About Life

Yesterday was our life coaching event in Innsbruck with Alexander Vitocco. It was brilliant! There are so many things you can learn at these kinds of events. I love always being able to walk away with something new. It's even like when I re-read a "self-improvement" book, even though the words on the page are the same, I always find another point that stands out in a way it hadn't before!

What stood out to me yesterday is how you can kind of get stuck in an old (and useless) mindset. There was a time at the end of 2013 when I was constantly changing, improving, feeling wonderful and harmonious all the time. The number on my bank account was steadily growing, I was doing great on my tours and everything was seemingly "perfect."

Then I spent some of money on various things once I moved to Innsbruck and I started accepting something I call "half-successes." A half-success is the pain-staking average, the minimum wage you accept because "that's the way it is," the mediocrity of day to day life, etc. I know, know, know life is beautiful and full of magic. But sometimes I allow a type of figurative cataract to cloud my vision. The smog sets in, so to speak. And so I accept disrespect as normal, I start to "get used to" the amount of money on my bank account, and I adapt to the status quo of life.

But people, life should adapt to us! My life is about me and no one else! Of course I care for the people in my life, but my life isn't and shouldn't be about anyone else. I want to help people deeply and I want to change the world, but I will never be able to do that before I help and change myself! And so I'm realizing it's beneficial to read, re-read, re-read again, watch seminars over and over, listen to audiobooks every day, and really fill up your "think tank" with positive information. Mostly everyone knows this principle anyway, but why do so few of us make it stick? It's easy to read a book once. It's easy to watch video and say, "mhm, yes, that's so true!"

But I found that December and January had been possibly the most harmonious, joyful, and positive months of my life. Why? Because I practiced principles and lived them all the time. I read The Secret over and over and over again, all the time, every day. And the information and principles stuck! I started writing every morning and every night what I was grateful for. Even if it was stupid things like, "I'm grateful for my long hair," (yes, potentially superficial I know, but I wrote anything I was grateful for which would eventually lead me to deeper things). I dreamed my big dreams and lived my vision. Everyday, I reminded myself of where I want to go. I lived my vision! In La Palma, I created feelings of giving and receiving love, the feeling of being in a relationship. Now I had no idea where a relationship would come from, but it didn't matter. All I did was just 'feel' this thing into existence- and it worked. I literally created the world I live in. And the thing is, you and I do that every day. But we forget. We get distracted by things like spilling the coffee, the people who cut us off in traffic, the kids who won't give us a break, etc.

And then the phone rings and your sister is bugging you and the trash needs to be taken out and the darn rain flooded your basement and this person showed up too late and, and, and...

Do you see what I mean? And unfortunately I've kind of "stuck" myself since I returned from Florida. Some major fears set in the back of my mind and actualized themselves in the form of this contented attitude, more stress, arguments, whatever. It's so easy to forget that I have the power to change this! If something scheiße happened, I have the power to decide for something wonderful! If my day didn't go the way I wanted, I will lay back and visualize it the way it "should've" happened. Everything I desire. There is no reason to be satisfied with average because "other people have it worse." Saying someone can't be sad because because someone else may have it worse is just like saying someone can't be happy because someone else may have it better! (In this case by sad I mean dissatisfied with the current situation, whatever it is).

So as I mentioned in my last post, I've already put an end to the complaining. By complaining, you're defeating yourself and rendering yourself powerless against any negative force.

I'm also done accepting the ordinary. I mean, I have nothing against down-to-earth, but that's not what I mean with ordinary. I mean just mediocrity. I am grateful for what I have, but it could be more. Like Alex said yesterday, he likes to be happy but dissatisfied. Happy and grateful for the things you have, but it could be better. It could be more. And that's the point. When I see something happen that I don't like, I won't reject it or evaluate it as "bad." I will move on and focus on what I do like and what do want. And I know what I want!!!

So a big thank you to Alex Vitocco for opening my eyes again and helping me to understand that it's all to easy to get "settled" into the way things are, but it's important to reach for what you really want. If you want more money (easiest example), state it. Decide it and live it. I am so so so tired of "scraping along." So I will create a new reality, over and over again, life will adapt to me, not the other way around!

