In the previous video, we explored why it’s so important to be your authentic self if you want to create greater abundance. If we’re trying to be someone we’re not, hiding behind expectations or trying to please others, it’s like sending a letter without putting our own address on it. It’s difficult to receive what’s truly meant for us.
But once we begin making those changes, something interesting happens.
Challenges begin to appear.
As we start speaking our truth, changing old habits, and becoming more authentic, fears, self-doubt, procrastination, and anxiety often rise to the surface.
This is completely normal.
The question becomes:
How do we stay on track when those uncomfortable feelings appear?
Usually, it isn’t the goal that stops us.
It’s the feeling.
Something begins to feel too uncomfortable, so our subconscious mind activates the fight-or-flight response to protect us. Suddenly we begin seeing life through fear instead of clarity. Old coping strategies return, limiting beliefs become louder, and we start making decisions based on stress rather than truth.
Our subconscious isn’t trying to sabotage us – It’s trying to keep us safe.
The first step is simply learning to notice when this is happening.
Awareness creates a space between the trigger and our reaction. Instead of automatically falling back into old habits, we have an opportunity to choose a different response.
Seeing the Difference Between Truth and Fear
One of the most valuable skills we can develop is learning to recognize the difference between what’s actually happening and what our old fears are telling us.
Many thoughts that arise during stressful moments aren’t based on the present. They’re often old memories, limiting beliefs, and emotional patterns being triggered by current events.
That’s why awareness is so important.
When an unexpected bill arrives, something breaks down, or doubt suddenly appears, we can easily slip back into old thinking.
“If it’s not working…”
“I’m not good enough…”
“I’ll never get there…”
If you’ve been following this Financial Stress & Money Mindset series, you’ll know we’ve talked about the importance of where we place our attention.
When we continually focus on fear, lack, and self-doubt, those patterns become stronger.
Awareness helps us notice when we’ve drifted into those old stories so we can gently return to the present moment instead.
Explore the full Financial Stress & Money Mindset series for a deeper understanding of the subconscious beliefs, emotional habits, and mindfulness practices that can help you reduce financial stress and build a healthier relationship with money and abundance.
Financial Stress & Money Mindset Series:
Returning to Safety
Once you notice you’ve been triggered, begin by asking yourself a simple question:
“Am I safe right now?”
If the answer is yes, remind your nervous system of that.
Take a slow breath in.
Then breathe out even more slowly.
Look around your environment.
Notice that, in this moment, you’re safe.
Your breathing becomes a bridge to your subconscious mind. By slowing your breath, you’re helping your body move out of survival mode and back toward balance.
You might quietly tell yourself:
•Everything is okay.
•I’m safe.
•I can handle this.
•I’m going to be okay.
Sometimes it also helps to speak gently to the younger part of yourself that learned to feel unsafe long ago.
As your body begins settling, notice what you appreciate.
Perhaps you’re grateful for your health, your home, supportive people, or simply the opportunity to continue growing.
These small shifts help move your attention away from fear and back toward the present moment.
Every Time You Come Back, You’re Growing
When we’re caught in survival mode, our mind naturally searches for danger. The more we worry, the more our subconscious believes there must be something to fear.
Mindfulness interrupts that cycle.
Every time you notice you’ve been pulled away by fear and gently return to the present moment, you’re strengthening a healthier pattern.
It’s just like meditation.
Your mind wanders.
You notice.
You come back.
That isn’t failure.
That’s the practice.
Life works the same way.
Like an airplane that’s constantly making small course corrections, you don’t have to stay perfectly on track.
You simply keep returning.
Over time, those small corrections create lasting change.
Strengthening the Person You’re Becoming
Every challenge you work through strengthens your confidence and resilience.
Each time you calm your nervous system instead of reacting from fear, you’re teaching your subconscious that you can handle life.
As this happens, you naturally spend more time in your parasympathetic nervous system—the state associated with healing, creativity, clear thinking, and emotional balance.
Instead of reacting automatically, you begin responding with greater awareness.
FREE Self-Help Mindfulness Series
If you’d like to strengthen your ability to stay calm during life’s challenges, I invite you to explore my FREE Self-Help Mindfulness Series.
This six-part mindfulness training teaches practical skills to help regulate your nervous system and become more aware of the subconscious patterns that influence your reactions.
It may help you:
•Notice fear before it takes over.
•Calm your nervous system during stressful moments.
•Separate present-moment reality from old emotional programming.
•Build greater emotional resilience.
•Stay focused on your goals instead of falling back into old habits.
•Develop a healthier relationship with financial stress and uncertainty.
If you’d like support with this, I offer a free one-hour video consultation where we can explore the fears, limiting beliefs, emotional patterns, or nervous system responses that may be keeping you stuck. Together we can discuss your challenges, your goals, my therapy approach, and whether we’re the right fit to work together.
Counselling Hypnotherapy
If financial stress, anxiety, or recurring emotional patterns are making it difficult to move forward, you don’t have to work through them alone.
Through my mindfulness-based counselling hypnotherapy, I help people better understand the subconscious beliefs, nervous system responses, and emotional habits that may be keeping them stuck. Together we work toward greater emotional resilience, confidence, and lasting change.
Learn more:
Counselling Victoria
Hypnotherapy Victoria
One final thought before you go.
Progress isn’t about never getting pulled off course.
It’s about noticing when you have and gently coming back.
Every time you choose awareness over automatic reaction, you’re strengthening the person you’re becoming.
Little by little, you’ll find it becomes easier to remain calm, trust yourself, and continue moving toward the life you want to create.
In the next video, we’ll explore the nervous system in more depth and why learning to regulate it is one of the foundations of lasting personal growth.
Thank you for reading, and I wish you a wonderful week.
Arne Pedersen
