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Moana should be your mindset coach Actually, I should be but I am going to tell you why Moana can be an awesome jump-start into your mindset journey.
We wound up with Moana in our movie collection by accident. Eventually we probably would have bought it on purpose since we plan to get all of the princess movies, but it was not high on our list at the moment. Nothing against Moana, but we had been focusing on collecting all of the Marvel and Star Wars movies for awhile since that’s what my son is into at the moment.
Anyway, Moana wound up in our collection thanks to my forgetfulness and Disney Movie Club. It’s the best outcome of my forgetfulness in a long time. Maybe ever, I can’t remember. (Ha. Get it?)
I love this movie. I adore this movie. I want to watch this movie everyday and make everybody watch it. Everyone. Young, old, man, woman, dog, cat, everyone.
I was watching it the other day with my family and decided it was time to write a blog post and tell all of you why you need to watch this movie. I can’t let it go anymore because Moana is too right on target for my message. For this blog. For my soul. The message I try to get across in a thousand and five different ways. Here on the blog, on my Facebook Page, on my Instagram and sometimes even on Twitter.
This article has spoilers of the movie. If you have not seen Moana and don’t want to be told any details, stop reading now. Go watch the movie, then come back. Seriously, it’s amazing. Also the music is top notch- everyone in my family has a different favorite song from it.
You can get the movie here.
Watch Moana, then live like Moana

Listen to your intuition
From the time Moana is a small child, she is being called to the ocean. Her intuition is telling her to go out there. It leads her to the heart of Te Fiti, which it is her calling to return.
I could go on for days about intuition. I believe it conveys to us the very essence of everything we are, and that if we learn to listen to it we will create our best lives.
Be brave and let go of traditions that don’t suit you
Moana’s father insists that she stay on the island and become the next leader, as it is her family tradition and duty. He says it is her calling, what she was born to do. In actuality, her calling from the universe is to restore her people to a wayfaring way of life. Moana leaves her family, breaks “tradition” and breaks the rule of not sailing past the reef, all to live up to her actual calling.
There are many traditions and expectations that are put on us both by society and our families. However, these traditions don’t always serve us or allow us to live to our full potential, or calling, in life.
Focus intently on that which you want and let the universe hear you
While sailing through the ocean, Moana never lets up her focus. She will go find Maui and bring him to return the heart of Te Fiti. She repeats it to herself, she chants it to herself, she builds herself up to know and believe that she will get there and she will make herself known.
Moana faced many obstacles, difficulties and set backs on her journey, but she always remembered what she set out to do. She kept it in her heart and mind and eventually she achieved what she wanted which was to bring Maui to return the heart of Te Fiti. (Even if Moana was actually the one to return it.)
If you get off track don’t give up, just get back on track
Moana, while on her quest to find Maui, winds up falling asleep and going the wrong way for quite a while before she wakes up and realizes it.
Haven’t we all done this when chasing our dreams, our goals?Found ourselves off track completely, not really even sure when we fell asleep? Woken up and lost progress because we were distracted or “sleeping”?
The key here is to just get back to it. Turn yourself around and get back on track…. ask the universe for help if needed.
With that said…
The universe sometimes helps in a way that feels like it’s hurting
Moana asks the ocean to help her and the ocean immediately throws a storm her way. An actual storm. She thinks it has forsaken her, but in actuality that is the way the ocean is able to help. The waves created by the storm bring Moana to the exact island she needs to get to. Even faster than a small current could have. When she washes up on shore, she doesn’t immediately see that she has reached her destination. She is too upset about the storm.
The universe can’t always help you in the way you want it to, but it is always helping you. Sometimes the mess and storms it throws your way are really just helping you along that much quicker.
Make sure you aren’t spending so much time angry about the difficulties that have come in the past. You don’t want to miss your goal right in front of you when you get there.
Stand up for who you are and your goal
Moana does this time and again in this movie. To her father, her community, Maui and when she almost gives up, her inner guide stands up to her.
There is nothing more important in life than being who you are (So long as you are not hurting others, or preventing them from being who they are). If you find yourself in a spot in which you need to stand up for yourself, do it. Don’t allow others to determine the trajectory of your life. Even if the person you need to fight, or stand up to, is yourself. Listen to your heart and let it be louder than the sounds coming at you from other people.

Do not waiver on your dream
Moana does not allow anything to stop her from getting back up and continuing her quest to reach her goal. Even when it seems all hope is lost when Maui has left, she hears her guide (in this scene, it’s her grandmother) remind her of why she is doing this, and that she is strong enough to do it on her own.
So she gets back up and is determined to achieve her goal. With or without the help she initially thought she needed.
Some days may be difficult, you may lose help, supporters or partners along the way, but if it is your dream continue on. You can absolutely do it, even if you feel on your own.
The fight is hardest right before you succeed
There is no time in the whole movie that Moana fights as hard or as fiercely as when she is about to go at it alone against Te Ka. You see how hard it is, her fight, but you also see her powerful heart and determination bursting from within her. I bet if we were to interview her now (we are going to pretend for a moment that it was a documentary…) that she would tell us those moments were the hardest.
This is not a new concept. Many personal development books, stories and memoirs of success, tell about how the hardest parts came right before a huge goal was achieved.
It’s those moments that determine if you will succeed or not. The people who don’t fight and continue through the hardest times will never see that success, and the ones that do will see success right on the other side.
Keep going. Embrace the hardest fights knowing that on the other side is exactly that which you have been fighting for.
Your determination, drive and strength will inspire others
Maui left. He straight up left Moana in the middle of the ocean. He didn’t want to keep trying, he was scared of losing what he thought made him who he was. (There is a whole other mindset tunnel down this way, but stick with me.) So he left her to finish her mission on her own.
Of course, he came back. Moana had inspired him to be a better person, and had inspired him to believe in her dream. Her mission.
When you have that determination, that zeroed in focus on your goal, the clear vision of what you want to acheive, you will inspire others. You will find your tribe of people who want the same thing, who can lift you up and who you can lift. You will inspire those who didn’t have a goal or a dream to find theirs. Your belief in yourself will inspire others to believe in themselves.
Keep an open mind about how to get to your goal, what your goal looks like, and who you will be when you reach them
Here is a big one. That’s why I saved it for last. (Also because it sums up the end of the movie.)
Moana set out with the plan to save her island, her people. She planned to get Maui, have him return the heart of Te Fiti and head home to her old life on the island.
Instead, she returned the heart of Te Fiti. There were detours in the path from her island to Maui and from getting Maui to when the heart was returned. It was not the 1-2-3 plan she expected. By the time she got home to her island, she was a different person. She had become a wayfarer. Now she would teach her people how to leave the island and begin exploring again.
Her life was never the same, in an amazing way.
When you set out to reach a goal, follow a dream, build an empire (or whatever it is you feel compelled by your intuition to do), you will probably envision the path and outcome in a very specific way. This is great for manifesting, but not so great if you don’t allow some sway in your path.
It is important to keep an open mind about how and when things will come to you, or you will reach your goals. We can’t possibly know what will come up in our futures, while we are on our path. However, if we can adjust ourselves, and be fluid with our ideas and expectations, we can still get to the planned goal.
If we are rigid in our expectations, we may miss the chance to not only reach our desired result, but to experience the amazing change in ourselves while on our way.
Live like Moana.
I highly recommend picking up the Moana soundtrack too. The music is fun- my 2 year old loves dancing to it- but it is also filled with really empowering messages.

Available now! 10 Steps to Change Your Mindset & Improve Your Life eBook! Click Here!
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