Reclaiming Control: How to Shift from Chaos to Peace
Eight years ago, I weighed 300 pounds. I was stuck in a career I despised. My marriage was toxic and volatile. I felt like everything in my life was falling apart, and I was constantly on edge. I took action relentlessly—always on the go, always moving, always worried, frustrated, and angry.
Then, everything imploded. After a lot of success, I lost my second executive-level position in 20 months, and that was the shock I needed to reset my life. That reset helped me understand what true life mastery is. I was raised by people who didn’t understand or grasp the benefits of mindfulness. They didn't possess the wisdom to teach me the power of restraint, mastery over emotion, or how our belief systems influence the direction and quality of our lives.
Without this knowledge, without understanding how to point my mind and emotions toward positive outcomes, healthier circumstances, and more powerful choices, I would never have experienced the power of inner peace and inner wealth.
Embracing Mindfulness and Inner Peace
As I began practicing mindfulness, meditating, and really diving into my mind and body to understand the chaos within, things started to make sense again. I had always seen myself as a victim of circumstance rather than the creator of my circumstances. I was holding onto beliefs, stories, and perspectives that were creating my pain. These outdated stories and beliefs led me to make choices that were out of alignment with who I truly wanted to be—pure survival mode.
When I started cleaning out my mind and emotions, letting go of these unhealthy stories, beliefs, and perspectives, the quality of my life improved. My peace and ease improved, my health improved, my family life improved, and my decision-making improved. I was able to launch a business that is now the business of my dreams, affording me the lifestyle of my dreams. Now, I’ve built my business around my life, not the other way around. My family and I earn a very nice living doing exactly what we love, and we get to fully experience life from a place of gratitude, peace, and restraint.
The Power of Inner Wealth
Finding inner peace and inner wealth is my zone of genius. I’ve helped people make a lot of money, build their businesses, and restore their health, but finding inner peace, inner clarity, and inner wisdom is where I excel. Recently, a client came to me, inspired by the calm and serenity he observed in a close friend of mine who operates a successful real estate business. This client, a multimillionaire, had lived his life solely focused on accumulating wealth, and he wanted the same inner peace my friend had.
Early on, I explained to him that when your body is addicted to the chase for money—when your body is programmed to chase wealth at the expense of everything else—it’s going to be uncomfortable to shift into a place of peacefulness. Your body tries to keep you chasing money because that’s what it feels is normal and safe. That’s when your body is in control of you, not the other way around.
He constantly ignored new ways to recondition his mind and body, and he kept returning to his addictive patterns. Unfortunately, this client wasn’t ready for the peace he claimed to want. He hadn’t yet exhausted himself in the chase for money. He said he wanted something different, but he continued to return to his addiction.
Overcoming Modern-Day Threats
In today’s world, there are no saber-toothed tigers, dinosaurs, or wooly mammoths, yet humans have transferred those external threats to money, success, and relationships. We see these things as just as threatening as a wild animal. When the stories in your mind and body about money, success, and relationships are fear-based or lack-based, your sympathetic nervous system will stay on, making life feel like a constant fight for survival, even when you have everything you need. These are premature survival instincts and need to be managed and resolved.
Understanding the Nervous System
There are two primary aspects to your nervous system: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. When your body is addicted to chaos, drama, and the hormones of stress and fear, your sympathetic nervous system will be constantly turned on. This is the part responsible for fight-or-flight, for survival mode. If your sympathetic nervous system is always on, your body will be full of stress, tension, and chaos, convincing you to constantly run hot and rearrange your circumstances to feel safe.
But no external circumstance will turn off your sympathetic nervous system when it’s pegged on. You've got to recondition your parasympathetic nervous system to turn back on and become your default state again.
This process is not always easy and comfortable because a body addicted to the hormones of stress and struggle, with its sympathetic nervous system pegged on, will not want to sit still. Sitting in silence and stillness for longer periods over time will help your body and your nervous system regain balance. In silence and stillness you can see and begin to clear out the chaos that was driving you. This will be extremely uncomfortable at first, but over time will become easier and even pleasurable. You will not lose your drive for growth, even though that is a common fear. You will still be growth oriented, but you'll grow from a place of gratitude and ease instead of stress and struggle. Nothing will seem as threatening as you once perceived them.
Finding True Peace
The journey to inner peace and inner wealth requires recognizing and addressing the stories and beliefs that keep your body in a constant state of stress. When you let go of these, your life can transform. By taking control of your mind and body, you can shift from survival mode to a life of peace, fulfillment, and true wealth—both internally and externally.
If you're tired of the chase and ready to find lasting and sustainable peace and purpose, reach out. I'd love to give you tools, techniques, and the support you need to shift out of survival mode.
Photo by Dingzeyu Li on Unsplash