The Music of the Soul

The Music of the Soul

The Music of the Soul takes readers on a journey of change to help realise their highest potential. It's not about aspiring to be rich, famous or enlightened like another person, but rather about realising your own self-worth and sense of life purpose.

Author Stephen Chong has written a practical guide designed to help readers find their pathway and move forward to a more rich, satisfying and fulfilling life - whatever the circumstances. The book comprises 21 chapters (called Sonata's) that are philosophies that work and which Chong applies to his own everyday living. Within each Sonata there are three essential components to help readers through their journey. These are:
Stories to help connect with your own life experiences and motivations
An unfolding narration to apply the experiences of the characters to your own personal circumstances
Practical, everyday suggestions that work to help identify and act on your personal goals

QLD-based Stephen Chong is a professional development coach, keynote speaker and author, and has been practising his craft for over twenty years. During that time he has been fortunate to assist many hundreds of people through their personal challenges and career aspirations. Stephen has established a considerable reputation for designing and delivering personal development and vocational coaching and training programs. He is the author of The Book of Testaments: A Practical Guide for Spiritual Realisation and the new release, The Music of the Soul: A Pathway to a Rich and Fulfilling Life.

The Music of the Soul
Author: Stephen Chong
ISBN: 981921829185
Price: $29.95


An excerpt from The Music of the Soul: A pathway to a rich and fulfilling life by Stephen Chong M.Ed.:
Many times throughout life we are confronted with choices. So many choices! Should I take this path or that? Am I better off doing one thing or another? If I go down this path, will I really be happy? These dilemmas can relate to family, career, money or health to name but a few. They can be relatively minor or quite momentous. Often the myriad of choices that we are confronted with can create stress or inertia. We may even choose to procrastinate, or make no decision at all. All of these responses may cause us to be limited in the expression of who we are and what we choose to do in our lives. How then to plot a way forward? How do we choose the option(s) that best support what we do in our life?

The answer is in how we think. How we think is directly related to the questions we ask. When we think of something - an idea perhaps - this thought has energy. It has power. This thought may even have an emotion or a feeling attached to it that gets our heart racing and our pulse pumping above the norm. Yet, if this thought remains unarticulated, it remains just a thought.

Asking questions is an extremely effective means of unlocking the creative process, yet it is important to realise that these questions must be used with caution for indeed they have great power - power that can be inherently creative, and power that can be undeniably destructive. Indeed, we can generalise to say that questions can be either creative or destructive because they provide our mind with a point of focus. The laws of attraction dictate that any question will elicit an answer that respondsto the kind of question that was posed - either "creative or destructive" (Poland, 2005, 270-271).

Creative questions have a way of:
Taking us out of our current 'comfort zone' to experience greater levels of realisation.
Helping us achieve our goals.
Enabling us to realise greater personal awareness.

Causing us to embrace positive change within ourselves.
Connecting us to the creative power of the Universe.
Causing us to realise happiness through progress, rather than stagnation through fear.

Creative questions generally commence with: What, How or Where! For example:
How can I improve my relationship with my partner?
What actions do I need to take to improve my health?
Where do I go to learn about money management?

These questions are creative of their very nature because, inherently, they challenge the status quo of our current circumstances. Creative questions are drivers because they challenge us to seek an answer that will improve our current position.These creative questions enable us, through clarity of mind, to focus on the present and future, not on the past. Asking a question such as, 'How can I improve the relationship with my partner?' means that we are unsatisfied with our current state of being and demonstrates a willingness to try something different, or change a habit that diminishes the relationship. It can also mean that we are ready to challenge what is not currently working, or can be improved.

Creative questions are extremely useful to us when we are confronted with a personal problem or vexatious situation.

For example:
What actions do I need to take to reduce my financial debt?
How can I change my behaviour to minimise that workplace conflict with the boss?
How can I improve the performance of my company?
Where can I go for help to reduce my physical pain?

Conversely, destructive questions generally tie us to our current or previous circumstances. They link us to our current thought patterns and habits. Destructive questions can highlight and augment levels of anxiety and stress. They are a means of confirming (rather than confronting) any issues of self-esteem, orself-image that we may have.

Destructive questions generally commence with a 'why'.

For example:
Why do I always get these bills when I have no money?
Why do all the bad things happen to me?
Why does my partner have to be so nasty to me?
Why can't I be financially independent? Why am I always so busy?

At the very least, destructive questions limit our capacity to resolve and improve; at their very worst they can be highly manipulative of ourself and others. These types of questions inherently confirm our ability to remain exactly where we are in terms of that from which we are endeavouring to find release. In other words, even if our 'zone of comfort' is painful, destructive questions, by their very nature will only seek to confirm our current state of being. This is because destructive questions focus the power of our attention on the past and the emotions that govern and surround the experiences that we have previously encountered. Destructive questions compel us to focus on past experiences of (supposed) failure and focus our attention on what went wrong, rather than what can be done now to enhance and improve.

For example, when we ask of someone else a 'Why does this always happen to me?' question, it not only confirms our position in the mire of our current circumstances, but it also shows a desire to have another feel sympathy for our plight. Perhaps we hope that the other person might help or assist us in some way or, worse still, confirm our current position and join us in its acceptance.

When a question is asked such as, 'Why can't I have a happy relationship?' The answer is likely to be, 'Why can't you?' Whereas a question posed such as, 'What do I need to do to enhance my relationship?' the answer is likely to resemble something far more constructive and helpful.

If we truly embrace the fullest potential of the natural laws of the Universe, then we will begin by asking questions that enable us to create a progressive and empowering means to facilitate the power and abundance of Life, and experience the grandest of adventures. We will inevitably progress within our lives.

But then REMEMBER - once you've asked the 'right' question, you need to LISTEN. Not just listen with your ears, the answer can come in a multitude of ways - the words in a book, the talk on the radio, the words of song - but the answer will come.

An excerpt from The Music of the Soul: A pathway to a rich and fulfilling lifeby Stephen Chong M.Ed.