Belief is a pretty word for thought.

Thoughts (aka beliefs) are the things you say to yourself in your mind. When left unattended, without awareness or inquiry, they can influence and impede decision making and sabotage progress.
Therefore, what you believe - about yourself, others, and what’s possible - has the ability to make or break your success.

Circumstances provoke thoughts, thoughts generate emotions, emotions inspire actions, and actions produce results. This framework has helped me to make more sense of how my own beliefs influence my reality.

Recently, I began reading the book 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
by Jim Dethmer, and in it he identifies four beliefs that hold us back.
His examples resonated so much with me that, in the spirit of generosity, I decided to add two of my own.
Awareness is the first step to transformation so let’s take a closer look, Shall we?!

6 False Beliefs:
#1 Believing you are fundamentally broken.
* “I’m not good enough”, “I could never do that/have that/be that”, “I’ve tried and it doesn’t work for me.”


#2 Believing that there will be consequences for going against your tribe’s norms.
* “I can’t pursue my dreams because where I am from people don’t do behave this way”, “If I change I run the risk of being outcasted”, “”They” won’t approve”, “I won’t fit in”, “What I want is not accepted in my family/group/where I’m from.”


#3 Believing that having more success will lead to more burden.
* “If I take on my goals and dreams I’ll have no more time for me and my family”, “I can’t do it all”, “What if I don’t like doing the work”, “What if when I step into my power I’ll have more stress and less freedom?”


#4 Outshining.
* “I don’t want to be seen as self-centered, conceited, over indulgent, or egotistical”, “If I change, my relationship(s) will fall apart”, “I’m not that type of person.”


#5 My business/art/craft won’t make any money.
* This belief is commonly referred to as the “starving artist” mentality. The thought is often “the work that is most inspiring to me does not pay the bills or put food on the table”, “The work I want to do doesn’t pay or won’t afford me the life I want”.


#6 It is not possible.
* If you believe this to be true ask yourself, “Do I truly believe that what I want isn’t possible? Or do I fear that it is not possible for me?” If the answer is the later circle back to #1. Sometimes we think something isn’t possible only to dig deeper and reveal that we think it’s not possible for us.


Which false beliefs resonate most with you?
I remember when these beliefs felt very real to me, and if you are wrestling with one or more of these I offer you this:
GOOD NEWS
...These beliefs are false! 

Even if your mind is telling you, “It feels real! And I have evidence!” Try taking a step back and do what Adam Grant suggests, “Think Again”.
Our first thought, though compelling and usually very loud 📢 🚨is likely inaccurate.

And the first thought, reaction, impression is also the most seductive and practiced thought. Our intuition wants us to believe that it’s right.  
It is not.  
The mind mines for what it already knows and what it is attuned to. Furthermore the mind seeks out evidence to reinforce one’s false beliefs.
We jump to conclusions about who we are, who other people are, and how the world works, and this prediction mechanism limits possibility because it is always based on past experiences.

Know the concept of rose-colored glasses? Our false beliefs are more like fun house glasses = feels “normal”.
When we are seeing the world through our personal adolescent fun house lens we feel comfortable. Comfort however has a high ticket price - we have it at the expense of losing the opportunity to have what we deeply desire.

Want to have it all? Here is alternative lens to view life through so that you can challenge your false beliefs and make strides towards your goals.
Check in with your body. What are you feeling?
Then go to the brain...What is your mind telling you?
Write it down - give yourself the freedom and space to write it all out. 

Afraid of what might come up? All the more reason to do it! Write on a scratch paper you can always toss it out, or burn it (safely, of course).

Next, consciously slow down and elongate your breathing.
Then remind yourself that as real as these beliefs may sound and feel, your thoughts and feelings are NOT FACTS, they are INTERPRETATIONS.
Ask yourself:
“If this thought was untrue what would I feel?” 
“What would be possible if I didn’t believe this belief?”
“If I believed this new thought who would I be? What would I do?”
In other words, “Who would I be without this (false) belief?”

Once you’ve identified how you’d behave, and what you’d do, GO out there and do it!
Is your tendency to spin your wheels in thought? 
Take Action! Even if it’s uncomfortable!

Implement practices that support you in behaving this new way. I recommend meditation, visualization, journaling, affirmations, and behaviors that support who you want to become.
The opportunity is yours!
Your gifts are necessary and your community will truly benefit from you owning, expressing and sharing your fullest potential.

Believe that.