I want to share something with you that has changed my life.
Yes it’s a massive, sweeping and controversial statement to lure you in and compel you to read on, but I want to let you into a secret that has helped me transform my small, yet now meaningful and significant existence!
Last year, after a whole lifetime of being enslaved by them - I finally took control of my thoughts.
I have spent many years enduring an endless battle with my own mind. I have always been a frightful worrier: finding something to obsess over, some imminent disaster I am simply powerless to prevent. Sometimes it rears its ugly head as health or money worries, sometimes paranoia, sometimes it’s just waking up in bad mood for no apparent reason.
It might come as a surprise that someone such as I would struggle with their mental health. This being the same person who can stand up, sing and speak in front of crowds of people. The same person who can disappear off confidently to a foreign country alone with simply a backpack and map for company.
But I have been harbouring a shameful secret: I have been faking it all along.
However I digress: something shifted last year and I want to see if it might inspire other people take control of their lives.
There was a point last year I was struggling financially, after quitting my day job to focus on music and writing. I was struggling to secure regular work in the creative industries. The heart-stopping thought of stepping back into an office, or even worse - a call centre, would literally make my blood run cold (sorry to anyone who actually enjoys such work but I’d rather hang myself from the ceiling by a headset than wear one again).
The problem I had is that those negative thoughts were plaguing my mind - not allowing room for anything else. One day I was having a wobbly moment at my desk at home, when my eyes glanced over at my vision board which was pinned up - almost smiling back at me. I gazed longingly at some of the pictures of countries I wanted to visit, imagined setting up my home studio, travelling the world and being able to indulge my loved ones.
My mind began to wonder as I daydreamed strolling along sandy beaches, sipping back coffee, writing and decorating my new home. This was a lot more of an exciting prospect than contracting a terminal illness.
A couple of minutes later the postman arrived with a thank you letter and cheque from a happy client. Wow, lucky me!
As the months went on, when I found myself starting to obsess over negative things I would redirect my thoughts to obsessing over how I would get more creative work. In the months that followed several freelance jobs came in and I was able to book a backpacking trip across Eastern Europe.
So how does this thought reprogramming malarkey work I hear you ask?
**Imagine that your thoughts are rainwater which fill a vat. The vat has two taps: one hot and one cold**
Hot tap = nice things, health, wealth, happiness and prosperity
Cold tap = fear, poverty, misery and subsequent end of world
When you realise the cold tap is running, go back and turn it off and turn the hot tap on. Imagine you only have a finite amount of water in the vat, why would you want to waste such a precious resource on self sabotage?
If you find yourself obsessing over something that isn’t happening RIGHT NOW, stop yourself immediately and start thinking about what you want and why you want it. Your subconscious is so powerful that it’s at work all the time, even when you’re asleep.
**Top Tips**
- There is more than enough for everyone to live a happy, healthy and fulfilled existence. We are just programmed to believe otherwise by an unfair society!
- Do not impose any limits on your ability to create anything you want. Time is only a barrier if you are holding a watch and keeping score
- Don’t EVER feel guilty for wanting to better yourself in any way: financially, creatively, mentally, physically…
- Remove anyone from your life who doesn’t want you to be happy or attempts to stop you from being successful. If they keep eating your energy stop feeding them!
- Give unconditionally what you can spare. If you have more, there’s more to go round for someone else
- Be grateful for what you do have. Someone else may be gazing longingly at the life you might hate sometimes
