The Importance Of Examining Your Beliefs
When a hypnotist hypnotizes someone, they implant a belief into the person’s mind which influences how they think and how they behave. For example, a person could be hypnotized to think that a potato is an apple, or that a feather is so heavy they cannot lift it. These implanted beliefs edit their reality, and by doing so, edit what they can and cannot do.
In exactly the same way, people can become hypnotized throughout their life with the ideas they accept from others and the ideas they regard to be true. Some of these beliefs can be positive and expand a person’s life by opening up new possibilities to them, whilst other beliefs can be negative and limit a person’s life by restricting what they believe they are capable of.
What this all means is that the person you are today, and the things you have and will achieve in your life, come as a direct result of the beliefs which have been implanted in your mind. The question is, what sort of beliefs do you have implanted in your mind? And how are these beliefs affecting your life?
The Power Of Belief Systems
Some people think that despite having limiting negative beliefs about themselves, they can still achieve what they want to achieve through sheer determination and will power. This is not true. Once a limiting belief has been accepted, it becomes ingrained into the subconscious mind where it then forms part of that person’s belief system.
Later, should that person begin to experience success or happiness which is inconsistent with their subconscious beliefs, they will often “sabotage” themselves, and by doing so, bring them back down to the level where they subconsciously believe they should be at. This is known as self sabotage.
On the other hand, a positive empowering belief can enable a person to do or achieve things which others would regard as being impossible.
For example, there are many instances of people who have displayed superhuman strength when they were confronted with a life or death situation, such as one woman who lifted a car off her trapped child.
Another example can be found with the story of the four-minute mile. Before Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes, most believed that it was impossible to do. But as soon as he broke that barrier, other runners were soon able to do the same and eventually beat his time.
Examples such as these show us that humans have incredible amounts of untapped power within them, and that these powers can either be locked away, or set free, by the beliefs you hold in your mind.
Sources Of Beliefs
If you think about it, the person you are today is a direct result of what you have been exposed to throughout your life, the things you have learnt along the way and the things you have accepted as being true.
Most of what people “know” therefore comes from what parents, teachers, friends, religion and the media have told them. In other words, they have allowed the beliefs of others to influence and create their own beliefs.
The trouble with this is, some beliefs can be formed without being subject to critical analysis. As a result, even though what a person may say to you is incorrect or false, you could still accept that information into your subconscious where it will then start to affect how you think and act.
If you apply this to your life as a whole, it becomes very clear why some people have so many limiting beliefs. They have accepted what others have told them as being true, and because they have not analyzed or questioned those beliefs, they continue to be adversely affected by them throughout the rest of their life.
Belief And Behavior
When a person believes something to be true, regardless of whether or not it is true, they will act as if it is true and look for evidence to support their belief. So should a person accept something which is false, their thoughts and behaviors will be driven by that false belief.
What is even more dangerous however, is that a person who believes something to be true becomes convinced that what they believe is correct. They become certain in their belief, and unless some extraordinary event proves to them otherwise, no one will be able to persuade them that what they believe is not an accurate representation of reality.
This false assumption of certainty, therefore presents one of the biggest barriers to overcoming negative limiting beliefs, as how can you convince someone that what they believe about themselves is wrong when they are certain that it is right?
Since many of our thoughts and actions come as a result of the false beliefs we have incorporated into our subconscious mind, it is therefore extremely important that you never assume what you currently hold to be true, as being 100% true, because by doing so, you automatically erect a barrier around that belief which will prevent you from changing it.
Rather, you should hold in your mind the possibility that you have been hypnotized by false beliefs, and that these beliefs may be preventing you from realizing your full and true potential in life. Only once you have formed this new belief, will you then start to be able to positively change your other beliefs.
Firm Believers And False Certainties
The degree to which you dehypnotize yourself from your false beliefs, will be in direct proportion to the amount of truth that you are willing to accept. Regardless of whether you like that truth or not.
By accepting the truth, you automatically remove false beliefs that may have been implanted in your mind (and their associated thought patterns and behaviors), and replace them with true beliefs which you know to be true and are willing to accept.
It is only from these true beliefs that your true potential will be realized, because truth cannot be found within the illusion created by false beliefs. But in order to awaken this potential, you first need to understand what beliefs are and how you can change them.
What Are Beliefs?
Beliefs are any kind of information that the conscious or subconscious mind has accepted as true. They can broadly be divided into two groups.
