Living Consciously: The Path to Inner Happiness and Fulfillment

By Teresa Greco.

Did you know that we live 98% of our day from the subconscious mind? Yes, 98% of what we do every day comes from habit, which includes many actions we don't even think about because we've been doing them day after day, and maybe for years. This includes bodily functions like your heart beating, breathing, and digesting your food, to automatic movements like your morning routine, driving to work (where you ask yourself, "How did I even get there?"), riding a bike, swimming, and playing an instrument.

Many of us live according to a programme we're unaware of that's dictating how we think, feel, and act. These behaviours can include waking up, grabbing our cell phones to check our texts, emails, and social media, and then getting out of bed and following a routine sequence of behaviours throughout the day only to repeat the same process all over again the next. These automatic actions are guided by one of the most potent inner forces that drive human behaviour – the subconscious mind.

"By the time we're 35 years old, there is a memorised set of behaviours, emotional reactions, unconscious habits, hardwired attitudes, beliefs and perceptions that function like a computer programme," according to Joe Dispenza. This leaves us with a meagre 2% to consciously change our thoughts, beliefs and actions and become aware of what our subconscious mind has been doing and reacting to every single day.

If we are going to be happier people, then we must take a more active approach to design the life we want. So how do we do that? Well, with dedication, consistency, and rewiring, we can reprogram our minds with thoughts that empower us to reawaken our innate potential to be who we really are.

The first step is awareness. Becoming aware of the thoughts and beliefs that aren't serving you and have you living a life you're unhappy with. Next is deciding what you want and focusing on it by giving your brain direction. What do you want physically, emotionally and spiritually in your personal and professional life?

Then it's committing to doing away with any negative and limiting beliefs about yourself, to change the paradigms that are having you 'playing it small,' and changing a fear-based mindset to a growth mindset instead. Last is taking consistent action to consciously take the thoughts we do want to have and plant them in place of the old belief.

Taking steps such as the following can assist in rewriting the programming in our minds:

• Become aware of the negative self-talk and beliefs that have you playing your small self. Replace these with empowering opinions and statements like positive affirmations about ourselves, our goals, and the aspects we want to change about our lives.
• Have an attitude of gratitude. This helps you to notice more of what is going well in your life and remark less about what isn't. Being grateful for all the small advancements along the journey will keep you motivated and positive, rather than feeling defeated when you focus on not reaching your goal in the timeframe you initially set out. Happiness lies in the journey and not only in achieving our goal.
• Have a positive attitude towards change. Rather than approach the uncertainty that comes with change with feelings of fear, worry, and pessimism, try switching your mindset to embrace the new possibilities that can arise because of change instead; understanding that change is inevitable and a natural part of all life, and appreciating that life never stays the same.
• When reprogramming our mind for success, it's essential that we surround ourselves with people and things that help keep us on track. So, spend more time with positive, uplifting, and inspiring people, music, and books.
• Visualisations are also a great tool that can help you envision the goal as if it has already happened. Incorporate all your senses when doing this and feel the achievement of your goal emotionally. What does the endpoint look, smell, sound, and feel like? Your subconscious mind will absorb the thoughts and feelings in your images as if they were real and, with enough repetition, create new neural pathways in the brain.

These new pathways enforce the new behaviour, and the old pathways or habits wear away. For example, visualising what your body would look like after losing the extra weight and the steps you're going to take to make the goal come true will reinforce the positive actions in the brain, and the old habits will fall away. On a spiritual level, when we visualise our goals as already having been achieved and feel gratitude for this, we're telling the Universe to help make our goal a reality. Experiencing the end goal with all our senses places us in vibrational alignment with the energy that will draw what we desire to us. We must remain consistent in the belief that the Universe will align things in such a way that our goal becomes a reality if it is for the highest good for ourselves and others.

To live your desired life, you must decide who you want to be, commit to letting go of fear and the beliefs holding you back, and take actionable steps toward your happiness. Make a conscious choice to be present and aware of your thoughts, beliefs, and actions in every moment and redirect your focus on making your life a masterpiece and designing a life with happiness, passion, and fulfilment.

Teresa Greco is a certified happiness life coach pursuing her Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology and inner happiness. She is a multiple-time TEDx speaker, 3X bestselling author, international writer, and editor of a Canadian lifestyle magazine. An educator of over 25 years and educational technologies consultant, Teresa is also the host of two Internet TV and radio shows.

As a coach, reiki master, and spiritual guide, she holds workshops and mentors others about embracing, honouring, and loving their true authentic selves and achieving their own personal happiness and fulfillment.

You can follow Teresa on her Website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.