Dear Success Seeker,

In my last newsletter I provided four strategies you can use to increase your freedom and personal power in an increasingly disempowering world. To review, they are: 1) Take care of your health; 2) Eliminate debt; 3) Live within your means; and 4) Be true to yourself.

These are useful and practical steps. However there is one more powerful, high-level action you can take that will improve your life even if you ignore all of the above. Best of all, when you use this approach the results are instantaneous!

What causes your experience of life?
You probably think that the quality of your life depends on external factors like how much money you have, your work, your health, your family situation etc. That's not true! Although external factors can influence your quality of life, it is possible to have a rich, fulfilling life even if none of the above are working as well as you'd like.

Imagine this situation. You and a partner own an investment property together. On the first of the month a long-term tenant gives you notice that they are moving out. You are excited because this means you will be able to implement a long-overdue rental increase for the unit. You tell your partner and instead of being excited she is devastated. She liked the tenants and she's not in this for the rental income. What's important to her is the long-term investment value. She's afraid you may never find such good tenants again.

Exactly the same external event has happened for both of you but you are having wildly different emotional responses. That's because it is not what happens that matters; it's what you make it mean that determines your experience in the moment. And what you make it mean is determined by your attitude; how you look at it.

Inspirational Examples
This has been demonstrated by some illustrious role models. Victor Frankl spent 3 years doing slave labour in Nazi concentration camps yet maintained his sense of inner calm. He said, "The last of human freedoms is the freedom to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances." Nelson Mandela made the choice to forgive the apartheid government during the 26 years it imprisoned him instead of condemning it. As a result, South Africa is the functioning country it is today.

It's your attitude - the way you look at things - that determines your experience in any and every area of your life. And the great news is that you can shift your perspective towards any situation, instantaneously.

Making this miraculous shift involves 3 steps
1) Awareness: The first step to altering your experience of any situation is awareness. Stop reading right now and shift your attention to observing yourself. I call this invoking the Overseer; the part of you that can observe yourself. From this expanded perspective you can notice what you are thinking, doing and feeling in the present moment. This step is essential because you can't change something unless you are aware of it. To give a real-world example, we needed to be aware that asbestos was dangerous before we saw the benefit of removing it from our homes.
2) Choose again: Once you become aware of what you are thinking and feeling, decided if your attitude is creating the experience you want for yourself. Remember, it's how you look at it that matters. Suppose someone cuts you off in traffic and you become aware that you are upset. "Crazy driver - could have caused an accident." That may be true, but is your perspective giving you the experience you want? If not, come up with a better alternative. Perhaps you could imagine that the other driver is racing desperately to the hospital to see a loved one who is dying. You don't know whether that is true or not but if you bless them instead of cursing them, you set yourself free regardless of what they are doing.

3) Practice: It is one thing to know how to free yourself; it is quite another to develop the habit of having awareness and intentionally choosing your attitude. This is why I believe so strongly in personal and spiritual development trainings like Context Associated, Landmark Training, Clearmind Institute, Ho'oponopono and others. Being around others on the same journey creates an opportunity to practice these principles and not just learn them intellectually.

Conclusion
My main point in this. If you want to improve the quality of your life, learning to manage your own mind is the most important thing you can do. By all means work on the 'outer game' by improving your health, finances and so on. However you are already better off than over 90% of people in the world. The real secret to having a better life is working on your 'inner game'. This will transform your life and set you free no matter what happens in the world around you.

To your success!

Andrew Barber-Starkey, Master Certified Coach
Founder and President, ProCoach Success System