It’s always intriguing to ask wellbeing experts about the best advice they’ve ever been given.

“Well, be happy is always a good one!” comes Steve Braithwaite’s reply when the question is posed to him. He immediately starts laughing, well aware of the ironic complex-simplicity of his statement.

“Be happy – but what is that? That alone opens up a huge journey in itself,” he goes on.

“Another important one for me is ‘Be your own master’. That’s all about feeling in control of what you want from life and what you do in life.”

These two things are part of what Steve calls ‘Mind Fitness’. And just as physical fitness requires a certain amount of practice and training, so too does Mind Fitness, and Steve is on a mission help others flex and hone their minds with seminars and retreats, and his blog, steverichardbraithwaite.com.

Quite simply, Mind Fitness is about being your best self. But that doesn’t mean being the best in the world – the richest/brightest/fastest. It’s about having peace, control and fulfilment within yourself and, ultimately, less stress and more happiness.

Comparing your own successes and achievements to others’ defeats the purpose. Being burdened by how we ‘measure up’ is a tricky trap to avoid, but Steve insists that we’ve “got to try”.

“There’s no need to compete and compare with Mind Fitness. It’s a personal journey,” he explains. “If we’re constantly driven by somebody else telling us what we’re meant to do and how much we’re meant to do, people can get injured that way because they’re ignoring themselves or what they’re feeling inside. Everything has to come back to ourselves.

Steve’s interest in the ‘mind’ is rooted in his childhood. His grandparents were fans of Eastern philosophies and often imparted snippets of knowledge and wisdom onto young Steve, who was fascinated with self-improvement.

Steve moved to the UK during his 20s, pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter. But it’s now, at the age of 53, that he feels the time is right to really push Mind Fitness into the spotlight, and he hopes a book he’s working on will be finished later this year.

“We all deserve to feel great; it’s our life and life is there to enjoy, but we’ve kind of lost that a little, you know?”

For more about Steve’s ‘Mastering the Mind’ retreats, visit champneys.com. Read Steve’s blog at steverichardbraithwaite.com.