1. Find help. Find a person or, better yet, a group of people who inspire you, challenge you, and can help you to become the person you want to be.

2. Practice humility. Try to avoid feeling better than people who are not consciously on a spiritual path. If your path leads you to feel more separate from others, you're probably moving in the wrong direction.

3. Take risks. Having an attitude in which you're willing to experiment, try new things, and face small fears is helpful in accelerating your growth.

4. Practice honesty. The more honest you are with yourself, the more likely you can avoid the problems of arrogance and separation that can hinder your spiritual progress.

5. Develop humor. An ability to laugh at yourself and at the many absurdities in the world is a great ally on the spiritual path.

6. Nurture positive qualities. Kindness, courage, compassion, sincerity, and curiosity are great allies on the spiritual journey. Nurture these qualities in yourself.

7. Listen to intuition. Your intuitive wisdom, or "still, small voice" within will feel "right" to you and is a way of keeping you honest and headed in the right direction.

8. Watch your mind. As you grow in awareness, your prison of thoughts becomes more obvious. Seeing your prison is a first step to becoming free of it.

9. Observe devotion. Opening your heart to the Divine through the use of various devotional methods can be useful to many seekers.

10. Experiment with prayer. There are many ways to pray or converse with Spirit. As you try different approaches, note the way(s) that feel right or deepest to you.

11. Practice service. All spiritual traditions emphasize the importance of service. It helps to lessen one's sense of importance and connect more deeply with one's heart.

12. Meditate consistently. If prayer is talking to the Divine, meditation is listening to the Divine (or God). Try different meditation methods, but choose one that helps you to consistently connect with the silence within.

13. Develop body awareness. By increasing your connection to your body through body-centered spiritual practices, you can increase your health, energy, and receptivity to Spirit.

14. Use negative feelings. Your negative feelings can be a signpost alerting you to shortcomings in yourself and can be a helpful "wake-up call" to become more present.

15. Learn from relationships. Relationships can be wonderful mirrors that help you to see yourself, and through the power of total honesty, can be a helpful path toward opening up to deeper levels of intimacy and vulnerability.

16. Discover inner obstacles. The "kingdom of heaven" is already within you. Your job is to identify the obstacles you have inside yourself that prevent you from feeling more connected to Spirit.

17. Explore religions. Each religious tradition is like a unique path up the spiritual mountain. By learning from them, you can find new ways to explore your spiritual self.

18. Live simply. Money can help or hinder your spiritual growth, depending on how you use it. Fortunately, by living a simple life, you can have less stress and more time for spiritual practices.

19. Seek experts. Constantly look for people who can teach you to be more kind, help you to increase your knowledge of a specific spiritual discipline, or enhance your wisdom.

20. Find your calling. By listening to your intuition and the messages the universe sends your way, you can better know what type of work you are best suited for and what work will lead to the greatest contribution.

21. Practice appreciation. You can feel more aligned with the Divine by focusing on gratitude and the beauty in people, nature, art, and music.

22. Seek frequent inspiration. If taken in with a reverent attitude, spiritually focused books and movies can be a helpful tool along the spiritual path. Nowadays, there is an immense amount of information and inspiration readily available.

23. Explore creativity. When you create, you come closer to the Creator. Let your ability to sing, write, dance, paint, or even cook a meal be an act of opening to Spirit.

24. Create sacred space. In this fast-paced world, you need to make sure you create both the internal and external space you need to commune with your soul.

25. Prepare for the end of life. Learn to use sickness, aging, pain, and the knowledge of death as a motivator and method for going deeper within the part of you that doesn't die.