Do you or your clients feel like you’re being held back by old, outdated, or otherwise limiting beliefs? These can be the cause of frustrating patterns in our lives – which can be overcome immediately once we know the cause of the blockage and remove it!
Here are five simple steps that can help you transform a limiting belief into one that serves you and helps you move forward:
1. Do a self-assessment. You must first become aware of what the operating belief is. Looking at your behavior, imagine there is a program behind the scenes, and because that program is running, it is causing the current behavior. What might that program be? If you had to state it in a sentence, how would you complete this: “A part of me believes that I/they/this situation is ____? Then, you can decide whether they want to continue to embrace it or let it go. For example, Sue was feeling frustrated with her work as a customer service representative for a software company. Her self-assessment included noticing, throughout the day, which aspects of her job upset her most. She realized that the central issue was she believed she had no control over the situations she would encounter with customers—especially their emotional state—and not knowing whether she could successfully resolve their problems. (And she even felt lack of control over whether she could change jobs if this could not be resolved!)
2. Define the desired state. Next, describe how you want it to be. What would an ideal situation look and feel like? Can you imagine it, using all of your senses? Maybe for Sue, it’s a belief that “I choose to bring my best self to every situation I encounter, and to make the changes I need to make.” Sue has several choices here, though she may not realize it. She can explore changing jobs, either within her company (e.g., to another department) or to another company. If she does not know what other jobs would suit her, she could work with a career coach to find out. A second choice would be to change her attitude and approach to her existing job. Instead of insisting on controlling each day’s activities and exchanges, she could learn to find motivation in being challenged and delighted by each day’s varied experiences. This may change the way she has viewed herself in the past, and in fact may affect other experiences in her life, too.
3. Set goals and taking action to achieve them. After setting goals, you need to then start taking action in ways that are consistent with your new belief. If Sue chose to seek a new job, for example, her goals would include identifying her job targets, updating her resume, reactivating her network of contacts, and planning and implementing a job search.
4. Repeat new motivation/behavior. For a new habit, idea, or motivation to be fully integrated at the subconscious level, it must be consciously repeated for at least twenty-one consecutive days. If it is replacing a deep, long-standing belief, it will take longer! In the case of seeking a new job, a powerful repetition technique is to write out a description of the desired work situation each night before going to bed. That allows the subconscious to work on the idea throughout the night and enhances the results obtained from job search activities. It should include more than the facts of the desired situation; it should also describe the excitement and other emotions—so that they are palpable!—to be most powerful.
5. Find interpersonal and situational support. As change begins to take shape, you will need to surround yourself with people who will give you positive feedback and support in implementing the desired state or situation. These situational supports may include a coach, a weekly “success team” in which to celebrate victories and provide support during disappointments, or a support group organized around a common situation (e.g., people in job transition, new business owners, etc.). Sue might also participate in a job seekers’ networking group to support her job change efforts. These sorts of activities work together to create a positive feedback loop, which can continually reinforce the motivation people like Sue desire!
And to get the support you need, join our Divinely Guided Business Mentoring & Activation Program - starting March 6!