Heal your fears! Identifying and addressing our fears is essential for overcoming obstacles and limitations that we impose on ourselves, knowingly or unknowingly. Self-healing plays a vital role in achieving success as it unleashes our boundless potential, enabling us to receive what the universe has to offer without self-sabotage.
Have you ever noticed how often we equate success with more? Whether that’s more products, more profits, more activities or more accomplishments, we buy into the belief that we have to do more to have more to be more. And that will sum up to success. And then along comes The Great Resignation. Where employees are signaling that the “more” that’s being offered — even more pay, more perks, and more PTO — isn’t summing up to success for them. We visited with leaders who are redefining what success means now. Their answers might surprise you.
As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Gaia Chinniah.
Gaia Chinniah, a prominent medium and past-life regression therapist from Sri Lanka, is based in Auckland, New Zealand. After experiencing a profound awakening at 33, she established her own healing company, Soul 33. Through her unique Soul Progression Therapy® approach, Gaia communicates messages from spirit guides, applies energy medicine, and delves into past lives to gain insight into the soul’s blueprint. Gaia has a master’s degree in Management Studies and has certifications in Reiki and Past Life Regression Therapy. Her work has been featured in high-profile publications such as Vogue India, mindbodygreen, DailyOM, Woman Magazine, FashionZ, good Magazine, and Thrive Magazine. To make her services more accessible, Gaia created The Beacon by Soul 33, a spiritual guidance App that offers a monthly forecast on how to harness universal energy for life planning, creation, and transformation. For further information about Gaia and her work, please visit https://www.soul33.com/about.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Our readers would like to get to know you a bit better. Can you please tell us about one or two life experiences that most shaped who you are today?
Before age 33, I had one perspective: to achieve and accumulate credibility through qualifications and work experiences. I was living and existing to prove my worth to myself, society, and my family. I enjoyed university and found that I could think and receive validation through academia critically, and grades received that I was intelligent. With a Bachelor of Communications, a major in Public Relations and Management Communications, a Post Grad in Public Relations, and a Master’s in Management, my initial foundation of formal education set me up so I could understand what mattered the most when my perspective began to broaden.
With a career in consumer goods, Marketing, and Television presenting and a stint with Greenpeace as a fundraising coordinator, I set up a fundraising program in Austria, lived there for a few months, and then returned to New Zealand to support the fundraising programs there.
My passion for coaching and helping people began to surface as I supported my not-for-profit team.
Starting my own business had always been a dream of mine, inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit frequently showcased on television in New Zealand and Australia. So, I began networking as a “consultant” and landed clients who entrusted me with their brands and sales and marketing needs. Eventually, I established a distribution company in Malaysia, importing organic skincare and makeup from New Zealand and selling them through direct sales. My schedule was jam-packed, and I flew back and forth between New Zealand and Asia about six times a year, promoting products I genuinely believed in.
However, this constant busyness took a toll on me, and I began to prioritize having more energy, meditation, and mental clarity. This led to an unexpected turning point in my life at 33, when I experienced a spiritual awakening. This experience allowed me to apply my corporate knowledge to a path of greater wisdom.
During this time, I met an indigenous Maori healer who used traditional massage techniques and herbal medicine to heal the body. She recognized my spiritual awakening and helped me understand that my focus had been too narrow and did not consider the whole. This realization transformed my life, and I started a business that leveraged my newfound abilities to travel the world and help clients in a soul-focused, inclusive manner.
Eventually, I decided to close my distribution company and focus on using my abilities to help people succeed in their lives. Thus, my business became entirely soul-focused, empowering everyone who crossed my path.
We all have myths and misconceptions about success. What are some myths or misconceptions that you used to believe?
Many of us have been conditioned to believe that success is solely based on the knowledge we gain from accredited sources. I used to believe that this was the only way to gain acceptance. I thought that if I wasn’t taught by someone else, then I had no natural ability within me to be successful. In my mind, success was only attainable if others recognized my achievements and deemed me worthy.
I also believed that learning had to be taught and that financial abundance and material possessions were the ultimate markers of success. I thought contributing to society had to be done under someone else’s leadership and aligned with their mission. I believed that my success had to be comparable to that of others.
How has your definition of success changed?
My understanding of success has evolved to include how I respond to life, treat myself and others, and contribute to improving people and humanity while maintaining balance, fairness, and integrity. I believe that success is not dependent on who is around me but rather on my ability to empower others to grow and develop without allowing my ego to interfere.
As I went through my awakening and provided services to others, I realized that success came naturally and effortlessly when I was authentic and responded to life instead of reacting to it. It became clear to me that true success involved seeing everything as a whole and following my intuition while being guided by obvious cues in life. I believe that success is available to everyone, but we must avoid being distracted by life in order to embrace the infinite abundance that is available to us all.
