If we want to change our lives in any way, all we need to do is to change our words, thoughts and beliefs. When we change
words, we change
world. Over
course of this handbook, you may discover a number of beliefs that no longer support you. By following this simple, three-step process, you can change your beliefs. By consciously creating beliefs that support us, we can change our reality and enhance our lives.
AWARENESS The first and most important step towards changing our beliefs and improving our lives is to become consciously aware of our beliefs. We must identify each thought that shapes our experiences. We have to name our thoughts. We must become conscious of
exact words that we have been using to create our realities. This is
first step towards mastering our minds.
So much of our life is governed by our unconscious thoughts, beliefs and patterns. We have lived with so many of these thoughts for so long that we believe that they're actually real. We tell ourselves "that's just
way things are." Many of these thoughts are beliefs about who we are and what we're entitled to--and almost all of these beliefs deny
truth of who we are, limit our potential and cut us off from
source of our happiness and prosperity.
We must become aware of our thoughts and beliefs. This handbook is designed to support our awareness.
OWNERSHIP Once we've become aware of a belief,
second step is to own it. We must accept it. We must take personal responsibility for it. We must recognize that
belief belongs to us, and that it is a part of who we are. Most importantly, we must accept that we created
belief.
This process is simple, but not always easy. We have to accept and acknowledge that we are responsible for creating beliefs that are often negative, painful, and limiting. On a conscious level we tell ourselves that we would never do this. Why on earth would we choose to believe that we are unworthy, damaged, unlovable, unskilled, unlucky, or any of
millions of other possibilities? Strange as it seems, even our most negative, painful beliefs were created to serve and support us. Every single one of our beliefs exists because
ego is trying to protect us from pain. As painful as
belief itself may be,
ego believes that
pain that
belief shields us from is infinitely greater. Just because these beliefs no longer serve us, doesn't mean that they are bad or wrong.
It's often easier to own a belief when we are able to identify
origins of that belief. If we understand that we created a belief to help us cope with a particular experience, we can accept how that belief served us at
time. This process can also help us to uncover beliefs we created because of things we were told as children.
While it's often helpful to explore where and when we first created a belief, we have to be careful. Our egos will encourage us to deflect
responsibility for
beliefs to protect us. It's one thing to recognize that we believe that we're not worthy of being loved (for example) because our parents didn't spend enough time with us. It's quite another to blame our parents for creating this belief and ruining our lives. Our parents didn't create
belief--we did. We interpreted an experience, created assumptions around it, developed expectations and created
belief. And until we accept this, we can't change that belief.
Our egos can also interfere with
ownership process by encouraging us to identify with
limiting belief. The ego can trick us into reinforcing our negative beliefs, by turning those beliefs back on us. Essentially, we tell ourselves that we're unworthy because we created a belief that we're unworthy. We beat ourselves up for beating ourselves up. Without awareness,
ego has us coming and going.