and
one reasons as to why you cannot follow it, why it would put you at
peril or why you need to “think more about it”.

The iron pole.

These are the voices of the past:

Foreign dreams – other people’s energy, vying for your attention;

asking for you to plug yourself back into the system, to be a part of
the machine and to feed their network; to stay small, and to
optimize yourself only within tightly defined limits and thresholds.

Notice:

That which sucks your energy, is not yours.

That which contracts you, is not yours.
That which leaves you feeling heavy and drained, is not yours.

As much as possible, do not give into the fears.

As a child, you had shining eyes when you spoke about your
dreams and pursued your curiosities.

In ignorance and fear, this wonder was taken from you.

Take it back.

You are free to choose to engage in the activities that fulfill you,
and to create a life on that basis.
Your genius lives in your enthusiasm; in your liberty, autonomous
choices and free-willed expressions of love, in your creative power
and innocent zest for life.

Give yourself permission.

It is totally possible to live in ever-deepening alignment with how

you are being moved from within.

In fact, it is the most natural – to live a life in which you are guided
by the energy that you naturally receive by following your
enthusiasm and expansion, and to thus become a messenger of a
higher force moving and expressing itself through you.

As you let your energy guide you, you align with higher powers.

The more you let your actions be informed and motivated by your
heart’s callings and genuine excitement, the more you begin to
shine from within; and the more energy becomes available for you
in order to create success that fulfills you.

You have full permission:

Make space.

Take the match.

Light your flame.

 CHAPTER 11:
ALLOW BIGGER VISIONS

If I have the belief that I can do it, I

shall surely acquire the capacity to do
it even if I may not have it in the
beginning. – Mahatma Gandhi

As you cultivate your inner space and energy, do not discard any
idea that arises from within you because it seems too big, or too
unrealistic.

Treat your ideas as divine inspirations, landing inside the jungle of

your heart.

Life wishes to express something, and is attempting to seed the

blueprint in your soul; if an idea resonates in your heart, innocently,
and energizes you, spontaneously, then it may be for you to realize
it.

You have executed dreams before.

You have tasted different shades of success.

Now, accept life’s invitations for you to be fulfilled and successful.

Let yourself receive your ideas; big or small.

Let them ripen in your heart.

Do not let your logical mind rule them out.

Do not play by your old limitations.
Feel which vision has the power to expand you.
Feel which idea causes your heart to soften, and your energy to
activate.

See what happens if you make that dream bigger; see how good
you can make yourself feel by fully absorbing it into your being.

That which feels expansive, is a match for who you are.

When you make yourself conducive for your own life force energy,
accept a dream that is offered to you from within and take decisive
action in its direction, life will equip you with exactly what is needed
in order for you to carry it out.

The geniuses of all time knew this and confirmed it through their
lived experiences.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Stephen Hawking

and Mahatma Gandhi did not order from the menu.

They received larger visions – and let them ripen inside themselves,
instead of discarding them as impossible.

There is no fundamental difference between you and them.

Human potential is infinite.

In our essence, our power is beyond measure.

The only question is how much we can expand our comfort zone
and habitual thinking beyond conditioned layers of fear and
contraction, and open to receive what life wants to express through
our existence.

Relax.

Relax your heart.

Relax your mind.
Think big,
Feel deep.

Allow yourself to receive what feels good.

Accept life’s gifts – with innocence and curiosity.

These are the seeds of your fulfillment, being planted into the soil
of your consciousness.
 CHAPTER 12:
MOVE FORWARD

Sometimes the smallest step in the

right direction ends up being the
biggest step of your life. Tiptoe if you
must, but take a step. – Naeem
Callaway

When you receive inspiration that resonates deeply in your heart, it

is already realized on some level; the dream has already found a
formless expression.

The acorn carries within it the blueprint for the entire oak, in a
compacted, condensed version. The acorn knows how to be that
tree.

It is natural.

Just like the acorn, so do you carry within you the blueprint for your
boundless existence. You know how to be your realized, fulfilled
self.

This, too, is natural.

