Blog by: Lata Advani Viseu

As they wandered
Around so confused
Some day
They’ll make their decision
But which one will they choose
And we all make our choices
Like a blind man feels his way,
And the choice I’ve made is simple:
Passion over pain.
Choices – Uriah Heep

Are you living your life on autopilot? Are you going through the motions, day-by-day waiting for a wake-up call? Do you need a drastic event so that you can stop and think about what you really want and start living? Are you living a “good enough” life or are you living a life with no regrets?

Living your best life doesn’t necessarily mean having a lot of money or fame. Success is whatever makes you happy and fulfilled. Many of us live life on autopilot life until we experience or are moved by something that happens to someone we love and then we “wake-up” and realize life is too short to be living like this.

If you are wondering why you cannot make a change or why you struggle, studies have shown that there are many characteristics that are imprinted in us from the time, even before we were born to age seven and that 95% of our decisions are made from a subconscious or unconscious mind that was formed then.

Things that come easily to you, where you don’t have to put in much effort, are a result of the programming you received when you were young. If you had loving, supporting caregivers and teachers who encouraged you and were positive role models, your subconscious was programmed to believe that the world was generally a good place and you looked and operated on that level and things came easily to you without much effort.

If a parent abandoned you when you were young, then you probably developed unconscious beliefs that people who love you would eventually leave you. Everything in your environment during that period had an effect on your beliefs which became part of your subconscious mind. The television that you watched, the people you were around and everything else you experienced during that period. These beliefs that were formed when you were young are usually the reasons you are not living your best life.

There was a time that I worried about everything. If there was anything that I wanted to do, I made sure not to get my hopes up. I wanted to be prepared if something were to go wrong so that I would not be disappointed. I unconsciously played all the negative scenarios without even realizing I was doing that. Without even knowing it and living life in fear, judging myself critically, worrying about what everyone thought, my beliefs were quite negative. I therefore attracted people and situations into my life that had even more of a negative impact on my life.

It was only many years later when I dove deeply into learning more about the power of the mind and our belief systems and on how to live my best life that I slowly changed. It led me to do a lot of reading on this topic and other related topics on the power of changing subconscious beliefs that were holding me back from living my best life. I took many training course which included hypnosis and getting certified as a Certified Hypnotist.

Have you ever told yourself, “I am so unlucky”, “I never win anything”? I did that in the past too. I was superstitious and told myself the numbers 13 and 17 were unlucky. I avoided doing things on those dates each month. Imagine living all your life in fear of those numbers.

When my daughter was born, I realized I didn’t want her to grow up living like that so I told her that those numbers were lucky for our family and any other negative superstitions had a positive effect on our family. Gradually, I started focussing on the positive and as I read and studied more about the power of the mind, I realized that it was not anyone but me who was responsible for my happiness. It was up to me to choose what I wanted and how I wanted to live so I slowly began fixing my unconscious negative beliefs.

These are the things I do regularly now which have moved me into a positive mindset:

1. I keep a gratitude journal and write the things I am grateful for, usually 3-5 each day and throughout the day I try to bring back my focus to things I see or things that happen and, in my mind give thanks for them, whether it’s a beautiful bird that flies past or a white feather I come across or if someone does something nice. When you are grateful, you get even more things to be grateful for.
2. I listen to a short guided meditation to start the day or imagine a golden healing light going through all the cells of my body from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, healing me physically, mentally, emotionally.
3. I read books that are inspiring, I listen to motivational talks, and attend talks and training programs to improve myself and grow constantly.
4. When negative thoughts cross my mind, I constantly question them and change them to positive ones. Instead of expecting the worst, I expect the best.

Since I changed my way of thinking, expecting things to go well, things somehow do go well and if sometimes they don’t, I try worry about it only then. I feel so lucky and grateful for all the happiness in my life ever since I changed the way I think.

Do you find yourself judging others? If a friend posts something on social media where they seem to be having a good time, do you feel happy to see them happy or does your mind become critical? Does it make you envious or jealous? Next time, catch yourself and ask yourself which unconscious belief is making you react this way? When you learn to accept and love people for who they are, you are in turn learning to love and accept yourself for who you truly are.

Life is too short so enjoy every moment. Live your best life now because that is all you have.

Please check out my website www.mindvasana.com for other blogs.

“Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you” – Richard Bach

“No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself” – Madonna

“My philosophy is worrying means you suffer twice” – J.K. Rowling

”If you change nothing, nothing will change” – anonymous