Sound good? Cool thing is that every human being on the earth has this power. I mean really anything is possible. In November or December, I remember writing down things I wanted (some of them were pretty far-fetched, believe me)- and in January I looked and I was amazed to find that nearly every point had been achieved! All I did was imagine my ideal world, felt it, and it came true.

Yeah! So I have to resolve, re-resolve, and practicepracticepractice until I achieve the reality I desire.

With much love

India

Music for the day: My Hero by Foo Fighters

Coincidence?

I don't believe in coincidence at all. Now I don't believe in fate either, but I believe everyone is responsible for both what happens around them, and what they cause. I mean think about it, why do we have all of these expressions about "karma," "what goes around comes around," and the "golden rule?" 

Because in some way or another, they're all trying to tell one truth- your output (things that "happen" to you) will mirror your input (messages, thoughts, and actions you release) 100% of the time. So if you don't like something in your life, put up or shut up- do something to fix it or stop complaining!

I'm on a kick at the moment. I started reading The Success Principles by Jack Canfield today, and I've always admired Jack. His style of writing, his life philosophy, and his energy all seem to jive with mine. This book is a cool deal- already in the first chapter he starts with "take responsibility for your life!" While I completely accept that everything that "happens" to me is basically controlled by my choice, I also had a realization that sadly some dear people around me are causing themselves pain and suffering simply by not taking responsibility for little things like attitude, response to situations, and mental stamina. While dealing with people who don't give 100% is both hard and heart-breaking, there are a few ways to deal with stuff like this.

a) either you can control what's happening with the other people or things directly (so fix it!)

or

b) you can't control other circumstances (people and situations), but you can control your response to them, and find a solution!

Frankly, I don't think there's ever a good reason to complain. I'm starting a campaign to stop the complain (haha that actually sounds like a good motto) and today is my last day. Whatever I complained about today, whoever I blamed for my bad mood, why I dropped the dish on the floor... it's over. Complaining is dumb and cowardly. Either you do something about the scheiße in your life, or you deal with it. 

So join me, friends, in taking responsibility from this moment forward for everything in your life! If you don't like something, change it! Yes, maybe I sound extremely hard right now, but this is what "getting ahead," giving 100%, and making something of your life is all about. And I'm done with the excuses. Excuses are all illusion, what everything comes down to is your willpower and your demand for greatness in yourself.

I don't claim in myself perfection, and I understand I also have many miles to go. The mirror can tell me some nasty things sometimes. But when I don't accomplish something, I have no one to point to but myself. And that's the story of life. I could have stood up for myself in high school. I could have changed schools altogether. I could have saved my money instead of buying myself Manolo's. Whatever it was, it was always, always, always up to me!

Join the campaign to stop the complain! Put an end to victimitis and start living a proactive, healthful, extraordinary life!
Yeah it all sounds so great and wonderful, and wow it seems like I have it easy, galavanting around to all these countries and doing all these things. But is all of this a coincidence? I think not! As I wrote in an earlier post, I always dreamed of living in the mountains. I held on to that vision and dream. I always wanted to travel the world too. I think I did myself a favor by not really talking about these dreams (so no one could really tell me it wasn't possible), and the people who did know either said nothing or said, just do it! And here I am. I don't make vague wishes, I make decisions. Decisions will take you to your destination. Wishes are as said, just vague. So no, it's not completely easy obviously, my life isn't absolutely amazing, but I have controlled everything 'til now. Everything I've done and had was all planned. So what about you? What's your plan? Because I guarantee you, you'll have everything you want if you stop the excuses and start making the plans.

That's my little spiel for now ;)  and I know, not everyone's gonna go for what I just wrote, but for you, yes you who does, well, you're gonna have an amazing ride. Life is a paradise.

Much love and adoration
India

Music for the morning: Don't Wait by Dashboard Confessional

Wanderlust

Ahhh! I can't believe how the time has flown since last post. A whole month already! Well needless to say, I've been incredibly busy- I've got plans up, down, inside-out and backwards! Also needless to say, a lot has changed in the past month. Ah the life of an 18-year-old.