1) Positive
Positive empowering beliefs enable your life to grow and expand, and are typically characterized by open and free thinking. For example, “I believe I am capable of accomplishing anything“, would be an example of a positive empowering belief.
Positive beliefs set no limit on what you believe you can achieve, and therefore do not impose any limitations or restrictions on your thoughts or actions. This type of mindset thinks that there is always a way that something can be done.
2) Negative
The second group of beliefs are negative limiting beliefs, and are characterized by closed and restrictive language. For example, “I could never do that, I’m just not good enough“, is typical of a negative limiting belief.
These types of beliefs tend to prevent a person from physically going after their goals, and if they do try to achieve their goals, it will usually be done half heartedly and with the expectation of failure. In this way, negative limiting beliefs can prevent external success in the world by preventing internal success in the mind.
Do Your Beliefs Imprison You, Or Empower You?
Unfortunately, the most common type of beliefs that people have are limiting negative beliefs. These can cause people to become imprisoned by the things they believe in, only seeing what their beliefs allow them to see and rejecting everything else.
A good example of how beliefs can imprison you can be found with “firm believers”. These types of people have a firm belief about something, and are unwilling to listen to or explore other ideas that are outside their belief. They know they are right, and everything else is wrong.
Another name for the firm believer is a “know it all”, whereby they think they know everything already and so think they have nothing else to learn. Generally, these types of people like doing things in an old-established way, in a way that they are used to and have always done. Anything new presents a threat to them, makes them feel uncomfortable and causes them to reject it.
Types Of Firm Believers
Not all firm believers are as extreme as has just been described.
Some firm believers build a big wall around their beliefs, blocking any information that does not completely support their existing belief. Whilst others, have smaller walls. These walls still protect their beliefs, but tend to be more permeable to new information. But regardless of their size, these walls still serve to protect their existing beliefs which causes the firm believer to hold on to their beliefs very tightly.
The trouble with firm believers is that they are very unwilling to change their mind about something once they have formed an opinion about it.
They only recognize what lies within the walls they have constructed around their beliefs, which then prevents them from exploring any truth that lies outside the wall. These false assumptions of certainty therefore make them ignorant of the true reality of the world and the true reality of themselves.
False Certainties
A false assumption of certainty is something that you regard to be true, but is in fact false. These false certainties can present a great barrier to self-improvement, because they tend to distort reality and lead to self-deception. False certainties cause you to view things in the way you want to see them, rather than how they really are. By doing so, they blind you to the truth by showing you an illusion.
Since a person can only truly change their life once they become fully aware of the person they are, it is therefore important to accept the possibility that many of the things which you regard to be true about yourself, may actually be false.
This understanding is often referred to as your “level of consciousness”, which simply describes how enlightened or aware you are of the truth about yourself and the world you live in.
You level of consciousness is determined by many factors, some of which include:
- All the things you have learnt in your life.
- Your friends and family.
- Experiences you have had throughout your life.
- Successes and failures you have had.
- Your religious beliefs.
All of these factors will in some way shape and form your current level of consciousness. This then determines what you accept, and what you reject, into your mental and physical world. The most influential years of your life, in terms of expanding your level of consciousness, occur during your childhood and teenage years of life.
After this period, many people find it hard to expand their consciousness because they live a life driven by habits, and as a result, they tend to keep the same limiting false beliefs they picked up during their childhood. This can lead to a lifetime of unfulfillment and dissatisfaction where they never see the true reality about themselves, and so consequently, never see what they are truly capable of.
Why It Can Be Hard To Change Negative Beliefs
In order to remove negative limiting beliefs, one needs to expand their level of consciousness to the point where they become able to see through the illusion cast upon them by their false beliefs. This however, can sometimes be difficult to do, as there are certain things which can hold back a person from changing the way they view something.
Below you will find some of the most common reasons why it can be hard to change negative beliefs.
A Mind Filled With False Beliefs
All the things we think about and imagine, are based on what we presently believe to be true. Even though we may have a false belief, if we regard it to be true, then we will act as if it is true. So if a person’s mind is filled with false and limiting beliefs, then those beliefs can end up controlling how that person thinks and how they act.
Time And Effort
Change takes time and effort. It is far easier to give a reason or excuse why we shouldn’t do something, or why something wouldn’t work, rather than to put the time and effort in to find out through trial and error. This can cause people to fail even before they begin.
Accept What We Like, Reject What We Don’t
People have a natural tendency to accept the things which agree with their current beliefs, and to reject the things which disagree with their beliefs. So if a person’s mind is filled with false beliefs, then they may reject or resist any true information which conflicts with their pre-existing beliefs.
