What’s Stopping You From Success?In Step One, we discussed a big key to success is taking full responsibility for your life as it is, as well as the immense power of your thoughts. So the next logical step is to begin paying very close attention to what you’re thinking, and what you’re saying. This exercise will lead you to an understanding of what has been stopping you from achieving success and happiness. We will begin with the concept of limiting beliefs, then cover the obvious (but necessary) topic of positive thinking. Later we will address some critical factors that are often missing from teachings on this subject. Please bear with us while we lay the foundation, before we get to the really exciting stuff!
Limiting BeliefsLimiting beliefs are those which hold us back from reaching our fullest potential. They come from a combination of our own past experiences, our family, our culture, our schools, our social or religious organizations, and most importantly, our very own thoughts. Limiting beliefs and thoughts often create a vicious cycle in our lives, as they feed on each other to keep themselves alive and well. In the process, they often wreak havoc on our lives and ruin our chances at finding happiness and success. Each has its own potent form of energy, and each has the power to dictate exactly how you live your life at every moment-->if you let them. The good news is that we can change our limiting beliefs if we want to. There are many different methods for doing so, but it's really important to get a handle on your thinking before trying any more advanced methods. This series of articles were written before we met Sid, who created our E-courses. So although they provide a 30,000 foot view of the manifesting process, The Quintessential Guide To Conscious Creation will give you much more detail, with simple step-by-step instructions on how to become a Master Manifester. |
Wrong ThinkingWhen you think about money, for instance, what kinds of thoughts come to mind? For many of us, thoughts about money will tend to resemble the following: “When I have money, I will finally be able to do ________ (take a vacation, buy a new car, etc.).” “In order to have money, I just have to work harder.” “If I only had a better education (better job, more time, more connections), I would have more money.” “My family has always been poor, so I guess it’s just in the cards that I’ll be poor too.” “Rich people are greedy, selfish, and dishonest.” “Money doesn’t grow on trees!” “Money doesn’t buy happiness.” “If I have money, then someone else won’t.” Sound familiar? But each of these statements only serves to push money away from you. Either you are pushing the possibility of wealth into the future, where it shall forever remain, or you are giving yourself reasons why you don’t deserve (or shouldn’t want) to be wealthy. Or, most importantly, you believe in a world of scarce supply and competition with others. This last belief probably causes most of the social ills on our planet, because so many people think there’s just not enough to go around. And that applies to money, land, oil, food, opportunity, power…everything! The result is wars, theft, poverty, and even murder. Although I’m using money as an example here, these concepts apply to anything you desire, whether it’s more free time, true love, excellent health, or a new job. Anything! Key point: When you focus on your lack of money or good health or romance, you attract more of the same to you! The Universe Is AbundantThe truth is that there is plenty of everything to go around, and we are each entitled to receive however much of it we want (providing we don’t take it from someone else without their consent). It is our birthright to be wealthy and successful, and to have an abundance of all good things! This may be a difficult concept for many to grasp—I know it took me a long time to accept this as truth because it went against everything I had always been taught. Raised in a family with a powerful poverty mindset, wealth was always beyond my reach, always over the next hill. Yet when I got to the other side of one of those darn hills that pot of gold was never there! And I trudged up the next hill, and the next one, and the next one… Eventually I realized I was actively pushing it away. In fact, I even caught myself turning down money! When people were offering me money (e.g., as part of a real estate deal) I would automatically respond, “No, that’s not necessary! You keep it!” Why would I do such a thing? Because I didn’t feel I deserved success. I believed only exceptional people such as best-selling authors, or celebrities, or royalty deserved it. Not little ole ordinary me! That came partly from a deep lack of self-worth and self-confidence. But mostly it came from misconceptions about the nature of wealth and how the Universe really worked. You Deserve It!There is a magical little book that has a great chapter on why we all deserve to be rich called, “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace B. Wattles. It was written about 100 years ago, and the author’s claims are now being proven true with recent quantum physics research. Thousands of people over the past century have successfully shifted their “money consciousness” shortly after reading this book. You can download the free e-book here. It’s written in rather archaic language but it’s a real treasure well worth the quick read. When I first read the chapter on deserving riches, I was frankly rather offended at the thought that it was our God-given right to be rich. I thought, “How dare he make these claims?” But on my second time through, it finally hit me that he had a really good point. And I realized it was probably my limiting beliefs which were causing such a strong reaction in me! Wattles explains how we humans have in our nature the constant desire to expand our experience. We are always striving to be more, to learn more, and to build bigger and better things. In order to be fully “available” to do these things, we must make plenty of money, so that we may free our time up from the toil of constantly working for base needs such as food and shelter. Think about it: If you had all the free time in the world, and didn’t have to report to a job every day, wouldn’t you be doing something fantastic for yourself and for others? What Would You Do With All The Time In The World?What if you really wanted to learn to play the piano? If you had the money and the time, wouldn’t you buy the very best Steinway you could find, and spend hours every day making beautiful music? Or, if you felt you had an important message for the world to hear, wouldn’t you be spending your precious