When you feel a resonance in your heart as a response to an idea

or a vision that arises from within, that feeling is guiding you
towards your expressed potential.

Follow that.
For a time, you have lived half-asleep, following foreign
dreamscapes and harvesting empty success.

Now, choose to open to your magnificence – choose the blueprints

that light you up from within, and set your sail in accordance.

New.
Direction.

The outer world is inert, and takes time to catch up.

The acorn does not doubt its potential or purpose to grow to

infinite heights; it is already that.

And yet, grow, it must.

And so will you.

On the deepest level, you are already equipped to bring this dream
into existence; otherwise it would not find resonance in your heart.
On the level of your mind, emotions and physical existence,
however, you will be invited to expand alongside your dream.

Dream without limitations.

Then, begin with a tangible step.

Do not fall into the trap of overthinking.

Avoid over-analyzing all your options.

Instead of falling into a paralyzing state of information overload,

take a simple, specific and tangible next step in the direction of
your heart’s calling.

Today, one step.

Tomorrow, another one.

Mountains are moved: one small stone at a time.

Reaching one small leaf toward the sun at a time, the sapling grows
into an oak.

The energy you are receiving – any enthusiasm, curiosity and

excitement – is here to encourage you to take tangible steps and
build momentum.

These first steps may be scary.

It will pass.

Get your feet wet.

One step after the other, again and again.

With every action you take in truthful alignment with your heart
and vision, you are entering into deeper union with life, and you
become more receptive to the energy that is available.

With every step, you lead yourself more fully into the recognition of
your actualized power.

That which resonates in your heart is longing to actualize itself

through your existence, and to grow together with you.

Let your heart expand around the seeds of your actualized

potential; water them by giving them loving attention; and then
move in full confidence.

Let go of the doubts.

You are an elephant.

You were born for this.

The world is longing for you.

 CHAPTER 13:
ACT BEFORE YOU ARE READY

You must do the things you think you

cannot do. – Eleanor Roosevelt

As you tap into big visions, and begin to take tangible steps, you
are setting in motion a process of inner cleansing: and it will bring
to light all the conditioning you have received in order to keep you
small.

You will hear the voices of the past, masquerading as your own.
You will hear foreign dreams, complaining about your lack of
attention.

And you will hear your fears, inner critic and procrastinator.

Often, the bigger the dream, and the deeper the resonance of what
life is implanting in your heart, the bigger the inner storm as you
begin to move.

Allow the fears to come up, but do not let yourself be hypnotized
by the voices of the past. A million “good reasons” why you cannot
follow your inspiration and expansion:

Do not fall for them.

Instead, keep the energy in motion, and advance forward.

Move with shaking feet, if you must, but move.

The mind storm indicates that the iron pole is shaking.

The chains are creaking.
The old caretakers are in turmoil.

All of the above: desperate attempts by your subconscious to hold

you back from uncovering your power, and to keep you safe in the
confines of a life lived in predictable patterns.

Your mind cannot comprehend infinity, and clings to old limitations.

The old limitations have served you, for a time: at some point in
your life, you needed to establish certain beliefs and behavioral
patterns to cope with the demands of your outside environment
and remain safe – to repress emotions, perhaps, play small or hide,
or please people around you and base your actions on outside
validation.

And yet, your essential nature is much bigger than that.

Whenever you are about to access deeper layers of who you are,
you will inevitably face resistance.

It may seem impossible.

Too much.
Overwhelming.
And yet, also exciting.

This is your edge – your sweet spot.

Where you can feel a deep resonance in your heart toward realizing
a dream – and to move decisively scares you.

See this with clarity:

You will never feel ready to do what your soul has come here to do.

Your potential is too vast, your soul too expansive; too much is
available to you for you to feel prepared. When you glimpse your
potential to step outside the circle, welcome the fear and wonder as
by-products of your inner transmutation.

The elephant moves.

And the creaking chain is loudest – just before it gives way.

Into deeper silence.

Into deeper you.

So do not wait.

You do not have to feel ready before you can choose – yourself,
and your highest path – powerfully.

