In this series I want to share with you the powerful tools that I have used to empower myself and change my life. You absolutely have the power to manifest the life of your dreams. You don’t have to continue living in the loop of dysfunction. You can rewrite your story and create a life that brings you joy and fulfillment.
Limiting Beliefs
We all have deep seeded beliefs that fuel our actions and reactions. These beliefs are formed from our experiences in our childhood. Limiting beliefs are beliefs that’s do just as they say, they limit you. They keep you trapped in a box and prevent you from creating new possibilities for yourself.
As a child we are like sponges, absorbing everything around us. We often times absorb our parents limiting beliefs when we are very young but we also create our own as time goes on.
For example, if you grew up in a home where your parents often stressed over bills and used language such as “we don’t have enough money” or “We can’t afford that”, you likely would develop a belief that money is scarce and hard to come by. This could follow you into adulthood and you would probably repeat the same cycle as your parents, always feeling stressed about money.
There is a common misconception that it is our life situation that inspires our thoughts and beliefs but the truth is, it is our beliefs that create our life situation. Everything that you are experiencing and have experienced in your life is a product of your core beliefs. And so, in order to create a new reality for ourselves we must reprogram our beliefs.
What Is A Personal Narrative?
Before we can uncover our core beliefs we must start with understanding our personal narrative. A personal narrative is the things that you say about yourself, about your life situation, and about others. It is the dialogue that you have with yourself and the people in your life.
If you pay close attention you will notice that you have certain stories about yourself and your life situation that you repeat again and again. The characters in the story may vary but the theme remains the same. Getting to know your personal narrative will give you clues that will point directly to you limiting beliefs.
Believe it or not, the words that you speak or think have the power to create your life situation. It is a common misconception that our personal dialogue is a reflection of our life situation; When in truth, it is our life situation that is a reflection of our personal dialogue. In other words, the things that you say to yourself and others are the things that manifest in your life.
Have you ever wondered why you see patterns in your life? The same dysfunctional situtaions again and again? If you look closely you will find that your dialogue, aligns perfectly with your life situation.
Investigating Your Narrative
Unless you are already familiar the practice of manifestation, you likely are unaware of your personal narrative. A lot of what we say and do is controlled by the subconscious.
Learning to watch your thoughts and words is not easy at first. It takes practice to bring continuous awareness to your thoughts and the words that you speak. One of the ways that you can make the process a little easier is by journaling.
Keep a daily log of thoughts and converstaions that you had. Mainly focus on the ones that triggered strong emotions. You don’t have to log the conversation that you had with your boss about a work project or the talk you had with your partner about the show you watched last night. Focus mainly on the conversations that you had with yourself and others that caused you to feel a strong emotion. Focus on anything that you notice that you say about yourself either to others or through self talk and pay very close attention to your compaints. You can learn a lot about your beliefs by looking at your complaints.
Your Homework
- Pay attention to the thoughts and conversations that you have that trigger strong emotion or are about a situation that triggered strong emotion.
- Notice what you tend to say about yourself either through self talk or to others.
- Pay attention to your complaints.
- Write down what you notice in a daily journal. This is important for being able to spot patterns. A journal is immerative to your success in investigating your personal narrative.