About three weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting a music producer who was interested in working with me. Now I'm making music! I went to the studio for the first time two weeks ago and recorded a song I started writing last fall. I'm really excited about it! As soon as it's finished and ready to be released, of course I'll be sharing it. I don't want to give too much away, I'll just tell you guys it's about a relationship I experienced. On Saturday another song came to me (I just started writing and it kind of took off), and this one is going to be even better. It's about the time I spent in La Palma in January with my friends. That time had a huge influence on my life now and of course I miss that beautiful place. I've been listening to Spanish music like crazy lately (like Obsesion by Aventura).

I'm heading into the studio again on Wednesday to put the finishing touches on my own work and start recording a few new things. Some of these songs are so much fun, some are difficult to sing, but the creative process of making music is so much fun. It all makes sense to me. When we're creating the tracks, I know exactly what I want and which sound should go where. Music is one thing that I really just get.

I've made some new friends, and last Friday I performed at an open mic night here in town. Eight of my own friends came to see me, and it was a lot of fun! I love performing. I don't know if open mic night is exactly 'India-Style' but it was really cool anyway. I sang Untogether by Belly (a band whose hey-day was in the 90s but no one's heard of now), I Will by the Beatles, More Than Words by Extreme (the all-time classic), and Nothing Else Matters by Metallica (this was my absolute favorite to perform).

Besides the studio this week, my colleagues have planned a huge seminar event on Thursday here in Innsbruck. It's an all-day affair with a life coach from Cologne, Alexander Vitocco. I'm excited for this! I love life-coaching and that kind of thing. In the end, all I want is to help people too. Hopefully I can achieve that through my music.

On Friday and Saturday I'll heading up to Munich to work a few tours again. And next week it's all music again!

Lately, I've been dreaming of traveling the world again (as if I ever stopped). I want to go to Hong Kong and South America. I want to see everything! There are so many beautiful places on this earth... I feel lucky to have seen the minor fraction that I have, but all I can think is about the unknown. I want to go on an adventure! It's something we call 'wanderlust' (also a fairly well-known term in the anglophone world, thanks to Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd).

Anyway, that's my life in a nutshell at the moment. Anyone wanna take me far, far away?

I promise I'll write again in a couple of days!
Love

India

Song for the day: Am I Wrong by Nico & Vinz (I love how this song feels!)

Home Sweet Home

Can you believe it's been a month since I flew to Florida (and thus a really long time since my last post)? Sorry 'bout that! I've just been enjoying being at home in good old Innsbruck, seeing all my friends again and enjoying all of my familiar european things…

You could not believe how happy I was to come home. I had an absolutely fabulous time with my family in Florida, but as we descended into Munich, the sun was rising and I practically had tears in my eyes. You know you're lucky when you can be that excited about coming home. Where I grew up, in Ann Arbor (Michigan), we went on vacation a lot (mostly to New York) and every time we had to go home we were just so bummed. I mean vacations are fun and no one ever wants it to end, but being able to look forward to going home feels so cool. I feel so lucky to be in love with the place I live. I love Europe(well who doesn't, really)!

I'm back to the same old stuff, networking (meeting people and "teaming up"), baking banana bread, and all the other things one does in Innsbruck (hiking!). I'm excited to say I'm doing a small vintage-style photoshoot tomorrow for my friend's art show which should be pretty fun! Today we went on a  relatively big hike in the mountains to get to an awesome climbing spot. The hike was pretty long (and crazy!), there was even a part where we had to climb over a train tunnel (I had to use a rope because there was almost no ground to land on). It was awesome!

Okay while it all sounds so cool, it's still life. Life is beautiful but not without its ups and downs. And I really miss my family! To be honest, I had a hard time fitting in at the time in Florida- I felt pretty out of place culture-wise. But I had a really good time seeing all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins; I wish we would see each other more often!

