The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.
One of the fastest ways to seem too-good-to-be-true is to use broad stroke platitudes. But in this case…
It’s true! Just like everything else, my goal is to break this down for you and show you how it can move beyond a lofty Live Love Laugh platitude to be of valuable service to you and your dreams.
The brain believes what we tell it. Thousands of years ago, the colors were given names. Now any four year old child can tell you that the grass is green and strawberries are red. We all agreed upon and told our brains this was so, and thus it moved into a belief. The grass is green. Anyone who would try to claim that the grass is blue would be pronounced to be wrong.
This is a tiny example of how deeply our brains believe what they are told.
If you grew up in a home or community of frequent criticism and/or scarcity issues, many of those voices and issues became your brain’s belief system. If you didn’t see or know anyone who was successfully balancing a financially abundant life and a flourishing personal life, your brain may believe that such an existence cannot be reached. If you witnessed many adults going to work at jobs they did not love, possibly even disliked, while also neglecting their families and any dreams they may have had, your brain may believe that these are necessary means to an end. If you learned to “be realistic”, your brain made all sorts of conclusions based upon that concept. Many of these conclusions show up in the form of limiting beliefs.
A limiting belief is a thought or belief that you think is the absolute truth and that restricts you from achieving what you want. These beliefs can be about yourself, how the world works, ideas, and judgments about others.
You may be hearing a lot about limiting beliefs, as they are becoming part of our cultural narrative. I like to break things down and make them as relevant as possible to our lives. Imagine that you are training to run a marathon, and you have all the desire and even motivation you could imagine. But every time you stepped out the door to run, a 50lb bag of sand attached itself to your back. You discover that you can drag it along with you, but it is heavy, exhausting, and limits every step you are able to take. And it happens every time. How long would it take for most of us to give up? How long do you think it would take you before you quit?
Of course this is an extreme hypothetical, but it truly is representative of how much limiting beliefs that you have can be holding you back from achieving what you want – and what you know you are capable of.
So back to our new neural pathways, our healing, our reinvention. This is a powerhouse trio that can elevate your life this year and all your years to come. We are headed into spring now, so it is the ideal time to develop new ways of thinking. Just as Nature shifts in climates that have defined seasons, you’re primed for change at this time of year.
Your assignment for March is to begin to develop Unshakeable Faith.
How will you do that?
If I can guide you to do anything this year, it will be to understand your thought patterns and the beliefs that support and sustain them. You will create Unshakeable Faith by learning to reject or quickly move through the thoughts that do not support the life you want to create. But we cannot just take away, we need to create new beliefs to replace those that aren’t serving us.
For example: you want to lose weight. I struggled with my weight and body image for decades before I understood what was standing in my way. It stemmed from the shame of being overweight as a child and the harsh judgments placed on me by my father because of it. His comments and sometimes public ridicule of my body became deeply ingrained in my belief system. I saw myself as the chubby kid who was judged negatively upon sight. I believed that it was a part of who I was.
It took me years to unpack that belief and to change it in my brain. Of course, we know much more now than we did when I was young about the mechanics of our brain. I had to stop the messages of unworthiness and lack of belief in self in their proverbial tracks. Then I needed to create new beliefs which caused me to see myself as capable of change and worthy of having a body I feel good in. I’m 70 years old now and in some of the best shape of my life!
So you’re going to choose 1-2 things in your life that you desire to cultivate Unshakeable Faith around. If it is your desire to advance in your career, determine what beliefs may be holding you back. Do you have imposter syndrome? Do you believe that you have “what it takes” to achieve what you want? What beliefs stand in the way of you seeing yourself as a wildly successful person?
If your desire is to find work/life balance, what are your beliefs around it? Do you think it can actually be achieved?
For the BELIEF is the key. Do you know the story of Helene Hadsell? Helene was living a content yet unremarkable life as a homemaker when she found the book The Power of Positive Thinking: A Practical Guide to Mastering the Problems of Everyday Living. The book showed her how to think positively and systematically develop a permanent optimistic attitude. She then went on to win more than 5000 contests, including a fully furnished home. What was her “secret”? She claimed that it was all rooted in her unwavering belief in her abilities, consistent visualization of what she wanted, and taking inspired action to achieve it all.
So get “delusional” about yourself! Learn to stop negative thinking at its inception and replace it with positive beliefs. This is a process, not an overnight solution! As always, you may reach out to me to take any shortcuts to your changes that a skilled guide can provide.
So… how big will you dream? How “delusional” can you get?
And if you need any guidance from someone who has spent a lifetime being “delusional” in this way, with Grayt success, please get in touch at: https://www.jamesgrayrobinson.com/contact