time writing a book, instead of pushing papers in a cubicle making big money for someone else? If you think about it, isn’t your job here on Earth to reach your fullest possible potential? We could even go so far as to say that it’s unfair to hold yourself back from your best and highest “use”, so to speak. Because if it’s true that each of us has the power within to change the world, then shouldn’t we be doing that? Most of us don’t even have the time to pay attention to what’s going on in the nation, much less the world. That’s because we’re so busy working just to afford our survival! How To Get By In Daily LifeIf you find yourself anxious or worried (or any other negative emotion), take a step back and be the “observer”, as if it wasn’t you in there. In fact, it isn’t you who was thinking those negative thoughts, it’s your mind. Your mind is not you. It is only a part of you. And it’s a very powerful tool for you to use when (and only when) it’s appropriate. When it’s running off at the mouth, so to speak, giving you all sorts of things to fear and worry about, it is not serving you. So step back, and watch and listen to what you’re thinking. Detach yourself, and you will be amazed at how much power it previously held over you. Perhaps you’ll want to minimize its power by saying, “Well, isn’t that interesting…” Once you begin noticing what it’s doing, it will immediately start losing its power over you. If you’re worried, just stop and ask yourself, “Am I okay right at this moment? Do I have enough food and a roof over my head? Is my belly full?” I would bet that about 99% of the time, you ARE okay! But your mind is going to try to convince you that there’s a bogey man just around the next corner, whether you’re afraid of poverty or illness or a painful breakup. If it isn’t happening to you right now, let it go! Because it hasn’t happened, and it’s rather unlikely that it ever will. For now, you are okay, even if you don’t feel that way in your head. I have found it tremendously helpful to try to live in the present moment as often as possible. By watching my thoughts whenever I feel angst, and then by asking myself, “Has this happened yet? Am I okay right now?”, I can disperse almost all of the negativity. The Key LessonsPaying attention to what you are thinking will help you gain much greater awareness of why you don’t yet have the life you desire, and how you can begin to improve it. This may take some time, since our thoughts tend to become a habit, or even an addiction. Sometimes there is a false sense of pleasure from feeling bad—I know there were times when I actually enjoyed wallowing in my self-pity when I was suffering from depression, strange as that may seem (kind of like the perverse pleasure of the pain from getting your teeth cleaned). But the pleasure doesn’t last, because it was phony to begin with. These negative thoughts do not serve you. They just create more of what is ailing you. So wouldn’t you prefer to feel better all of the time? Let go of the addiction of negative thinking, hard as that may feel, and you will then be free to create whatever you desire. Learning to become the observer of your thoughts will shed light on them, and then they will lose much of their power over you. With practice, you can learn to catch the negative thoughts and choose to think more productive ones from that point forward. And over time, this positive mental attitude will become your default thought pattern, which will then manifest good things into your life. Another key point to remember is that the Universe is abundant, and there is no need for competition with others. Quantum physics proves that things only manifest in the physical realm when we observe them, even if they happened in the past! (See this article on Wave Particle Duality, written by my husband Ron, for an explanation of this phenomenon.) This may be a difficult concept to accept, but in laboratories all around the world scientists are consistently proving that this is indeed the case. So if events can be changed in the past, then why can’t we create things the way we want to, for the future, simply by making different choices about what we want to observe? Lastly, do you think it’s noble to be poor? Personally, I think it’s our moral obligation to contribute to humanity and to our planet, as much as we possibly can. And that noble cause requires us to have our basic needs taken care of, in order to free up our time and energy for bigger and better things. If we’re so busy just making the rent, then we don’t have much left to give. So in order to fulfill our purpose in life, it’s mandatory that we become financially secure. Now What Do I Do?Thoughts with strong focus and repetition become beliefs, which in turn become reality. So start by catching your negative thoughts and changing them into focused and positive expectations (more on that in future Steps to Success). Here are some suggestions: - Instead of “When I have more money, I will do such-and-such,” try thinking, “I am wealthy NOW. I am abundance NOW.”
- Instead of “In order to have money, I just have to work harder,” switch to, “Money comes to me frequently and easily.”
- Instead of “If only I had a nice man (or woman) in my life, I wouldn't have to work so hard or be so lonely," try thinking, “I have all the smarts, time, and connections I need RIGHT NOW to bring plenty of money into my life, and I KNOW the right person for me is already here.”
- Instead of “I sure wish I would lose these last twenty pounds”, you might try, “I am hereby releasing these pounds forever!” (If you “lose” weight, it will surely find you again!)
I think you get the idea of how to transform your negative thoughts into positive ones. So at this point you may want to spend the next couple of weeks observing what you think, and how you say things. For instance, eliminate the words “I’ll try” from your language. Instead, make the decision either to do something, or not to do it. You can always change your mind later if you feel like it. But “trying” just gets you off the hook and keeps you from being accountable—to yourself and to others. I think you’ll be surprised at just how empowering little changes like this will be. Now, there’s a lot more to the story than just “thinking positive”...
Step Three – Decide What You Want
Go Back To Step One – Take Responsibility For Your Life
Go Back To The Beginning – Success Roadmap "Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this--that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny. "As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills." James Allen
As A Man Thinketh
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