Who's Really Leading Your Mind? Reclaiming Your Attention, Health, and Joy

Over the last few months, I’ve found myself doing something I didn’t expect.

I’ve been deconstructing.

Not just my schedule.

Not just my business.

My thinking.

I’ve had to clear the hard drive of my own mind.

The more I’ve stepped back, the more I’ve realized how many things we simply accept because everyone else does.

Drink the alcohol.

Need another coffee.

Hit the vape.

Grab the processed food.

Push through the exhaustion.

Wear burnout like a badge of honor.

Question any of it and suddenly you’re the “health nut.”

The “tea totaler.”

The one on a high horse.

(I do love my herbal tea, in fact I had Tulsi aka Holy Basil Tea in that cup)

Not because I’m trying to be perfect.

It’s because I want to think clearly.

I want my body to carry me through my 60s, and into my 80s, and beyond.

I want to move with strength and freedom.

I want my brain working at 80 BETTER than it does today.

To me, that means giving my body AND BRAIN what it was designed to thrive on:

Real food.

Intentional movement.

Fresh air.

Deep breathing.

Quality sleep.

Meaningful work and relationships.

Peace.

That doesn’t mean everyone has to make the same choices I do.

Adults get to choose. Sometimes we forget that when the “life train” gets rolling fast.

However, there’s a question I’ve been asking myself…

How many of “my” choices are truly MINE?

And how many simply became normal because I repeated them long enough or absorbed them from the culture around me?

That questioning has changed everything. And sometimes, it hurts my brain to have to actually think about the choices I’ve made, that has led me to somewhere honestly, I wasn’t cool with - ouch!

I’ve watched people encourage and invest in behaviors that then became "habits" that slowly destroy health and true well being while demeaning anyone who questions it or actually decides to stop or not participate.

I’ve watched high achievers build incredible careers while quietly losing themselves.

I’ve watched “success” without peace.

Performance without vitality.

“Achievement” without joy.

And it makes me wonder:

Are we really leading our lives…

Or simply reacting to programming we’ve never stopped to examine? Hmmmm…

When you hit your 50s and you are still playing out the childhood drama triangle, you have to really look hard. I’ve studied a lot over the past 4 decades to understand the whole person - their history, the environment, the mind, their body, their spirit and each have their own language participating in the tapestry of our existence. When I see how powerful an executive can become but are more effective at controlling a company than their own mind I know exactly what I’m seeing. Neuroscience tells us that many of our daily behaviors become automatic over time. Right, that’s repetition acting on the brain. That sets into the body as well and is incredibly useful when those patterns serve us, but it also means we can be massively controlled with simple repeater techniques for mind control which is seriously everywhere and we carry it around on our body daily. So it’s worth asking whether our habits (see my video on HABITS and what they actually are) still align with the life we want to create.

Hey, good news though, you don’t have to believe everything you’ve been told. And I certainly hope you protect your powerful subconscious from “seeing” garbage as your main course. That input will inevitably lead to garbage out.

You don’t have to keep living on autopilot.

You can pause.

Question.

Reflect.

Choose.

Lead your thoughts.

Lead your attention.

Lead your emotions instead of letting them lead you.

Protect what enters your mind because your mind is powerful and one of your greatest assets. And holy smoke can it be totally controlled and used AGAINST you if you don't get back in the pilot seat my friends.

Your life follows your focus.

These days I am choosing joy as a priority.

Not because life is perfect or without pain.

Because joy and my peace is a decision I intend to protect, and I'm going to the mat on this one.

Anything that continually steals my peace, clouds my thinking, or pulls me away from becoming who I’m called to be no longer gets unrestricted access to my mind or any other part of me if I can help it.

Maybe today is your day to clear your own hard drive. (It’s a process worth taking on!)

Not to become someone else.

But to finally become more fully yourself.

Because the greatest freedom isn’t doing whatever you want.

It’s becoming conscious enough to choose why you want it in the first place.