Any big shift in your life has emerged from an inner openness, and
from a courageous step in a new direction – trusting that the path
will hold you, with faith in the unknown.

To be ready is not an emotional state, but a choice.

Decide.

Play full out.

Get in the arena.

Speak it into existence.

Do the very things that scare you, and cement in yourself an

unshakeable knowing that you are capable of action beyond your
old limitations:

For the one who holds the key to your freedom and fulfillment, is
you.
 CHAPTER 14:
EMBRACE FAILURE

If you must fall, fall forward.

The journey of self-actualization is the journey of discovering

yourself in a new light – in a new shape, and as a deeper, more
truthful expression of who you are at your core.

No such discovery has ever been made without turbulence.

Failure is bound to happen.

Mistakes are bound to happen.

If you wish to learn, lean in, and seek them out actively.

The reason why toddlers learn quickly is because they are not
afraid to fail. They fall, and they get back up immediately. They
hurt themselves, and they cry. In the next moment, they are right
back at it. They are not afraid to look stupid. Their only concern is
to learn how to stand, and walk, and expand their horizon. Their
concern is for truth, not for what others may think of them.

As we get older, our pride begins to outgrow our curiosity, and we

stop testing the limits.

When we prioritize comfort over exploration, we shrink.

Gradually, life becomes more and more stale; predictable routines,

gradual improvements.
I dare you.

Explore.

Step boldly.

Make mistakes.

Follow your calling.

Stretch beyond comfort.

Society puts great emphasis on having “something to fall back on”,

in case things do not go as expected.

Make it an active choice to fall forward rather than backward.

Feel the resonance of your heart’s desire fully, drink it in, be in the
energy of your limitless fulfillment, and then dare to step boldly.

Hold the energy – how would you move if your success was
guaranteed?
Hold the possibility – what is the highest that could happen?

And whenever you fall, hold the vision: every mistake is a sign of
your progress and growth; a sign that you are exploring your edge,
learning, and expanding your personal power and capacities.

Fall in a way that will put a smile on your face on the day that you
die; for you will remember that you have given your all, and
stretched into a new dimension of being.

Give yourself the grace to make mistakes, and expand in the

exhilaration of falling:

Forward.

You are being prepared.

This is the beginning of a new chapter.

When you let your heart guide your actions and let yourself be
moved from within, there is no failure.

Every mistake, every unpleasant surprise and every setback is but

an initiation, teaching you what is required to carry your heart’s
dreams into fruition.
 CHAPTER 15:
CELEBRATE OPPOSITION

Care about what other people think

and you will always be their prisoner. –
Lao Tzu

As you liberate yourself from foreign dreams and let yourself be

energized by what wants to flourish from within, you return to your
natural state. And as you own your power, and take tangible steps
to actualize who you are, your energy becomes more and more
palpable.

You will naturally elicit stronger reactions from the people around
you.
Your very being in the world becomes a mirror for others to see
themselves.

Some will be drawn to you, as your presence reminds them of their

own potential and heart’s callings – and some will be repelled by
you, as your presence reminds them of the ways they are hiding
from themselves.

Forget about wanting to be liked by everybody.

You do not live to satisfy the expectations of others.

You live to actualize your potential.

You are here to carry the seeds planted into your heart into infinite
blossoming, and live life as an expression of your ever-expanding
freedom and joy. Those who are drawn to the fragrance of your
energy, will naturally come into your proximity; those who are
provoked beyond their current capacity, will naturally fade out and
make space.

What is a beautiful sunflower for some, causes hay fever for others.

Release this burden:

Let them be.

Instead of hiding yourself in order to not displease anybody, make

your blossoming your priority. Give others the chance to like or
dislike you instead of meeting you with indifference; and rather
than shrinking when faced with opposition, celebrate yourself for
attempting new ways.

You are being initiated: into the power to be yourself, irrespective

of circumstances.

Feel from your heart:

Something wants to naturally flourish from inside your being; from

purity, from depth.

You do not need to convince anybody about it.

