Mohandas Gandhi is one of my inspirational mentors. I got a lot out of his quasi autobiography which he prefers to call, 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth.'

Whenever you choose to learn about someone, its natural certain things will stand out and enable you to rethink what makes you who you are. If you to desire to probe the dreams of your soul, you may appreciate key lessons I've learned from Gandhi :

1) Engage in regular self-reflection. Gandhi favored self-study. He dedicated himself to a life-long moral and spiritual quest to discern what made him who he was. He grew to believe only truly humble humans glimpse Truth beyond ego. He grasped an inter-connectedness with all. His experiments explored the meaning and value of his own salvation. As such, he regularly took stock of his life and considered directions for his future, before measuring himself against his own standards.

2) Shape your life according to your highest ideals. Gandhi came to believe that his decisions about how he lived mattered. He discerned that regardless of how powerless or insignificant individuals felt themselves to be, anyone could evolve to value him or her-self and personal ideals. We exert power from within that enables us to conform with whatever behaviour we feel is right at a given time.

3) Commit yourself to extending personal principles. Gandhi ascertained that the morality and beliefs we choose to live by result from external conditioning. According to him, only by exploring your perceived weaknesses will you embrace your virtues and sense areas of your life in need of reform. In other words, experience we see as moral lapses, mistakes or failures, assists us to open our eyes to the soul.

4) Repeatedly test your own character. Gandhi's life demonstrates to me that we never know ourselves as well as we think we do. Understanding why you deviate from a norm, and loving and accepting yourself as you are, is part of your life-long learning. At a given moment, how you identify your sense of self is a choice that needs to be tested. Peel the layers of illusion and deceit you have created.

5) Overcome any impulses to be intolerant. Gandhi saw hatred was a poison that could spread as intolerance. His view encourages us to forgive what we feel to be injustices. He reminds us mistreating others is undesirable, even if you have felt mistreated. He mused about the power and impact of peaceful resistence before applying it. He grew to believe positive examples were the best ones to set.

6) Realize personal change influences collective change. Gandhi lived as if consistency was imperative. His view is that if you do not practice what you talk about, then you will never be credible. A hypocrite doesn't stand as a role model for peace and truth. Gandhi said, "Become the change you wish to see in the world."