My name is James Peters and I am now a Certified Jay Shetty Transformational Mindset Coach, and a constant mindset and psychology student.

That wasn’t always the story, though.

After going through the pain of losing my father, and my son in less than a 6 month period in 2017. I was also accused of a crime I didn’t commit. Which carried a significant jail term.

As you could imagine, I was faced with massive personal challenges, depression, anxiety, even suicide…

I was in a dark place with far too many thoughts of ending the pain and suffering.

I needed to do something, so I took the advice given to me and began regression therapy. Where I was diagnosed with PTSD and prescribed medications…

However, this did not help my depression or thoughts of suicide. In fact, between the pills and the regression therapy, it was getting worse…

Now deeper in depression and more thoughts of suicide, having prozac, pain killers, and sleeping pills within easy reach…everything could have been very different.

For months on end, I didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. It never seemed to get better.

Keeping myself together for the trial was near impossible. Having everyone I know speak ill of me and think I was some kind of criminal on top of just losing the two most important men in my life was too much.

Far too much…

After a year, I realized that therapy and medication weren’t helping me at all, so I quit them both in late 2018.

Shortly there after, something happened that would change my life forever.

As I was holding a picture of my son, still deep in depression. I thought about what he would think of me giving up. Throwing in the towel and joining him so soon.

Cowardly. I said out loud.

And at that moment I realized there’s only two directions I can go…

The path of victimhood, blaming, avoiding, and depression. Staying the same…

Or the path of growth, responsibility, love, purpose, and happiness.

And there isn’t a third option…

So at that very moment, I made a vow to my son and myself that I would live the best life I could.

A life of purpose, happiness, growth and contribution to others. That way I can help people who have had and are currently dealing with terrible tragedies like mine.

That got me thinking… “There has to be a better and more holistic way to rebalance my brain and address all the painful memories and negativity.”

I mean, what did we do before medication and super smart people stuff?

So, I dove in…

What I learnt regarding maintaining a healthy brain came down to keeping a balance between the more primal limbic system and the more recently evolved prefrontal cortex.The truth is, if one area is over or underactive, it causes problems such as ADHD, addiction, depression and anxiety.

When I learnt to focus my thoughts and view my emotions as an outsider, I could control my behavior.

The first step was to write down my stories. Thoughts rush constantly through my mind and can disappear before I was able to fully process them. So, I slowed down my thinking through meditation and wrote down my thoughts.

Writing my thoughts down, examining them critically and rewriting my own story are all important commitments towards improving my own mental health.

As I sit here today, I am completely transformed from my previous self.  No medication, no therapist, no psychoanalysis and best of all, not a trace of depression.

That’s when I decided to become a certified transformation mindset coach, learn as much as humanly possible and help others achieve the same amazing result.