Conditioned Behavior
Humans become conditioned throughout their life to respond in predictable ways. These responses can be mental, physical or emotional, and can cause people to automatically reject new information.
For example, a person who automatically gets angry and defensive when you try to tell them how they could do something better, or improve themselves, is never likely to learn from any beneficial information they hear because they have been pre-programmed to automatically reject it.
What Other People Believe
People tend to believe what other people believe, and the more people that believe something, the more believable it becomes. As a result, things which are regarded as being “common knowledge” can result in someone automatically accepting that information as being correct, even though it may be false.
Having An Excuse
Some people feel that they can’t do or achieve something because they have a problem which is unique to them. They feel that their problem is so limiting, that they can use it as an excuse for not being more successful life. Essentially, such people will use their limitation as a justification for the way things currently are, which then prevents them from taking further action to change their life for the better.
Pleasure And Pain
Sometimes, the true reality of a situation may be uncomfortable or painful to deal with. So rather than confronting that pain, it is often much easier to stick with the illusion that false beliefs provide.
Conformity
Humans are taught to conform to the wishes and desires of others from childhood. As a result, when a child becomes an adult, they may resist believing in something which goes against the crowd for fear of being ridiculed or rejected.
Expanding Your Consciousness
Because everything that you accept or reject into your life is determined by your current level of consciousness, in order to improve your life, you need to expand your level of awareness about yourself and your surroundings. By doing so, you will remove the mistaken certainties that have been holding you back from becoming the person you know you are and can be.
Some of the ways that you can do this are listed below.
Don’t Assume It’s Right Or Wrong
Stop automatically defending your views as being right or wrong, because by doing so, you block the input of new ideas. Always be open to the possibility that what you currently believe to be true, may in fact be false.
Ask Yourself Who You Are
Think about the person you are. Ask yourself, what do you stand for? What do you believe in? What do you want out of life? Now compare this with the person you are today, do they match?
If you are living a life that is inconsistent with what you want, then this may indicate a lifestyle that is being driven by the acceptance of limiting false beliefs. Examine those beliefs, are they really true? Are they really your beliefs, or did someone else implant them?
What Makes You Feel Alive?
Think about the things that motivate you and the things you enjoy the most. What makes you feel alive? Are you currently living this way? If not, how can you begin to live this way?
Find something that motivates you, something you strongly desire to have or to avoid. Finding your motivation can be an extremely powerful way to expand your consciousness.
Trust Yourself
Learn to trust yourself and have the courage to follow your intuition. It may not be right all the time, but sometimes, it can lead to life changing events and realizations. The more you learn to trust yourself, the stronger your belief will become in your abilities. When you truly know that you can do something, you will do it.
Learn From Mistakes
Look at the mistakes you make and take action to improve them. Do not feel bad when you make a mistake, but see it as a valuable learning experience from which you can grow and develop as a person. Recognize that nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes and it is ok to make mistakes as long as you learn something from them.
Love Yourself
Learn to love yourself and accept the person you are. It is only when you truly love yourself and are comfortable in your own skin, will the world love you.
When you love yourself, you will be better equipped to handle all the situations that come your way. Loving yourself will enable you to persist through the difficult times, thereby allowing you to grow and develop as a person.
Open Your Mind
Keep an open mind when you are presented with new information, and do not automatically accept it as the truth or reject it as false. You can still listen to something, without having to accept it.
Remember, you will accept or reject something based on your current level of consciousness. If you automatically accept or reject new information, you may be doing so from an existing false belief which could be blinding you to the true reality.
What Do You Defend?
Pay attention to the things you strongly defend. These are usually a good indicator of deeply ingrained beliefs that you are holding on to tightly, and most likely, were implanted in your mind during your childhood.
Should your adult mind still be full of these childhood beliefs? Are these beliefs true or false?
Desire Consciousness
Recognize that as your level of consciousness increases, you will become more motivated to change for the better. Only by becoming conscious will you be able to take actions that address your true reality, rather than living your life under the illusion generated by your false beliefs.
Be eager to expose yourself to a variety of information and opinions. The most unexpected things can expand your mind, so always be willing to learn from a variety of sources.
View Beliefs Objectively
Question your current beliefs. Are the things you regard to be true really true? Would another person think the same way if they had the same beliefs? Have your beliefs been implanted into your mind by someone else, and you accepted them as true without questioning their validity?
View your beliefs objectively, and make sure there is ample evidence to support them before you accept them as true.
