Worried about finances, being anxious about job security, worrying about children, fearful for personal security, feeling inadequate – such are the distractions that occupy the normal mind. Unfortunately, psychology has confirmed time and time again that the normal mind is plagued by negative thought. This negativity is entrenched in the subconscious – that part of your mind that was programmed with this way of thinking during our formative years – and is fed by the ubiquity of bad news, negative comment and the horror stories on which the media thrives. We are surrounded – from without and within – by the negative.

For some, that negativity results in anxiety – we become anxious about all the things that we don’t want to befall us. And this anxiety often leads to fear – again, fearful of the things that we don’t want to happen. And, for some, that anxiety can lead to outright panic – and that panic often overwhelms us when we least expect it.

Firstly, you must to appreciate is that, if you’re feeling anxious, panicked or fearful, it’s got nothing to do with the real you – it is the product of an over-active personality. Your personality – who you think you are – is a fiction comprised of all the psychological ‘snapshots’ that you took during your formative years. You ’snapped’ events that made an impression on you at the time but, now, your subconscious mind is using those photographs to create what you perceive as your reality. And, because your subconscious automatically directs your energy into these negative emotions, you generally end up proving yourself right – you were right to worry, right to be anxious, right to be fearful – your life becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Research tells us that we can only perceive and experience what we our personality expects to perceive and experience. So, if we change our expectations, our experience of life will change. However, this is easier said than done because, as I’ve already noted, not only is your subconscious mind occupied by the resident evil of negative thought, we are surrounded by so-called normal people who are similarly minded. It is a challenge to believe that life could be so different.

So, you need to start re-building your naturaly ability to ignore destructive, self-sabotaging and negative thought by refocusing on what is real. Reality is before your very eyes in the here and now. To be blunt, this breath could be your last – you had better get busy experiencing, living and capitalizing upon the wonder of the here and now. The real here and now is a place where fear, anxiety and panic are simply not. It is a place where real action is taken – action that will point your life in the perfect direction. It is a place where you meet life’s challenges head on – without fear or anxiety.

However, try telling this to someone who is in the depths of despair. Try telling this to someone who has given up on succeeding. Try telling someone who is overcome with panic that it’s not real. You’ve got to develop your ability to appreciate, experience and live in the here and now when it doesn’t matter so that you can be fully focused, fully alert, fully armed, when it does matter. So, tomorrow morning, take five minutes to sit and pay attention to what your senses are telling you – not what your imaginary personality thinks that they are telling you. Get that imposter out of the way – out of your life – and see where life takes you.