Twenty years ago when I was learning to ride a horse without a saddle, I observed an interesting process. Every time I thought to myself that I was going to fall off the horse, I did fall. Actually, I fell a number of times until I intentionally started telling myself that I was moving in harmony with the horse, and suddenly, wow, I could ride bareback. It was exhilarating! And I got that my body believed and acted in accordance with the information I gave it.
I see patterns of similar limiting beliefs in people when they shake their heads and say 'I can never do that' or 'it has always been this way'. Even more interesting is that sometimes it is such an unconscious habit that they don't even recognize they are silently reinforcing a limiting belief. Whether it is a yoga posture, hitting a softball or achieving a goal, what we believe about the outcome shapes it.
If we feed doubt and fear to ourselves in our internal conversations, we will have outcomes that mirror what we expect to see. There may be a little gift of grace here and there that belies this concept, but basically, as one of my mentors used to say, "garbage in, garbage out". If you are blessed to have someone in your life who is lovingly supportive of who you are and what you do, and tells you so, the light shining in will help keep the garbage thoughts at bay. More empowering is taking responsibility for your own thoughts and changing them if they do not serve you.
The next time you try something new, listen to the conversations in your head. Assess whether they are giving you encouragement and considering solutions, or trying to keep you exactly where you are, safe from change. If you have trouble hearing your thoughts, know that they often operate beneath awareness and keep listening. If what they are saying does not point you in the direction you want to go, it may be time to clean out the attic and go shopping for some new conversations.
I see patterns of similar limiting beliefs in people when they shake their heads and say 'I can never do that' or 'it has always been this way'. Even more interesting is that sometimes it is such an unconscious habit that they don't even recognize they are silently reinforcing a limiting belief. Whether it is a yoga posture, hitting a softball or achieving a goal, what we believe about the outcome shapes it.
If we feed doubt and fear to ourselves in our internal conversations, we will have outcomes that mirror what we expect to see. There may be a little gift of grace here and there that belies this concept, but basically, as one of my mentors used to say, "garbage in, garbage out". If you are blessed to have someone in your life who is lovingly supportive of who you are and what you do, and tells you so, the light shining in will help keep the garbage thoughts at bay. More empowering is taking responsibility for your own thoughts and changing them if they do not serve you.
The next time you try something new, listen to the conversations in your head. Assess whether they are giving you encouragement and considering solutions, or trying to keep you exactly where you are, safe from change. If you have trouble hearing your thoughts, know that they often operate beneath awareness and keep listening. If what they are saying does not point you in the direction you want to go, it may be time to clean out the attic and go shopping for some new conversations.
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