Reconnecting With Your True Self in a World of Distraction – An Interview with Guy Van de Putte
Reconnecting with your true self in a world filled with noise requires more than insight, it demands the courage to turn inward and confront the beliefs that quietly shape your life. In this conversation, we explore how inner stillness, self-awareness, and releasing limiting patterns can lead to a deeper sense of freedom, purpose, and authentic fulfillment.
Guy Van de Putte, Guide
How do you help clients reconnect with their true selves in a world full of distractions?
Distractions come in many forms. We usually start life by looking at the material world. There’s always a next goal to achieve, a new movie to see, or a deadline to be met. After enough bumps in the road, we might turn our attention to the therapeutic or spiritual world. We find solace in all sorts of workshops and trainings, self help books and podcasts, and although they bring insights and understanding, we still keep our minds occupied.
There comes a point in one’s life when every true seeker has to turn inward. To the place of stillness within. The place where we can come home to ourselves. And where wisdom resides. There are many ways to do that. Meditation is probably one of the best known, but I also encounter a lot of resistance to it. Many people hold on to the belief that they can’t meditate because their thoughts keep coming. This comes from a false definition they’re carrying. The goal is not to stop the thoughts from arising. It’s about detaching from them and becoming the observer, and thereby gradually becoming aware that we are not our thoughts, but the silent witness to them.
Of course, our breath is also a great entry point into that place of inner peace. Simply being aware that your body is breathing will instantly put you back in touch with that deeper dimension of who you really are.
What breakthroughs do people experience when they release guilt, shame, or limiting beliefs?
Everybody would love to hear that you become absolutely ecstatic and that all of a sudden, nothing bad happens to you anymore. It’s not about stopping the rain, it’s about learning to dance in it. And what arises then is a sense of inner peace. You can call it happiness if you want. We all use different definitions for it. Personally, I love the word freedom.
The freedom to make your own choices, no longer fueled by your unconscious patterns. Freedom from all the lies we’ve been telling ourselves about all the things we’ve done wrong. All shame is based upon a lie. The lie that we are defective human beings, that we could have made other choices. We couldn’t have. Not at that moment. Forgive yourself for all you would do differently now, make amends where needed and possible, and be grateful for what you’ve learned from it. It’s all about changing our mindset about the past, not about changing it or carrying the burden of it forever.
How do you support people in rediscovering their soul’s purpose and mission on Earth?
Never underestimate the power of active listening. We all know what brings us joy and what comes naturally to us. Our eyes light up when we talk about it, and a different energy enters the room. Sometimes simply pointing that out and inviting people to feel their own excitement when they talk about their passions is enough. In that sense, we all act as mirrors to each other. The right question can be the key to a new life of purpose and meaning.
However, many of us hold a belief that there is a specific end goal, that we’re failing our life’s purpose or mission because we haven’t figured out exactly why we’re here. We miss a certain job description, so to speak. We’re all here to express ourselves as the unique individuals we are, so how could we fit into a one size fits all description? We don’t need to know every step to get there. We have no idea yet what it will look like, and we don’t need to. If you look back at your life, you’ve always been guided to the right people, places, and circumstances. Deep down, we all know it. So it’s about guiding people back to that inner space of faith and trust. It is there, although it might be very well hidden.
This process might take some time, but the most important thing is not to judge yourself when you find yourself back in despair. Honor your pace, honor your path, and trust that life is working out for you, never against you, no matter what the outside world might look like.
What’s the most common barrier you help clients overcome on the path to fulfillment?
We have all had our own life experiences where we encountered pain and loss, rejection and betrayal. And usually, we only seek help when things get really bad, when we feel we can’t go on anymore or we don’t know how to. By then, we have collected quite a storybook. So the stories my clients share with me are very diverse. But underneath it all, we all seem to share the same conviction. The form may vary, but it’s usually something along the lines of “I’m not good enough,” “Something’s wrong with me,” or “I am a failure.”
Once that belief turns into a conviction, it becomes a pattern that unconsciously dictates our lives. And all the events taking place outside of us are measured by those upheld beliefs we carry within us. So we start performing and putting on an act. We start behaving the way we think will get us the love and validation every human being desperately longs for.
It’s about permitting ourselves to be fully us. That’s where true fulfillment is found, living a life in alignment with our passions, our hopes, and our dreams. Without the fear based background noise telling us we won’t be able to make a living out of it or that we will estrange ourselves from the people around us. We were all born with a specific skill set, specific passions, and interests. Those aren’t random. Nothing in nature is. Look at any ecosystem and how well it is designed by divine intelligence. Don’t doubt for a second that you’re out of place. You’re part of life. Life needs you and what you have to offer, or you wouldn’t be here.
How do you measure transformation when someone truly reconnects with their core self?
This is actually a difficult question to answer, as it will not always be visible from the outside. We’re used to measuring success in terms of numbers or certain behaviors, but true inner transformation is very personal. Therefore, the way it looks from the outside may differ greatly from person to person. Sometimes the outer world doesn’t change a lot, or not at first. On the inside, however, there is peace. Peace with what is. We stop fighting life and the events happening around us.
This doesn’t mean we no longer interact with what is or that we no longer feel emotions when something happens. But we learn to accept it first before trying to change it. We take a step back, relax into it, and see what comes from there. We stop performing and make different choices, choices that align with our inner truth, even if that means we have to give up certain things.
Of course, there are signs as well. We’re all attracted to those who are expressing their authentic selves. You can see it in their eyes, you feel the sincerity. There are no hidden agendas. Something has changed. There’s a calmness there, very different from what we usually encounter when we engage with other people.
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