Worrying about money, being anxious over job security, worried about children, fearful of personal security, obsessed by feelings of inadequacy – these are the things that entertain the normal mind. Unfortunately, psychology has confirmed time and time again that the normal mind is actually obsessed by negative thought. This negativity is entrenched in the subconscious – that part of the mind that was programmed with this form of negative thinking during our childhood years – and it is now fed by the ubiquity of bad news, negative comment and the horror stories on which the media thrives. We are surrounded – from inside and outside – by the negative.

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

The first thing that you have to understand is that, if you’re feeling anxious, panicked or fearful, it’s got nothing to do with you – it is the product of your over-enthusiastic personality. Your personality – the person that you think you are – is a fiction founded on all the psychological ‘snapshots’ that you took when you were young and impressionable. You took snapshots of events that made an impression on you at that 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 pretty much end up proving yourself right – you were right to worry, right to be anxious, right to be fearful – your life ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Research tells us that we can only perceive and experience what we expect to perceive and experience. In other words, if we change our expectations, our life will actually change. However, this is easier said than done because, as I have already said, not only is your subconscious mind occupied by the resident evil of negative thought, you are surrounded by so-called normal people who are stuck in the same nightmare. It is hard to envisage life being so different.

So, you need to start re-building your innate ability to ignore destructive, self-sabotaging and negative thought by refocusing on what is real. Reality is awaiting your undivided attention in right here, right 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 you take real action – action that can point your life in the right direction. It is a place where you meet life’s challenges head on – without anxiety or fear.

But try explaining this to someone who’s 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 isn’t real. You’ve got to develop your ability to experience, appreciate and live in the present moment when it doesn’t matter so that you can be fully focused, fully alert, fully armed, when it does matter. So, tomorrow morning, take a few minutes to simply sit down and focus on what your five senses are telling you – not what your imaginary personality thinks that they are telling you. Root out that imposter – out of your life – and see where life might take you.