Feel inside for direction, and nurture in yourself the conviction

toward your heart’s highest fulfillment rather than forcing it on
somebody else.

You do not need to ask for approval.

Your own excitement, joy and contentment, assessed in full

honesty with yourself, are your first compass and best validation.

You do not need to impress anybody.

Over time, the energy you are cultivating inside yourself naturally
makes an impression on your surroundings and outshines any
spoken word.

You, flourish.

Into yourself.

Some will love you more than ever. You will be an inspiration for
them, and a beacon of hope; a lighthouse in the darkness.

Others will oppose you. They will try to pull you down, and attempt
to convince you that what you are setting out to do is impossible.

You do not have to fight them –

Nor do you have to be in their company.

Do not waste your energy.

Let them have their life experience, and focus on yours.

Blossom.
Celebrate opposition.

You are entering a new playing field of existence.

Welcome to freedom.
 CHAPTER 16:
CREATE ENVIRONMENTS
THAT UPLIFT YOU

Be in the company of those who reflect

and encourage who you wish to be and
inspire you to keep growing.

Once firmly planted, the seed begins to realize its potential.

Courageously, through rain and wind, the little plant reaches

toward the sun.

The sapling has no concern for the duration of the process; nor for
prestige, and neither for the opinion of different trees in the
vicinity.

The blueprint executes itself through the growing plant, in silent

delight; and there is no other way.

And yet:

The process requires the correct conditions.

To be quickened.
To be empowered.

To be enabled.
Water, sunny placement, care and protection make the difference
between magical blossoming and bare survival at the verge of
existence:

Whether or not the birds will, one day, build nests and seek shelter
in a mighty oak’s canopy — depends not only on the sapling’s
direction of growth, inner drive and upward momentum, but also
on how it is held within its environment.

Unlike the young plant, you are free to move.

Celebrate opposition as a signal of growth, but remove yourself

from toxicity; and create systems for yourself that support you.

Let yourself be seen.

Let yourself be celebrated.

Receive the visions into your heart that resonate with your being;
and allow them to sprout in fertile and welcoming grounds.

Let the light in your heart be reflected by eyes that are clear, and
that can behold beauty without envy.

Let the words that empower your freedom be heard by ears that
are open, and that perceive the silences in between.

Let your actions, whether you stumble or soar, be received by

those who can celebrate forward momentum, and who can lend
you a hand during challenging times.

Feel from your heart:

The blueprint you carry into this life is so beautiful.

The energy you are cultivating so pure.

Do not allow those who themselves are bound to spoil the seeds of
your fulfillment with negativity and opposition; but allow yourself to
receive the support that feels good.
Create it.

Seek company that widens your heart.

Cultivate friendship that relaxes your being.

If you wish to speed up the process, hire a mentor or coach who

holds you to your power and invites you to grow.

Be around those who uplift you, and whose energy transpires that
which you seek:

Your exponential fulfillment.

In the core, we are one; and as we walk each other home, we

potentiate our remembrance.
 CHAPTER 17:
FIND FREEDOM IN THE SPACE
BEYOND CHOICE

You cannot be anything that you want.

You can only be yourself. – Stephen
Cope

It is said that you can be anything that you want.

This is a half-truth.

You cannot be anything that you set your mind to. Whatever you
set out to do, needs to find a resonance in your heart, in your soul;
otherwise you are on the wrong path, living other people’s dreams
rather than realizing your innate potential.

Any attempt to be anything other than yourself is, ultimately, bound

to fail. You can push, and make it happen. And yet, whichever
“success” you generate that is not in truthful alignment with your
essence will lead back to disappointment and misery.

The hallmark of this path is empty success: boredom,

desensitization, numbness and a gray outlook on life.

Loneliness in the masses.

You cannot be anything that you want.

You can only, ever – truly and sustainably – be yourself.

In that, however, the possibilities are endless: for your essential
self is much more powerful than the mind can comprehend. You
are a living expression of the creative genius that has made the
ocean and carved the desert, waiting to remember itself in its
fullness.

