Climbing the floors: From unconscious living to conscious living

So last week I introduced he idea of the 10-storey building, but how do we move up the levels to a better view, a different level of consciousness, and ultimately a more meaningful life? What work is necessary to get there?

First, we need to become aware of where we are and where we want to be. What needs to change? Remember: Nothing changes if nothing changes.

It’s very much like using a GPS. Before beginning the journey, you first enter your current location and then your desired destination. Only then can the route begin to unfold.

The same applies to transformation. We start by setting an intention.

Intention is powerful because it gives direction, purpose, and inspiration. It creates movement. It awakens possibility. Without intention, we simply drift through life repeating the same unconscious patterns.

So we begin by asking ourselves:

• Why do I want this change?

• What is not working in my life?

• What needs my awareness, attention, and action?

And perhaps most importantly: How do I want to feel?

Often, it is not the actual thing we desire, but what we believe it will give us emotionally. Whether it’s success, health, a relationship, money, peace, freedom, or purpose… underneath all of it is a feeling we are seeking.

We believe: “When I get there, then I’ll feel better.”

But what if the real journey is not about changing our outer environment first?What if the real work is internal?

So it becomes important to ask:

• What am I resisting?

• What feels lacking within me?

• What am I hoping this external thing will fulfil?

When we begin to get the inside right, when we begin doing the inner work necessary to climb the floors, the outside often begins to fall into place naturally. These questions take us deeper into awareness.

Most people live much of their lives on autopilot; driven by unconscious patterns, conditioning, beliefs, emotional reactions, and habitual behaviours. We become programmed by past experiences and operate from those programs without even realising it.

Transformation requires us to become conscious of what has been unconscious. We cannot transform our current situation from the same level of consciousness that created it in the first place.

So now we have an intention. We are becoming aware of what needs to change, where we want to be internally, and what no longer serves us. We have the end in mind, so to speak. We want to reach the top floor — and the only way to get there is through inner work.

• Not by constantly changing our outer circumstances.

• Not by running away.

• Not by waiting for life to become perfect.

But by becoming more conscious.

So how do we begin becoming conscious of our unconscious patterns?

A good place to start is with the present moment. We begin paying attention to what is happening while it is happening, moment to moment, without judgement.

We become observers of life unfolding in front of us and within us.

We begin noticing:

• What we are thinking

• How we are feeling

• How we are behaving

• How we react and relate to situations

• What triggers us

• What stories we keep repeating internally

The next step is very important: We practice acceptance.

Acceptance does not mean we agree with what is happening or that we like it.It simply means we stop denying reality.

We acknowledge: “This is what is happening right now.”

We also acknowledge our internal state honestly: “This is what I am feeling. What am I thinking? How am I reacting?”

Without resistance. Without pretending. Without immediately trying to fix, control, or escape it.

This is where conscious transformation begins.

Because awareness creates space.

And in that space, we begin to reclaim choice.

Now let’s look at what often happens when we remain unconscious, living day to day through programmed patterns, beliefs, attitudes, emotional conditioning, and survival responses. We begin living almost like robots, lost in the world of the conditioned mind.

We lose awareness of how our moods colour our experiences. We carry chronic tension, stress, and anxiety. We remain stuck in dysfunction and reaction. We make unconscious choices that create pain and suffering. We miss the beauty of life and precious moments we can never get back.

But if we pause and begin doing the inner work, if we start climbing the floors, something shifts.

We become more present. More intentional. Less reactive and more responsive. We suffer less because we are no longer completely identified with every thought, emotion, or external situation. Instead of being consumed by life, we begin relating consciously to what we are experiencing. And as consciousness expands, so does our experience of life.

We begin to experience more: Presence. Clarity. Peace. Gratitude. Joy. Meaning. Freedom.

The view changes as consciousness expands.

And perhaps that is what climbing the floors really means.

Not escaping life, but finally seeing it clearly.

Not becoming someone else, but becoming conscious of who we truly are beneath the conditioning, fear, noise, and unconscious patterns.

That journey begins with awareness. With presence. With the willingness to do the inner work.