"How come that approach worked for you-and not for me!" many a frustrated friend would cry.

Humility aside in order to write this article, I can say I've been blessed with several fairly successful careers in my journey on this planet. Whether it was teaching yoga, being an acupuncturist, leading workshops, or managing a natural foods restaurant, I brought my own spirit and style to each endeavor. And in all these enterprises, friends, employees, students and clients would attempt to learn from my methods.

To the extent that these people drew inspiration from the essence of how I operated these ventures, they benefited from my approach. But to the degree they tried to copy the form of my expression, they met with frustration and failure.

Some of my best friends would get very angry with me, lamenting, "How come when you do it this way, it works out. And when I try it, it flops?"

How come? Because it is our spirit that gives life-and effectiveness-to the way we express ourselves in life. Essence fills, fuels and feeds form. Not the other way around.

An expression without essence is empty. A technique without heart is hollow. A method without meaning is madness.

Learn from the Essence of Success

There's a fallacy in the way many people try to be successful in life. The falsehood is found in trying to follow in the exact footsteps of successful people. The mistake is in following the belief that "What works for another person is going to work for me."

We can be inspired by someone else's clarity and confidence. Their strength and perseverance can motivate us. Their style and nuance can encourage us. But it's not possible to follow in their precise footprints. We aren't them!

To Thine Own Spirit Be True

We are all here to make our own special stamp on Earth. Just as our fingerprints are unique, the rest of us is unique. We've all heard this before. But many people don't realize the full implications of the fact that we are so fundamentally individual.

We are each different in significant ways. We each have a distinctive fundamental nature. We are each matchless, one-of-kind. We each have our own diverse life paths to walk that are going to very singular places.

The particular spirit of one person cannot be reproduced by another. We are each fated to make a signature impression on the universe with every action, in every unique circumstance.

Our footsteps will be distinct from someone who is walking a different road to a different destination with different life goals along the way. And the expression of our special make up affects other people and events in a very singular way.

Just a Few Small Variations!

So, ok, you say, "Since I'm a different person, there will be just a few small variations from someone else's effective approach. It'll still work for me." Good luck, but chances are it won't fly! At least, not as high!

Our individuality means that the course of our life will follow its own singular course, with its own distinct bends and curves, with its own special bumps along the road … and, therefore, needing its own creative strategies to overcome these very personal challenges and obstacles.

You're a distinct divine-human experiment! You've never happened before. There never will be another you. And you exist right now in a special time with a unique set of cultural influences.

You must set your own course, establish your own rules. What worked for another person at another time was, indeed, another person at another time.

That Was Then. This Is Now.

The winning actions taken by a person to surmount life challenges are tailored to that specific situation, at that precise time, by that distinct person. The same response may not even work for that person the next time they're in a similar circumstance. And the same behavior is even less likely to work for another person in a similar situation.

Even the approach that worked for you five minutes ago is merely the approach that worked for you five minutes ago. That approach have no bearing in the Now. It has no creative authority over the success or failure of your actions in the Present Moment.

All of our expression is special to the moment. Not only do we each vibrate at a different baseline vibration, but we express that core vibration in a varied way within every new event.

The Magic of Now

So, the more we try to get results in our life by copying, mimicking or modeling others, the more likely we will miss our goal of self-fulfillment.

To the degree we put our faith in another person's approach to success is the degree to which we fail to see the right course of action for us.

To the degree we look to our own methods in past circumstances is the degree to which we overlook what is called for in the present situation.

When we act from our own core spirit in the Now, we can fashion fresh, successful creations in the Present.