“All people cross the line from childhood to adulthood with a secondhand opinion of who they are. Without any questioning, we take as truth whatever our parents and other influentials have said about us during our childhood, whether these messages are communicated verbally, physically, or silently.”

― Heyward Ewart

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life (without joining a cult, starting a diet, or spending any $$$)

Sounds like someone selling snake oil from the back of a wagon, huh? And yet, significant and positive life transformation ALWAYS begins with our thoughts. Our mindset is indeed a powerful tool when we embark upon changing our behaviors for the better. 

Let’s dive deep into the power of thinking and your mind in changing your confidence, actions, and what you believe is even possible for you.

What beliefs from years ago still hold you back today?

When you’re small--even in infancy--you begin receiving messages from the outside world. They begin with your parents and can be spoken or implied.  As a child, you are processing all of your events through your emotional, subconscious mind because your logical mind isn't fully formed.  This part of your mind doesn't really have the ability to distinguish if your experience is actually true, it simply takes it as fact.

These messages, when repeated several times, can set up camp in your developing brain as core beliefs. Here are a few (admittedly negative) examples:

• Women must be skinny to be loved
• Money equals power
• Men don’t cry--ever, or they are weak
• To be happy, I must make everyone else happy first
• If I’m achieving, I’m okay
• Because I had a learning challenge in kindergarten, college will be too hard for me

But, core beliefs can also shape us in positive ways, too:

• If I’m honest and kind I’ll always have good friends
• Older adults have all the best wisdom and information--and they matter in my family
• I am good at (art, sports, writing, math, science, dancing…)
• I can make people laugh and that feels good
• When I help another human, I feel just as amazing as they do

Your “positive” core beliefs usually fuel your growth and confidence, while your “negative” ones can hold you back, keep you small, and force you to remain in an unsatisfactory status quo.

Start by changing ONE belief

When you want to push past your early childhood or young-adult programming, you’ll need to first identify ONE of those limiting beliefs that holding you back. Certainly, we cannot change what we don’t acknowledge, so even admitting that you have this limiting belief is a crucial element to changing your outer experience.

Let’s use the example of “To be happy, I must make everyone else happy first.” (I see this one SO often in my hypnotherapy practice--and I have lots of experience assisting my clients out of this tragic story.)

This limiting belief probably pops up anytime you’d like to do something nice for yourself. And it feels like guilt or selfishness, even when what you want is reasonable, affordable, and even necessary.

To unwind this belief, you’ll need to recognize it when it pops up, realize that is not actually true, and then immediately tell a different story. 

A helpful way to do this is to imagine what you would say to a good friend planning to see their doctor, get a massage, a nice haircut, or purchase a new pair of jeans. You’d probably say something like “good for you--you deserve it!”  Repatterning your core beliefs with this example can help you quiet down those finger-pointing voices in your head, and replace them with kinder, more expansive messaging.

Meditation and hypnotherapy speed the process

While it’s possible to make mindset changes on your own, it’s often faster and more powerful to do it with help.  The clients I have worked with on making changes are able to shift their beliefs quickly because, with my help under the safe and relaxed state of hypnosis, they are able to recognize where and how those beliefs were formed.  Then they can see that the beliefs are no longer relevant or true, making the release of the beliefs easier than without that understanding.

Regular meditation and even deeper support like hypnotherapy can help you more effectively re-wire your thoughts so that you can change your behavior (and your LIFE) more quickly and profoundly.

Be sure to stay tuned as we’ll be launching our next workshop centered on HABIT CHANGE and releasing limiting beliefs soon. Meanwhile, check out this guided hypnosis practice to let go of limiting beliefs.  And drop a comment and tell me what limiting belief you’ll work with this week, and what NEW story you’ll tell!

Take care,

Sara and Les

The Mindful Movement

Additional Resources:

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A personalized hypnotherapy session can support you in making a change you desire.  It would be my honor to help you through the process of change that you are looking for.

Let us know how we can help.  Please feel to leave a comment with any other suggestions, comments, or questions for the community!