This week, I showed a client a thought she had that wasn’t serving her.
She shrugged and said, “I know. It’s an old core belief I’ve struggled with that since I was a kid.”
As if it was a valid reason for still thinking it today.
So I ask her…
What if your optician said to you, “I didn’t know you were colorblind!” and you said, “Huh? I’m not.”
“Sure you are. You said this was blue but it’s really green.”
First, your mind would be blown.
How could I believe something that wasn’t true?
What made me think that?
Why didn’t anyone tell me?
You would question everything.
What else did I think was blue that’s really green?
Then, you’d start looking at the world through new eyes.
Every time you’d think “blue,” your brain would say, “No! I thought that was blue, but it’s green.”
And again…
“Blue. Nope. I used to think that; now I know it’s green.”
And again.
And again.
Rinse and repeat.
Your brain would correct itself the next 1000+ times you thought the old thought.
And then one day, you’d see green and think “GREEN!”
We can change old beliefs.
We used to believe that a person’s brain and beliefs were pretty “set” by the time we reached adulthood. But neuroscience has now shown that the brain has both plasticity (ability to change) and neurogenesis (the growth of new brain neurons). This means we can change our brains, and our thoughts along with it!
A belief is nothing more than a thought that’s been thought so many times, that our brain accepts as is reality. But as the saying goes, “Don’t believe everything you think!”
We can think new thoughts.
And when we do, we get new results too.
Which ones are clouding your vision today? What are the limiting beliefs you still hold today?
Some may be about you:
“I’m not good at that.”
“I can’t…”
“I’m terrible with…”
“I could never…”
“I’m…”
Others may be about the world or others:
“It’s not supposed to be this way.”
“He should…”
“They really need to…”
When you recognize a thought that you hear often in your mind, ask yourself:
Is this a fact? (Would everyone else agree?)
How do I feel when I think this thought?
What do I do when I think this thought and feel this way?
What result does that all create in my life?
For example, let’s say I have a thought: “I’m terrible at math.” (This used to be something I believed hard!)
Is this a fact? My husband would disagree. I balance our accounts to the penny each month. I manage my finances for my private practice and coaching business with no problems. I can create financial spreadsheets.
Maybe that’s just my thought.
When I think that thought, how do I feel? Timid & embarrassed
When I feel timid & embarrassed and think “I’m terrible at math”, how do I act or “show up” in my life? I shy away from math, let others do the math for me, and I don’t ask questions so I won’t feel embarrassed.
What result does that create for me? Not only do I not improve at math, but I also get weaker at it over time. My brain takes this as “proof” that “I’m terrible at math.” In essence, I create my own self-fulfilling prophecy.
We can think new thoughts.
And when we do, we get new results too.
We’re often tempted to try to change our life circumstances by changing our behavior. We think if we just work out more, eat less, take a class, schedule our time better, learn to budget, etc. everything will change. And it will for a while. But eventually, the old results will show up again, because we haven’t addressed the thoughts that were driving the behaviors in the first place. If we want to permanently change our results, we need to permanently change our thoughts!
As a coach, I help people see how their blind spots and faulty beliefs are what is creating the results in their life. I’ve helped people reach their goal weights, become certified in their field, lose weight, and even increase their income -all by evaluating their thoughts. When you join Rising Soul you get live coaching and all the tools you need to create change and support ongoing growth in your life…while keeping Jesus in the center of it! Click below to learn more or start today.