Don’t Underestimate Your internal Power
Do you sometimes feel like you have no control over your life? Are things getting on top of you at every turn and you have no clue what to do about it? Don’t worry… you have the internal power to change everything!
Use your internal power!
Although it’s true that you have no control over what happens to you in this life, you have total control over the way you react to it.
You alone decide how stressful a situation is for you, or how it affects you. Whether that reaction is good, or bad… you determined it and you have the internal power to change it.
The real question, is are you willing to?
Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction – Germany Kent.
Your beliefs are creating your problems
Your beliefs, are the story you tell yourself, to explain the things you experience in life.
Everyone has a database of thoughts, that allow them to make unconscious decisions in a simple and efficient way. Unfortunately, these beliefs are usually general in nature and often, are untrue and unhelpful.
Your belief system works alongside your Core Values, which I’ll get into in a future article.
Understanding Beliefs
You have a huge pile of beliefs that help you meet your values in life.
Unfortunately, our beliefs are made up! They’ve generally no basis in real life experience, they’re usually developed from things we’ve been told about. Or, maybe about how we feel about a situation, at the time it’s happening.
A belief is ‘an acceptance that something is true, without having proof‘
Here’s a simple example…
No doubt, you’ve had the experience when you’ve tried something new and it failed terribly?
You probably thought to yourself something like… “Why do I even bother? Whenever I try new things, it never works out.”
This is a generalised belief. Other things in this category are things like, “Everyone lies to me”, or “I can’t trust anyone”, for example.
Ask a better question
If you use any of these terms, you have the internal power to make things better.
Just ask yourself the question, “Is that really true?” You’ll find that actually, it probably isn’t.
The next time you feel stupid, insecure, or incompetent, etc., ask yourself if that’s a useful belief to have. If you think that a situation is impossible, ask yourself, is that a useful belief to have.
If it isn’t, then decide to believe something else instead.
Going back to the original example, “Why do I even bother? Whenever I try new things, it never works out.”. Is that true? Does it NEVER work out? Have you never tried anything new, where the outcome was successful?
What about walking, or riding a bicycle, or getting your first job, or meeting your first partner?
We all have stupid beliefs, but it only takes a moment to change them if we ask the right questions.
But the problem, is that no matter what that belief is, we trust it without question. In fact, we’ll even find ways to prove it’s true. This effect is called ‘Confirmation Bias’.
This is when a person interprets a situation to fit with their belief system.
Next steps
So, your exercise for today is to grab a note book, then write down one limiting belief you have. One negative thing you find yourself saying (or thinking), when things go wrong. Then ask yourself if it’s really true.
Once you’ve realised it’s not true, think about what you’d like to believe instead. Write that down underneath.
For example, “I never do anything right”, could become “Sometimes I make mistakes, but that’s okay. Next time I’ll do better.”
Then whenever you start having that ‘pattern‘ of thought… stop. Then remind yourself that the belief isn’t true and state your your new belief instead.
The more you repeat this exercise, the easier it becomes. Soon, you won’t have to even ask the question, because your mind automatically goes to a better place.
Give it a go!
What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments 🙂
