We all carry beliefs that limit our potential in one way or another. For example, many of us grew up with such misconceptions that money is the root of all evil and in order to become rich we have to take advantage of situations and people. At first, we naturally resist such ideas but as we go through our lives and more “evidence” shows up, we unconsciously reaffirm these beliefs and so we live accordingly. Money and success are not synonymous of course, however, since money plays such an important role in our lives the mindset we live with literally defines how much money we can make and how successful we can become in our lives.
Society programs us to believe that in order to become successful in life we have to follow a certain societal pattern like first go to school to get an education, get a job and that would be the only way we can survive in our society. Even though I think that going to school is important, at the same time I do believe that our overall happiness, success and income are not defined exclusively by our level of education. We all have the opportunity to create the life we want irrespective of our educational status.
We are called to be architects of our future, not its victims. – Buckminster Fuller
The more I’ve gone into the mindset training the more I started to realize that beliefs operate on a subconscious level and in themselves they don’t represent a reality until the time we identify with them without giving them a second thought. What we believe is what we create and what we think we are limited to and what we deserve or don’t deserve is exactly what manifests in our lives.
Reprograming our core belief system
The process of changing our limiting beliefs with affirmations isn’t difficult, however it does take some conscious effort on our part to change them at their core. Since beliefs are thoughts and the process of redefining them is subconscious it’s possible to learn to reprogram our entire belief system consciously.
This is not a theory; a great deal of people have proven it it can be done. I have changed my beliefs from scarcity to prosperity and so can you! All you have to do is pose questions to yourself about what you believe and answer those questions with as much honesty as possible then you can craft a few effective affirmations to redefine those beliefs.
Don’t underestimate the simplicity of this process because this is an extraordinary bit of knowledge that can give you a phenomenal power over your limitations.
For affirmations to work on a deep and effective level we have to not only repeatedly reaffirm them but also surround ourselves with situations and people that evoke positive feelings and emotions associated with that which we want to manifest.
The process works best when you are having a problem or are upset about something.
1. Sit down, take a deep breath and try to relax. Shut down all distractions like computers and mobile phones. It may also help to put on your favorite music so that you can go through the process with as much comfort and as little distraction as possible.
2. Think of a particular area of your life you’d like improve and describe it in simple terms, then write those down.
3. Identify the emotions you are feeling. Don’t write long sentences, just find one word for every emotion you are feeling. So you may label what you are feeling as sadness, anger, frustration, guilt or fear.
4. Pay attention to what that particular emotion feels like in your body. Try to identify its location. So if you are feeling anger your stomach may feel tight. Or if you are feeling fear you may have difficulties to breathe.
5. Pay close attention to your thoughts. What can you identify? Take some minutes and write those down. If you are thinking you are a failure, write it down. Or if you are blaming your parents for all your misfortunes, write those down too.
6. Identify your fears. Ask yourself, what is my biggest fear in this situation? What is the worst thing that could happen if that fear came true? Write down your answers.
7. Identify the best possible outcomes. What is your ideal situation that you’d wish to happen? For some people it may be difficult to describe their ideal outcomes compared to their fears. If you have been focusing on the glass half-empty instead of on the glass half-full for many years then your fears may have become a dominating force in your life so fear overwhelms your vision of a happy and successful life. Still, keep the best possibilities in mind and write them down.
8. Identify the limiting belief or beliefs that hold you back and make a list. Well, how do you know your beliefs are negative? This is very easy. Any time you identify a thought that contains negative words such as “don’t”, “never”, “difficult or impossible” this is your negative belief. So with regard to money if you hold a thought “I can never make enough money” or “we live in difficult times, the economy doesn’t offer opportunities for making money” these are your limiting beliefs. Don’t blame yourself for holding these limiting thoughts, be grateful that you were able to bring them to light.
So your list may look like this:
- I am not enough
- I am inadequate
- I believe it’s hard to make money for me
- Money corrupts people
- In this economy making money is next to impossible
- I don’t have time to become wealthy
- To make money you have to be mean to people etc..
9. Create an affirmation that counteracts and redefines the negative, limiting belief. An effective affirmation should always be stated only in the present tense. It should be as concise as possible and it should feel meaningful to you.
Here are a few examples:
- I am plenty
- I feel empowered
- I am now creating abundance in my life
- I associate money with contribution to the world
- Becoming successful and making money is easy and fun
- I choose to identify with exclusively positive situations and people
- I create plenty of time to enjoy the things I love
- I create golden opportunities for my success
10. As you sit down and ponder the affirmations you have written try to evoke a feeling that can reinforce that affirmation. So if you affirm “I am plenty”, don’t just sit and repeat “I am plenty”, “I am plenty” 500 times. It won’t work. For an affirmation to become effective you have to visualize and feel inside as having plenty. So imagine yourself surrounded by beautiful, expensive things, touch, feel them, smell the smell in your mind’s eye until you truly can identify yourself with the feeling and emotions of having plenty. Feel the joy and happiness of being in that situation; magnify the image until you are fully absorbed by it and then up these feelings and emotions a hundredfold.
When you affirm new beliefs, old negative thoughts are likely to come up which you may have not been aware of. Don’t dismiss them but write those thoughts on a piece of paper and then rephrase them into positive statements.
Some people report that writing an affirmation over and over again helps the mind be laser-focused on that affirmation which boosts its power. I do believe that it’s a very effective way to reaffirm but I personally don’t go it this way due to the fact that it’s quite a time consuming process.
I find that recording affirmations on my mobile device works best for me. When I run or go shopping I am listening to those recorded affirmations, silently repeating them which is killing two birds with one stone.
Summary
- We are limited only by our beliefs which is the same as saying we are limited by our thoughts
- Our beliefs only gain power over us when we identify with them otherwise these are only useless bits of information
- We have the power to change our beliefs. Many of our beliefs naturally change throughout our lives but we can change them at will whenever we want
- There is a very simple process of changing our core limiting beliefs and it involves asking yourself questions, answering them and rephrasing them into positive statements
Something of greater value happens when we identify our negative beliefs. We let go of old thoughts and we create new ones, and that has the power to affect our reality in so many wonderful ways.
Also, another beneficial thing that happens when we become aware of our negative beliefs is we train our mind to become the observer instead of the participant. Once you are able to take a look at agitation, fear or anger, or whatever other state you may find yourself in, you will realize that there is more to you than your thoughts and emotions. There is always a part of you that is not upset, fearful or agitated, that part of you is always clear, calm and at ease and as we all know becoming happy and achieving success with a mind like that becomes easy and fun.
This is it. It’s the entire process for reprogramming negative core beliefs. It is very simple but it has worked magic in my life. Please, let me know how affirmations have changed your life?
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