Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to my friend Tanya – an extraordinary woman and owner of Find Your Path! Among other amazingness, Tanya is a certified Infinite Possibilities trainer (yes, Mike Dooley’s program) and is coming to Brussels to give a one-day training on April 27. If you’re in Brussels or not too far on that day, you should really do yourself a favor and not miss this event. Read on to meet Tanya and see why!
Introduce yourself in a few words. Who is Tanya?
I am Tanya DuVall, a Motivational Speaker, Facilitator and Intuitive Coach. I have had a practice for almost 10 years, in Singapore, Tokyo, Brussels and now Stockholm. My main focus is to offer guidance to people who want their life to be different than it is right now. They want more, better, different… and my aim is that when they walk out the door, they not only feel hopeful and empowered, but they have found something they can do to create change. I want them to know that they can!
What attracted you to this work?
I have always been fascinated by human behaviour, how we tick, what is really going on deep down inside. I think that also prompted me to study theatre when I was younger. I enjoyed delving into a character to identify what could be the motivators for their action. I would spend hours thinking about why a character could do something. I later carried that into directing where I could explore group dynamics… I spent days thinking and recreating reasons and life experiences that altered that character’s course and justified the words they spoke or action they took.
When I started taking development courses, I was fascinated by how much was in our sub-conscious. How so much of what we do is motivated by things we didn’t even know we thought or believed. How thinking positive, or even just different thoughts, actually made a real impact… maybe not instant, but faster than I could imagine.
My very first development course was in Belgium, and it was called ‘Creatieve gedachten krachten’ – the power of creative thought. It was amazing how within 3 short weeks I was able to change how I felt about situations just by changing my thought patterns, and when I did that, new opportunities came that I didn’t think possible before. It opened up a new world for me.
I love when I have finished a session and I see how hopeful and empowered people become. How just by altering people’s perspective and offering insight into their own Limiting Beliefs changes everything. It changes their life for the better and helps them become the best version of themselves. What can beat that?
So now, instead of directing musicals, I help other people produce their own epic movie… their life!
How has it changed the way you view the world?
It changes everything. I used to be someone very resistant to change. I like the predictable, routines, ‘knowing’ what lies ahead. In the past 15 years I have done 6 international moves and I won’t say they were all easy, but the adventure of life is something that I can now embrace, knowing that I have the opportunity to change how I feel about my life.
Of course I fall back into old patterns occasionally, and get frustrated. But when I am ready to pop out of it, I look within, I get a different perspective and in no time, my life is full of all the good things I want. I find the perfect jobs, activities, friends…
Why Brussels?
I was born in the US and my father was American, but my mother is Belgian. I spent all my summers as a kid in Flanders, and at 19 I moved to Brussels and made it my home for the next 11 years. Since I have been married I have been back twice and both of my children were born there. When you are an expat, the term ‘home’ is a tricky thing, but I lived in Brussels long enough to call it that.
And when I found Infitinite Possibilites, I knew that I needed to teach this powerful and simple program that WORKS to others… I wanted to do a full day workshop, a big event, and the only logical place to do that was ‘home’.
Are you planning any other events?
I will hold another full day workshop in Stockholm later this year, and I am planning to make my Brussels event an annual experience. I also have a talk called ‘Expats – Attitude, Expectation and Identity’. I have only delivered it on Stockholm so far, but am in the planning stages of bringing it to other countries and am co-authoring a book on the subject.
What limiting beliefs have you changed in yourself?
That is such a tough one… once you have changed a belief into something empowering, its hard to remember that you ever thought differently. I think the biggest one was feeling worthy of success, and particularly being successful effortlessly. I believed that the only way to get ahead and find the right way for me is to work really, really hard. And it wasnt just working hard, it was more the feeling that I was working against the odds, that everything was working against me and if I really really wanted to, I could map out a rigid path, put my nose to the grindstone, and bulldoze forward. That was how you were successful…
Now I see that opening myself up, by doing stuff that works towards my goals and adding just a dash of faith that the world outside wants me to succeed, it works! That it isn’t ‘hard’. Dont get me wrong, I work and take action and do a LOT, but now I look up, and look around me and let things come to me as well. It sometimes sends me in a different direction than I thought I needed to go, but when it is in front of my eyes, I know its right. It’s like I get this little message every once in a while that the world around me wants me to succeed.
What limiting beliefs do you see in people most often?
Working hard is a big one… but I think the most common thing is that when people feel stuck, they really don’t believe they have the power to change. Sure, they know that they can take huge crazy risks that would leave them jobless, homeless or whatever. But that would be too crazy, so they do nothing. They dont see that there is a different way… a way that can start from right where they are… they don’t need to make huge life-changing decisions to feel happier. Thoughts, beliefs and perspective are amazingly powerful… and taking what I call ‘baby steps’ can lead to a completely different life in no time. Without having to ‘give it all up’.
Why should people come to this training? What will they learn?
Kind of what I said above. Every one believes that a positive attitude helps you do things better. This workshop takes that exponentially further. I will talk about thoughts, beliefs and perspectives and give you techniques for how to be more deliberate… but more importantly, we will spend time talking about taking action, listening to your intuition and having faith that your own internal navigation system will get you to your destination, you just have to keep driving. That you CAN have a different life without the sense of walking a tightrope without a safety net.
What is GREAT about this program is that there is no magic key, anyone can do it, and the HARDEST thing in the whole program is to allow yourself to set a new goal… decide that you want to change your life for the better… commit to being happier than you are right now.
I have said that my participants need to bring curiosity and a willingness for change and I will bring insights, techniques and examples of how they can really make it happen, without the rest of the world wondering if they lost their marbles.
If someone can’t come what is the one thing that they absolutely have to do implement anyway?
I am going to give 2 top tips:
1. Align yourself with the solution, not the problem. This falls into the positive thoughts category, but I feel if I just say ‘think positive thoughts’ people will kind of think.. ‘ok yeah…whatever’ because as crazy as it sounds, I think you need to learn how and why to think positive, and I dont want people walking away thinking my workshop will be airy.
Align yourself with the solution. When you feel yourself thinking things that are negative, or about things you dont want, turn it around. Find thoughts that align with what you want, or align with working toward where you want to go. These are the empowering thoughts that will bring opportunities and solutions.
2. Visualise. I say this because it’s easy and all it requires is 5 minutes a day.
Take 5 minutes each day, set a timer if you are worried about ‘wasting’ too much time. For 5 minutes, just sit and imagine what your life would be like if you were living it exactly they way you wanted. See yourself doing things that make you happy, feel the temperature outside, the season, the place, the activity of the people around you, and their reactions to you. Let your imagination run wild, and then let yourself feel how that would feel.
If you do that religiously once a day for a month.. you will be AMAZED at the change it will bring. You might not be sipping Margaritas in the Carribean, but you will feel a WHOLE lot better about life 🙂
* * *
Wow, thank you Tanya, that sounds amazing! I will most definitely be there, and I urge the rest of you to come if you can. It’s going to be AMAZING, I just know it! Sign up here.
Love & lots of light and laughter,
