Do you ever wonder how people manage to live successful, satisfied, happy, confident and balanced lives? Their ability to do so is in fact not a matter of luck, but a combination of skills and right action. You too can gain control of your own life if you understand how your brain controls your thoughts, emotions, and physical reactions, and how you can use these mechanisms to your advantage.

Do you often feel life controls you?

Do you feel that you are not on a position to do the things that fulfil you and enrich your life?

Do you feel helpless and like a victim of your circumstances?

Are you living your own life, or someone else's?

How about taking charge of your own destiny and doing what fulfils you?

How?

First and foremost, it would make a difference in your life if you understand that you and you alone are the director of your life. You cannot make anyone other than yourself responsible for your well-being.

Once you accept this and are ready to take responsibility for yourself and your life, then you are well on your way to a better place

This journey entails two parallel paths:

In a first step, find out what "programming" determines your life and then dissolve it. 
This programming is deeply rooted in your childhood experiences. It is often sub-conscious, i.e. it is kept in a part of the brain that is not readily accessible to your perceptive consciousness.

Your everyday life experiences may give you a clue as to the type of programming you are looking for, because your outer reality is merely a mirror of what goes on inside you.

Simply recognizing these patterns, however, does not mean that they are automatically dissolved.

In a second step, you need to establish new patterns to replace the old. This requires persistence and constant practice with a view to building up the necessary strengths.

This sort of effort involves exercises on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual level. They are necessary so that you can establish and maintain a better quality of life, calm and serenity, and also make the way you handle everyday challenges a rewarding and empowering experience.

As first step, it is important to realise the current state of your riverbed. The following questions can help you figure it out:

How easy is it for you to get out of bed in the morning?

How well do you make it through the day?

How long can you remain focused?

How easy is it for you to do what you have planned to do?

What is stopping you?

How often do you let things stop you?

If your energy is easily scattered, then you are lacking in the attentiveness and focus on your goals you need to move your life in the direction you want it to go. It is an indicator of a weak or porous “riverbed.”

This kind of riverbed needs reinforcement work.

Are you asking yourself right now, how you should know whether your riverbed is fundamentally solid or not?

That will be the case if you can get out of bed in the morning without a problem, and can efficiently complete the tasks you have set for yourself.

There are a number of other important factors that contribute to a solid riverbed, or that can help you to stabilise it and raise your energy levels.

Take a look at some of the situations in your life, when you felt full of energy, strength and joy. What contributed to you feeling that way?

Many people may think here of a time when they had just fallen in love: the outlook is rosy, self-worth is strengthened and affirmed, and words and actions are constructive.

Unfortunately, situations like these are not very stable. Nevertheless, they offer hints as to what to do to feel strong and positive, even without an affirmation by others.

After all, everyone’s experience is different. Some thrive with constructive thoughts, words, and actions, for others it is conversation with other people, playing sports or exercise, and for others it is inner reflection and meditation.

The most successful methods are the ones that bring joy and offer stimulation.