Success is living in the flow of life and trusting that flow when things are going well. In my previous corporate life, the attitude was more about making things happen and forcing outcomes, which led to many obstacles, stress, and challenges, as well as fear. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make things happen or take risks, but we should do so in a way that is enjoyable and maximizes our strengths. I began to ask myself if I truly liked who I was.
Success means knowing who I am and doing the work to uncover that knowledge. It means being true to myself and leading a balanced life that doesn’t focus solely on achieving the dream but on living it every day within my means while also pushing my limits at my own pace and by my definition of success. What brings me true joy? What makes me wake up every morning knowing my soul’s purpose, contribution, and life lessons?
In essence, my definition of success is that life is happening for me and not to me.
The pandemic, in many ways, was a time of collective self-reflection. What changes do you believe we need to make as a society to access success post pandemic?
This time of introspection presented a valuable chance for many of us to reconnect with ourselves and identify our essential needs. We were collectively urged to return to the fundamentals, with no distractions to shield us from the reality of our own lives, relationships, and the unpredictability of existence.
As a community, we had overlooked the fundamental fact that the quality of life is inextricably linked to good health in all aspects, including mental wellness. As such, we should be motivated to seek guidance from within ourselves and develop our own personal authority.
What do you see as the unexpected positives in the pandemic? We would love to hear a few of your stories or examples.
The pandemic, despite its challenges, brought about some unexpected blessings. One of them was the opportunity for people to simplify their lives. While some businesses suffered, others emerged, and people began to get creative in how they worked.
Many of my clients, as well as myself, took advantage of the online space to connect with others and grow our businesses without barriers. We also learned to work smarter and rekindled our relationship with nature. The pandemic tested the strength of our relationships, including the one with ourselves. It highlighted the importance of family and connections and called for a closer examination of our micro and macro systems for sustainability. Ultimately, it reminded us of the inevitability of change and helped us restore our resilience.
We’re all looking for answers about how to be successful now. Could you please share “5 Ways To Redefine Success Now?”
- Know what you came to earth to do!
One of the most crucial questions we should ask ourselves is our purpose on earth. What have we come here to do? We all possess unique gifts and talents, yet many fail to utilize them. I’ve had clients who, despite being highly qualified in one field, have transitioned to entirely different careers to align with their soul’s purpose. It’s essential to seek the guidance of a coach who can help uncover parts of ourselves that we may not be able to access on our own.
2. See your life from a broader perspective –We have placed a significant focus on our careers. Still, to truly succeed in our professional lives, we must understand how it intertwines with other aspects of our lives. This includes our personal relationships, mental health, physical health, and spiritual well-being.
3. Heal your fears! Identifying and addressing our fears is essential for overcoming obstacles and limitations that we impose on ourselves, knowingly or unknowingly. Self-healing plays a vital role in achieving success as it unleashes our boundless potential, enabling us to receive what the universe has to offer without self-sabotage.
4. Know how you contribute to others –When an individual achieves success, it benefits the collective. As successful individuals, we become examples for others to empower themselves. If you are unsure how to attain your success, start by assisting someone else. Observe their response to your aid, as it may provide insight into unlocking your own purpose.
5. Instead of comparing yourself to others, focus on meeting your own expectations and goals. Our society tends to encourage competition and comparison, but setting your own standards and adjusting them as you move through different stages of life can help you avoid this trap.
How would our lives improve if we changed our definition of success?
Our lives would become more of our own self-fulfilling prophecies rather than the standards set by others. It becomes more about the pursuit and expansion of our own passions and the discovery of who we are. This pursuit comes from within rather than from external pressures. We feel the joy that we are the best that we can be with fulfillment and a life filled with the love of all things you have created.
What’s the biggest obstacle that stands in the way of our redefined success? And what advice would you offer about overcoming those obstacles?
It can be challenging to let go of what others want for you or believe you should be. We must remind ourselves that success should be defined by what we feel is suitable for us and from a place of self-discovery, fulfillment, and balance.
The ego can hinder redefined success. While it’s natural to have an ego, focusing on proving oneself or feeling superior can lead us away from the true meaning of success.
Where do you go to look for inspiration and information about how to redefine success?
Through meditation, I tap into an infinite source of information about myself and what my intuition is leading me to. My primary source of inspiration is what I can discover in silence.
I enjoy reading biographies and autobiographies about the lives of others who have genuinely been themselves in their lifetime — stories of people who have overcome adversity and are humble in their approach to self-discovery.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He, she or they might just see this if we tag them.
Michael Beckwith would be someone I would love to meet. He has embraced who he is and uses his leadership to empower others to find their own internal leadership while being connected to one another and nature.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find more about me and my work here https://www.soul33.com/about.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success and good health.