Anyway, everything is a learning process. What I learned in Florida is that it's important to be in the moment and to be content wherever one is. Hindsight is 20/20! I've always had this difficulty with being too dreamy and always being somewhere else in my head than where I physically am. When I was in Florida, I was terribly homesick. Now that I'm home, I miss my family. On a road trip in 2009, I was dying to get to Havasu Falls, AZ (a beautiful location off the Grand Canyon). Once we got to the falls, all I could think about was Denver. Story of my life!

Of course now that I'm home, I'm extremely content. Believe it or not, it's everything I'm used to now. And as of February 27th, I've lived in Europe for 2 years! That is a relatively short period of time. But when I look back at how many things have changed since February 27th, 2012, it feels like forever. It feels kinda like both my mentality and personality have changed. Of course between the ages of 16-18 (the age span for me since the move), a lot changes anyway. I've learned to think and dream bigger. I've figured out exactly what I want with my life, and that's a good feeling! But anyway, things should get interesting in the next weeks…

I'm excited!

The updates will keep coming… ;)

Lots of love!
India

Song of the Day: Recover by CHVRCHES (this song is AWESOME)

Land of the Free, Home of the Twinkie

...what's that sound? It's America! The homeland, a place where public toilets are free, and "around the corner" means twenty minutes away. I landed on Monday and I'll be hanging out here in Florida for a little while.

Since not having been to America for two years (not even visiting once since I moved to Germany), I must say I'm suffering a bit from culture shock. I knew that was going to happen, and I love that it's what travel is kinda all about, but I am still amazed at how far from home I feel here. It feels like the only American thing about me anymore is that I speak English.

Still, the trip was exciting. I have always loved flying. When we lifted up over Munich, I could see my favorite lakes (Starnberger See and Ammersee) and even straight down to the Alps. The flight itself was only a little boring, but I of course being "pseudo-European" that I am ordered wine twice on the American airplane where the 21 and up law is supposed to apply (which I don't fulfill). Confidence is key my friends! The transfer in Atlanta was by far the funniest and coolest part of the entire ordeal, mostly because of all the super friendly people working at the airport there- the sense of humor is really something else.

the sunset I caught descending over Florida was spectacular

Landing in Orlando was nothing short of disorientating. Suddenly, I was just in a different world! My family picked me up and we drove immediately (of course) to Disney, ate at the House of Blues where I had a lovely dish of Jambalaya (southern food is the best! I swear deep inside I'm a southern country girl). Of course there's jet lag and all that, which I'm happy to say I got through in a period of 24 hours. One thing I can't get over is how big everything is here! The highways, the cars, the houses, the huge amount of empty spaces... it only goes on! America is truly a HUGE mass of land.

my attempt at going to the beach- I didn't pick the nicest day, did I?

Spending time with my family is nice, and of course we're doing all of the typical Florida things, like Disney World and going to the beach (although it's slightly chilly here). In fact, we went to ALL four parks of Disney World yesterday, and let's just say I have the coolest Grandparents ever. We get to Epcot (the park with all the mini-country sections) and head straight to France for some Grey Goose slushies. Comme j'ai déjà dit (as I already said), I'm under 21. But my awesome Grandma says to my Grandpa: "hey, can you order her the Grand Marnier-Grey Goose one?" and bam! That's how I get a daiquiri-style cocktail in the middle of Disney World. And while I don't really care about the drink itself, I think it's really cool that my Grandparents accept my (and therefore most of Europe's) attitude toward it.

What really throws me is the knowledge (or lack thereof). I was telling one of my new friends here about my trip to The Canary Islands and she asked where they were. At least three different people have asked which language they speak in Austria (mostly phrased, "don't they speak Austrian there?"). And though I must admit that Austrian German is nearly a language in itself (haha, just kidding my Austrian buddies!), I'm still amazed at that question. 

A lot of people don't quite understand me when I say, "one day I will give up my American citizenship and become German." But the truth is, even though I spent 16 years living and growing up in this country, it will never be my home. I know that I will wind up spending much more time in other countries, and especially in the one place my heart resides.

To demonstrate:

-I adore Italy. If someone were to force me to spend the rest of my life in one city, out of anywhere in the world, I would choose Venice.

