Your Passion, Your Beliefs

Feeling passionate for what we want to do in our lives is always affected by what we believe, and no matter what we say out loud, there's also a voice or feeling inside encouraging us to move forwards, or criticizing and pulling us back from what we really want to do.

Often referred to as our inner chatterbox or inner communicator, this is the voice that has an opinion and reminds us what beliefs we hold in that area; sometimes supportive, and sometimes negative.

• 'Your can't do that'
• 'Who are you kidding'
• 'Why even bother'
• 'This is stupid'

Do any sound familiar?

Dr Peter Alexander suggests we have between 50,000-80,000 thoughts per day, and even though many are the same ones repeated over and over, between 75%-80% can be negative.

Thing is, whilst our internal chatterbox is always there and ready to give an opinion, when it's negative we still have the potential of rewriting it into a positive belief or affirmation.

After all, as Henry T Ford, the great American industrialist and car manufacturer once said, 'whether you believe you can, or whether you believe you can't, you're probably right'.

So, if the beliefs you have are holding you back and your inner chatterbox needs to be more positive, what can you do to replace negative beliefs with more empowering self talk?

Exercise:

1.      Become aware of how your inner chatterbox communicates with you. Is a sound? It might be words, or it could be pictures. Some people process their beliefs as feelings (‘I just felt it in the pit of my stomach/I felt joy in my soul’). Over the next day or so begin to listen to what the communication is for you, and also to the possibility that it might be a combination of ways.

2.      Next step is also to become aware of how many beliefs you tend to repeat, where and in what situations they tend to appear. Are they positive, or negative? If you’re not sure, ask yourself if they enable you to do something, or disable and stop you achieving what you want.

3.      As always in coaching, keep a journal listing all the positive beliefs you have as well as the negative you’d like to change.

4.      Now it’s time to challenge the old negative beliefs one at a time, and equally replace each with a more empowering version that’ll support you when you need it. For example; ‘Why would anyone listen to me?’ might become, ‘the knowledge I have in……makes me valuable to anyone.’ Or, ‘I’m too shy to do that’, could become, ‘I take a leap everyday and become braver and braver in the process’.

5.      Lastly, as you now have a new belief, it needs to grow and become strong for it to survive and become part of your supportive inner chatterbox. It needs evidence. What big and little steps can you take each day, everyday, from now that will provide your new belief with concrete associations ‘yes, this is true because I did/achieved….).

Still have a sense of doubt? Then challenge yourself. ‘Act as if’ this really could work, and give yourself 6 weeks. Imagine, 6 weeks to a new you. After all, it is said that if we do something regularly everyday for 6 weeks we’ll do it for the rest of our life. The question is, will you?

Let me know!!