Every action taken in the direction of your inner compass is like a

searing blade, cutting through the dead weight of accumulated
foreign dreams and habits and taking you deeper into your self-
realization.

You are free.

An elephant – and your exponential fulfillment is but one step

away.

As you start to move forward, you will experience friction.

There may be discomfort.

And yet, what choice do you have?

You can keep circling around the iron pole and enjoy the comfort of
predictable safety and circumstance; but once the desire for deeper
freedom awakens, there is no turning back.

You can hide for a while.

But if you are meant to carry other dreams to fruition, you can only
sustain the illusion for so long – before it must fall away.

The acorn becomes an oak.

You can only become yourself.

Live choicelessly.
Your energy – your compass.
Your dreams – your path.

Listen to your heart:

Take the choices that are choiceless with joy, delight in the
challenges, and let the silent knowing become a waterfall of
conviction.
 CHAPTER 18:
LET LIFE SURPRISE YOU

You are free.

How much love can you conduce?

Life is here to surprise you, and to stretch the limits of what you
can hold.

This journey demands everything from you. It demands the good,

the bad, and the ugly. The tears, the anger and the facets you
would much rather have hidden are waiting to be revealed, washed
and transmuted – into the most truthful expression of your
freedom.

Every experience you allow your nervous system to receive without

panic is widening your channels:

To hold more.

Love.
Power.
Joy.

Before you embark on this journey, your nervous system is not

equipped to handle the fullness of your creative genius, and the
sheer expansion of love that is at the core of your self-actualized
being.
To see yourself in your fullness would break you.

Let life prepare you.

As you walk, discard foreign dreams and cultivate the seeds that
resonate in your being, your system gradually adapts to your own
taste and frequency.

You open.
With each step.

Your heart knows the way.

Again and again: look inside, feel, and step outside the circle; a
choiceless choice from courage into freedom.

Each and every step taken in the direction of your genuine calling
prepares your nervous system to remember your original power
and purity; to remember yourself as the creative principle itself.

Let life blow your mind, and savor the experiences:

The celebrations.
The failures.
The surprises.

You cannot create, foresee or imagine your deepest life path with
your mind.

Truth itself cannot be created –

It can only be revealed.

Let life reveal itself, truthfully, and surprise you, as you unleash
yourself unto the path of your heart’s deepest fulfillment.

As all great saints and mystics have affirmed, love has forever been
and will forever be at the background of existence. The highest
human fulfillment is to reveal this as a fact through your direct,
lived experience, and to recognize that you and this creative
principle are, in essence, one.

The path to reveal your magnificence through your own life

experience is available:

Now.
And in every moment, afresh.

It beats in your chest.

It entails making unconventional choices; speaking uncomfortable

truths; liberating yourself from old conditions, and experiencing
who you are and what love is, again and again.

You, my friend, are an elephant,

And the elephant is free.

Forever, and eternally:

Free to decide.

To step outside the circle.

Or to keep playing prisoner.

Let your heart be your compass.

Decide for yourself.

You have all it takes to unleash yourself: to forge your own path
from inner authority, and make your reality surpass your wildest
dreams.

I am, honestly, so excited for you.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Does this mean I cannot have a normal life with a regular job?

A: You can have anything you want, as long as it deeply fulfills you.

Q: What is the best way to put this book into practice?

A: This whole book is a practice guide. It is recommended to revisit

the chapters that most resonate with you in this moment and
reflect on how they apply to your life and what you can extract
right now to inform your decision-making.

As a general reminder: adopt the habit of attuning your decision-

making to your inner compass. Experiment With what happens
when you trust your inner, sensory callings – and, at times,
prioritize them over your habitual thoughts and mental patterns.
Gradually, you will build confidence and discover deeper layers of
inner freedom and new visions.

Q: I cannot feel anything when I feel into my heart. How do I find

my inner compass?
A: This is a question of habit. You may have been conditioned not
to feel in this way for many years, and an unconscious belief has
been formed around “not being able to feel”. Give it time, practice
with lightness, and observe with curiosity what exactly you feel
when life situations spontaneously light you up: attune to that
feeling of expansion, and gradually, it becomes more and more
distinguishable.
Further, in order to develop the sensitivity and become accustomed
to feeling yourself, it is beneficial to engage in a formal daily
practice. You can find a supportive practice on
www.oliver.club/unleashed.