-New York is the heartland. That city is so much a part of my soul, and I'll live there again (even if I will have to get a visa at that point to do so).

-My best friends are like a family to me and are mostly all Austrian (or live there). I adore living in Innsbruck.

BUT

as we were driving up to Munich last weekend, when we crossed the border from Austria to Germany, my heart just sang. I know that sounds ridiculously dumb, but that's about as real as it gets. I know where I am when I'm in Germany. I know where I belong when I'm at home in the "fatherland." And though I love travelling the entire world, I know where my heart will always be.

So how's everyone's week[end] been?

Much love and adoration

India

Music at Midnight! (this one's a no-brainer):

Midnight City by M83 (check out the Eric Prydz remix too!)

the first ride of the day, Everest!

The lovely Cinderella Castle, of course

Secrets

No, no, no! I'm not revealing my secrets, but I am sharing one of the most important "secrets" in the world!

Last week I wrote that I would be recording a presentation of the book The Secret, and here it is! The link has already been shared, so there's no password necessary. Enjoy! I understand, I said "um" about a million times, I haven't done a public speaking assignment in ages. There's a reason why I'm a blogger ;)

The Secret- The Presentation

What I have been up to this week is contacts, contacts, contacts! Basically going out and meeting people, keeping in touch with special people. It's really a cool job, when you realize you have the chance to change people's lives (if they want it)!

I'm excited to see who I'll meet tonight and the next few days…

Otherwise, I'm getting ready for my trip to Florida (that fresh beaaaaach!) starting on Monday! I'm so nervous, I haven't been to the states in nearly two years!

And then there's my big plan to party hard Saturday in Munich (well not so hard), at my favorite place of course- P1!

Plus the weather here has been just so fine, warm and sunshine all the way through! I haven't seen snow a single time this entire winter! (Except for my view to the mountains)

Besides all of that, I'm singing- as usual.

Be back soon!

Happy Thursday

India :)

Viva Musica: Are You Satisfied? by Marina and the Diamonds

Schub!

Schub is a German word that basically means thrust or push. And when we say "schub geben!" (or giving thrust), we mean business. Networking is a big business, in fact the biggest and wealthiest business in the entire world- generating billions of units of currency every year. 

And I'm only at the forefront.

It's so awesome because the skills I'm learning with networking will come in very handy for other interests, like singing (for example). I know, I'm not giving many details about what this networking stuff actually entails, they are coming soon! But I know not everyone is actually interested in my work.

My real work is more interesting, right? I mean my work of nature, my "god-given" work- writing music and siiiiiiinging!

So how does this lyric sound?

…und du schaust mich an und sagst mir so leise,

ich mag dich gern, deine Art und Weise

oh oh honey I wanna see the world with you

tell me all the things we're gonna do!

that's right! I'm writing a song in German. Well technically the song is going to be in German AND English (think of the band Frida Gold, they do the same thing). So the words might sound totally cheesy or whatever, but it's so real/current/relevant to my life situation right now. ;)

Well enough of the boring stuff, right? It's about time I put up some pictures here! They're coming… I'm planning on producing a webinar this week about a book. When I was with my team in La Palma, we were all supposed to present books as an effort to spread knowledge and growth. Long story short, only one of us actually presented- and though it was a really good presentation, I feel really bad for not presenting mine. So I'll be posting an informative presentation video about the book The Secret very soon! (Maybe I should turn this into a video blog?)

Also happening: AMERICA in two weeks! Hello all things American: Denny's, peanut butter, and dairy queen! 'MURICA!

Nah just kidding. I like peanut butter, but I am by far the least american person you've met (except for my chips and oreos obsession). I'm still totally excited to hit up the beach, that fresh Worth Avenue (yes, I'm going to Florida!), and every Ralph Lauren outlet Orlando has to offer. Can anyone spare me their black AmEx? haha ;) Of course seeing my family and surfing in Coco Beach will be a blast. Hello Sunshine! 

Over and Out! (Good night and good luck!)

India

Music of the Night: Lullabies (Adventure Club Remix) by Yuna