The New You in 2022

BY Terry Pryor

Writer, Poet, Life Coach, and Student of the Mind

Note: This is the second month of action described in a series of motivational articles. Take some time each month to complete these action items, and you’ll see a “New You” emerge. Enjoy!

Today, I am encouraging you to vent—quietly, please.

Quietly venting is actually a healthy activity. It allows you to focus on all the things you are not content with. I encourage this exercise no matter what is causing you to be unhappy. Knowing what you don’t want allows you to clear the way for what you do want.

Life has a way of putting us in positions that cause us to make choices. Choices are wonderful. We love choices. But, having too many choices coming at us at one time can create an overload. At times, we look back and realize that if we had thought a bit more about a particular choice, we just might not have chosen it. Although there is no going back, you do have the option not to make that choice again.

Find a comfortable place to relax. Get out a pencil or pen and your legal pad or notebook. Begin writing down everything you dislike about your life. I mean everything! No one but you is ever going to see this, so vent, vent, and vent some more. Nothing is too big or too small. This is your wish list in reverse. Write down everything you never want to do again.

The point of this exercise is to plant in your subconscious the seeds of what you want in your new perfect life. You may not know what that perfect life is yet, but because it will be perfect, you sure know what you don’t want it to contain.

Let the things you dislike flow out of you onto your paper. They will come very quickly at first because some things will immediately come to mind—that nagging boss, the work you had to bring home at night, an awful commute, a lemon of a car, the archaic computer that crashes three times a week—whatever they are, write them down. You just might want to begin recording notes in your phone throughout these processes. It is an invaluable tool.

You, Your Partner in Success

What is the true meaning of a successful life? Some might answer a million dollars; others, the ability to travel around the world. Perhaps your answer is a prestigious job or the perfect relationship or family. I think if we all really drilled down, we would agree that having a life of sustained peace, joy, and happiness would be considered a successful one.

But remember, all tangibles are easily lost. The million bucks, the ability to travel, the job—are all external items outside our control. Peace, joy, and happiness come from within ourselves, and if we understand that we are in control of those things, we really can have it all.

Your Treasure House

There are two levels or parts to your mind: the conscious and the subconscious.

We think consciously. As long as we are awake, thoughts stream through our consciousness. Scientists say we have more than 10,000 thoughts per day, but we often don’t pay attention to what we are thinking. I’m sure you have had this happen. For example, you begin thinking about what to have for supper. All of a sudden, your thoughts have taken you down memory lane to something your grandmother cooked for you years ago.

You began with a problem to solve, “What’s for supper?” and ended with tears in your eyes, as you fondly recall your grandmother who has long passed. How did you get there and what were all the thoughts in between?

Imagine trying to remember every single thought you had today before you drift off to sleep. It would not be possible. Furthermore, many people are unaware that they have any control over their thoughts at all. Thoughts can run through our heads like naughty children who won’t listen.

Your subconscious is the creative part of your mind. It is the control tower, directing flights (conditions in your life) in and out of your life experience—every day, all day, your entire life long. It listens to you with complete and total attention, and whatever you demand it to do, it does.

Working together, the conscious and the subconscious are your most precious assets, your treasure house of infinite possibilities.

The best way for me to explain the interactive workings of these two parts of your mind is to have you visualize a garden. Your consciousness plants the seeds and your subconscious is the fertile soil, the water, the sun, and the necessary conditions for your seeds to grow.

Your thoughts are the seeds of your conscious mind; the fertile soil of the subconscious is where they take root and grow.

Whatever you consistently think about in the conscious mind seeps down into the garden of the subconscious and begins to flourish and grow. If you habitually think fearful, negative, and unhappy thoughts, your subconscious will grow more of those. If you consistently think happy, positive, and joyful thoughts, that is what your subconscious mind will grow more of for you.

Your mind is the genie of your universe, and you know what that genie says…“Your wish is my command!” This is a very important lesson. Once you understand how your thoughts create your conditions and experiences, you will have the power to literally change your life.

Once you’ve written down all of those things you dislike in your life, it’s time to pay attention to how often you think about those things, and when you do, change your focus to what you DO want in your life.