Haunted Beliefs

It’s that time of year where everywhere you turn there are graves popping up from neighbor’s lawns, ghosts flying from trees and glowing pumpkins in windows. As we observe all this delicious scariness we are unaware of the most terrifying thing of all, which lives in our heads… our limiting beliefs. Most of us don’t realize that they are holding us back, causing us to self destruct but they are there, all the same.

Our subconscious mind is like a huge database storing all the beliefs we have been given and gathered from birth till now. Most of those beliefs were stored before the age of four so they were interpreted through a young child’s eyes. Our subconscious mind is determined to make us right according to our beliefs. This means that if we believe we cannot or should not be wealthy then we could win hundred’s of millions of dollars in the lottery and within a few short years be back to living paycheck to paycheck. It happens all the time.

An extreme example of beliefs leading to self destruction is the singer Amy Winehouse. This girl with a huge talent quickly rose to stardom. She had everything… money, fame, a career doing what she was passionate about. So what happened? The reports say that drugs and alcohol led to her death but I would argue that her beliefs killed her. The alcohol was just the weapon she used to end her life. Amy held on to a belief that for whatever reason told her she did not deserve her this huge success. Her conscious mind was saying that it was thrilled with her success. She had reached her goals. But that didn’t really matter because the subconscious mind is millions of times stronger then the conscious mind and will win every time. This brain conflict caused her a huge amount of discomfort. To relieve and numb the mental pain she turned to drugs and alcohol which led to her death. Now that’s not only sad but scary.

So what about you? Where are you sabotaging? Is it in the area of health, wealth, relationships? Until you change your beliefs you will never reach your goals in those areas. You can grit your teeth, use all the willpower you have but it won’t last. You will always live according to your beliefs. Researchers have found a part of our brain, the Psycho-Cybernetic Mechanism , that acts as a thermostat. Its job is to keep us in our comfort zone. Our comfort zone is dictated by our beliefs. Can we be both comfortable and miserable? Absolutely and all of us have experienced that at one time or another.

So what can you do about it? How do you figure out what your limiting beliefs are? The first step is to look at the area of your life that you feel stuck in. Think about your vision for that part of your life. What negative thoughts come up? For example, a goal to be promoted to the executive level in your company may be joined by thoughts like, “I might be criticized.” “I might make a mistake.” “Maybe I’m not good enough yet.” All of those negative voices and fears point towards beliefs which do not support this goal. Once you identify those beliefs you may use visualization, affirmations, meditation or work with a mindset coach to change them at a subconscious level. You will know that you have changed your beliefs when you begin moving towards your goal with joy and confidence. A client I was working with recently has a wonderful opportunity to become visible and influential in her company and in her industry. All she has to do is put together video’s, articles and podcasts to share her knowledge. She came to me wondering why she wasn’t taking action. Every time she thought about creating a video or article she went blank. As we worked together, she found out that she was holding on to a belief that it wasn’t safe to stand out. She had many life experiences that proved the truth of that belief . Right then and there she decided that she would like to change that belief to, “It is exciting and rewarding to share my knowledge and make a difference.” We worked on shifting her belief at a subconscious level and she begin creating and sharing her knowledge with confidence. Such is the power of our beliefs.

Now it’s your turn. Don’t let your beliefs spook you! Look them right in the face and make sure they are allowing you to reach your goals with ease. If not, then it is time to wave your magic wand and change them!