Do you ever take stock of your life and wonder how you’ve gotten where you are? You might think to yourself, I’m so capable and bright, why doesn’t my level of success reflect that? I’ve been there. I’ve always worked very hard and when I didn’t feel it was getting me where I wanted to go, I layered in some new-age self-help tools such as daily affirmations and visualization—but my dreams still felt like they resided in a distant and mythical place. They felt out of reach and beyond me, despite my best efforts. A few years ago, after landing in an astonishingly uninspired place in my life regardless of my hard work and enthusiasm but knowing deep down that I was meant for something different, I decided I needed a fresh perspective.
I started working with a therapist who used hypnosis and deep meditations to get a stronger understanding of what was happening in my subconscious mind. And it was pivotal. You see, our subconscious beliefs actually run the show. According to Dr. Bruce Lipton 95% of what we do is controlled by subconscious so we need to get a handle on the belief systems residing there. Otherwise, those beliefs, in the words of Carl Gustav Jung “will direct your life and you will call it fate.” So much of our life is unconscious and until we make an effort to make it conscious, we will be stuck with the same old “fate.”
In the below guided meditation, I’m going to help you get clear on the belief system that is inhibiting your success. We’re going to dig into what you believe about the world and how it might be currently shaping your reality. What do you believe about yourself? How did you come to believe these things? What do you believe about the world? Have ever wondered how you came to form these opinions?
The ideas you hold about yourself and the world around you make up your core beliefs. These core beliefs are often unconscious and unexamined. Beliefs are so important because almost every action you take in life is influenced by them whether we realize it or not. And your core beliefs can either support or get in the way of the fulfillment of any intention. Everything you currently have in your life is a result of what you believe is possible in this world.
According to David Eagleman, neuroscientist and a New York Times bestselling author of Incognito, "the conscious you is the smallest bit-player in the brain"—can you imagine that? It’s so small to the point that even our most important and personal decisions – like choosing a partner, deciding which city to live in and even the work we choose to do– are directed by brain mechanisms that we are unaware of.”
How do we come to cement these core beliefs and how is it tied to our success today? Our core beliefs are often cemented in childhood and are learned from our predominant caretakers, such as parents, grandparents, siblings etc. What they believe about the world (and us) is projected on to us and we take it at face value, because in our younger years, we don’t always know to question it. So, if you grew up in a household where your parents believed that money was hard to come by, or easily made and easily lost, it’s likely that you have the same beliefs and might be operating from them and not even realize it. So, it’s our responsibility to dig into those beliefs about the world that are lurking in our operating system and learn to evolve them.
Everything we have in our life is a reflection of what we believe we are worthy of. So, let’s dig into what you think you are worthy of (or not worthy of) and recreate those old beliefs to new ones that serve you in a much bigger way. Please listen to the guided meditation and then journal on the prompts below.
Journal Prompts
- What’s blocking you from success?
- How might you and your beliefs be getting in your own way?
- What limiting belief system might this be tied to?
- How might you believe that you’re not worthy of success?
- How might you be hiding from success because you believe it might come with things you don’t want? Or that you’d have to do things you don’t want to do?
- Why might you be keeping yourself stuck? What theory does that prove to you or a loved one? (For example, did your parents tell you that you were no good with money, or couldn’t achieve what you set out to? Or that you couldn’t be good at everything)
- What does not reaching your highest potential mean for you? What is it connected to from childhood? What belief might it be fulfilling? (i.e. you’re not worthy of success, or that life is always hard for you? I had a client who got a lot of attention when he was broke or sick. His parents would call him “poor Tim” and give him tons of attention and help him. So subconsciously, he set out to be “poor Tim” because that’s where he got attention and love.)
- Who did you learn this behavior from?
- What emotions are tied to you staying stuck? Does it make you stay safe? Humble? Does playing small keep you out of harm’s way?
- How might limited thinking be holding you back?
- What are the new beliefs you want to cement? How can you look at life through this new lens?