Q: What do you mean when you write that “I am the creative

principle itself”?

A: What makes your heart beat in your chest? What controls your
digestive process and your breathing? What ensures that your body
retains its vital functions as you sleep? Where in the universe there
could have been nothing, there is something. And the same
mystery, which has created the stars, is present in you. It steers
your life process and is, at the same time, the source of any real
joy and fulfillment.

This creative principle wants to, naturally, express something

uniquely through you. Any true mastery – and any exponential
fulfillment – are found only in aligning with your essential nature,
and letting come forward what is already within you. Here, you are
at one with creation.

Q: What if I do not receive those big visions?

A: Make space. Something will come by itself. Sometimes, big

visions start small: a little idea; a spontaneous inspiration. The
waterfall begins from one drop of water.

Q: Where does this journey lead?

A: Onto a path that has never been walked before: into your unique
expression of the life principle, and your fulfillment – in moments of
happiness and sadness and success and failure.

Q: How do I know if I am applying these principles correctly?

A: Imagine you were going to die tomorrow. If you can go with a

smile on your face, knowing that you have lived this life fully and
done what you had come here to do, you are applying the
principles correctly. If, on the other hand, you feel that you have
missed something – not done something, not empowered
something within you, not followed some inner calling while you
were alive – it is time to trust your heart more deeply, lean into
your edges and move.

Q: I am not currently undergoing any major life transformations. Is

the content of this book still applicable?

A: Yes. Every day, there are countless opportunities to practice

listening to and aligning with your deepest and most truthful
calling. Whether or not to spend a day in the city, which book to
pick up, which restaurant to visit, where to go on holidays or
whether or not to meet your friend for lunch: every choice, big or
small, carries a unique vibration and frequency. Some choices
match who you are in this moment, and support your highest path,
and some do not.

As you attune your decision-making process with your inner

compass, you naturally begin to gravitate toward the choices that
support your blossoming and set yourself ever more free. Over
time, seemingly small changes in behavior can lead to profound
inner upliftment and transformation.
Q: Who can support me in this process?

A: There are myriads of coaches and spiritual teachers. It is

important to choose to work with somebody with whom your heart
feels in resonance, who embodies the qualities that you seek and
who is able to see you beyond your old limitations.

If you feel a resonance to work with me privately, feel free to

contact me on: www.oliver.club/unleashed.

Q: I still have questions.

A: Look inside yourself. Your heart knows all answers. For any
further enquiries, you can contact me on my website.
 BACK COVER

“Take a bold step. Release the shackles. Unleash You.”

Somewhere inside your being, you know that “more” is available.

Things may look great on the surface; a well-lived life and objective
success. And yet, a silent sense remains of an untapped potential.
A call in your heart; a longing for deeper fulfillment and freedom.

What if the silent call was an invitation?

And what if you were to say yes?

The geniuses of all time, great innovators in business, arts and

technology and the saints and sages had one thing in common:
they were attuned to their inner guidance and followed it with
unshakable trust. In that, they found alignment with higher powers,
exceptional mastery and exponential fulfillment.

The same technology is available to you.

You hold the key in your heart. Are you ready?

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Oliver Villwock is a life coach and author on a mission to empower

heart-centered leadership. His clients are pioneers in arts, business
and modern spirituality.

After a successful career in the financial industry and experiencing

his share of unfulfilling achievement, Oliver decided to take
unconventional steps and radically follow his inner compass. His
journey took him from holy mountains in India to the ancient sites
of Egypt; from full-time meditation to sacred relationship, and back
into the world to build business that is deeply fulfilling.

His work fuses the human heart, contemporary entrepreneurship

and ancient and modern technology. This is “the Heart Revolution”.

To learn more about Oliver and his work, visit www.oliver.club.