Really?

It’s Easy, Just Change Your Mind.

Lately, I’ve been seeing many people with the best of intentions tell people to just change their minds, be more positive, get rid of those negative thoughts. To be honest with you, I know I have told people that in the past.

I told people to use a daily affirmation. Just say it or read it so many times and soon your thoughts will be different.

I told people when a negative thought comes into their thinking, just tell themselves something that will serve them better.

I told people it’s easy. It’s just a choice.

Today, I call bulldoodoo.

Those thoughts that pop into our minds often holding us back are there for a reason. They are the result of a decision we have made to believe that thought. And the kicker is at one point those negative thoughts were created to keep us safe.

You remember Maslow. The guy with the hierarchy of needs. (Look him up, if you don’t.) Our unconscious mind is the computer that runs that hierarchy. Our unconscious mind does what it has to do to ensure we are feeling safe and unthreatened. Our unconscious mind is responsible for the fight or flight reactions. And we weren’t even aware of any of this at the time.

Here’s a simple version of how this works. Something happens. Let’s say we do something as a six or seven year-old that doesn’t turn out well. Maybe we were embarrassed. Maybe we had a small injury… something very minor at the time.

Our unconscious mind clues into the fact that the situation wasn’t safe, either emotionally or physically, and it sends out this thought, “Oh boy, that didn’t turn out well. I better not let my person do that again.”

That thought becomes a decision to not do whatever it was again and soon that morphs into a belief. That belief can often be something as destructive as “I am uncoordinated and make a fool out of myself when I try things like that, so I won’t.” And eventually, the thought that was meant to keep us safe becomes a belief about our physical ability, and it keeps us from taking risks.

It has become a limiting belief. Limiting beliefs take some work to reverse. A person needs to put in place some actions in order to replace the belief. It just doesn’t leave on its own.

Back to daily affirmations. (Unapologetic plug for my Affirmation Workbook here.) You can say a daily affirmation all you want. Read it 24 hours a day, seven days a week and that limiting belief will still be there. But, put in place some action to show your unconscious mind that you will be safe, and voila! The change is easy. You have shown your unconscious mind that you will be fine and it’s ok to let go of that old belief. (My workbook is full of affirmations and the actions to put in place to convince your unconscious mind you will be safe. Just grab it from the Freebies section of my website.)

So, next time you hear someone tell you it’s easy, remember we created those thoughts for a reason, a positive reason. And to get rid of them takes some positive action. Not just a thinking activity, but actions.

If you’d like to learn more about how to turn limiting beliefs around so they enable you to get what you say you want, reach out. Text NLP to 206-309-6580 and we’ll connect!

Have a great week.