“What a man can conceive, and believe, he can achieve”. This quote by W. Clement Stone is a popular one for all manifesters, but many people forget that whatever they believe is WHAT they achieve. If you believe that it is impossible to make a living as (fill in the blank), you will never make any money at it, no matter how hard you try or whatever else you do. If you believe you are destined to be alone, that you are a screw-up, that you are somehow lacking, guess what? You are.
Changing a belief requires that you realize you have a belief. The teachings of the Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes speaks of transparent beliefs–those which you live through but cannot see. How do you find those transparent beliefs so that you can change them?
One way to do that is to listen to what you say about yourself. If you constantly put yourself down and say negative things about yourself, you are revealing that you believe these things to be true, even if you are being funny. How do you think your weight-loss program will work if you describe yourself as “fat and sassy” or if you say to yourself or others, “I could not live without (fill in the blank)“?
Beliefs are just thoughts that you think all the time. If you constantly think or say, “Nothing ever works out for me” or “Everything I do is wrong,” you will soon see that these become true and accurate statements because you believe them. You filter every experience you have through these beliefs and only see the evidence that fits these patterns. Neither is true until you make it so.
First, both are lies. If nothing ever worked out for you, you would be dead. Second, if everything you did was wrong, you would be a miracle of new solutions to old problems, or at least a source of new problems. But as you say these things to yourself, and thereby program them into your subconscious, you create a belief that you then live by.
How much more productive would it be to say to yourself, “I’m getting better at this today” or “This turned out better than I expected”? Could you praise your efforts in acheiving what you have, instead of beating yourself over the head (wet noodles optional) for not doing more better faster? This is how affirmations work: As you repeat them, they change your belief system, as long as you don’t just go right behind yourself and say something else to cancel them out.
If you can change your beliefs, you can change your life. Isn’t that what fairy godmothers do?
Boy, if people read your post for B and then mine, I think they’d have both sides of ‘believe in yourself’ don’t you? I absolutely agree that many people stand in the way of their own success because they lack belief in themselves. I’ve written a post on that in the past. This time, I wanted to address those with too much belief in themselves despite the contradicting evidence. Switching focus doesn’t mean you lose belief in yourself but, rather, that you’re moving to something where your self-belief is endorsed. What do you think, Charlotte?
Rhia, Yes, and if we keep telling them, they will get it, and so will we!
Rhia Roberts, There’s a difference between believing in yourself and jumping off a bridge expecting to fly. “Balance” would have been a good word for today too, to keep both the manifested reality and the imagined future in balance, moving from one to the other as the path unfolds.
Switching focus is a good point. It’s just not possible to focus on more than one thing at a time, and being scattered, or not paying attention, can cause one to be splattered. I think that the kind of self-delusion (not belief in the real you) you are talking about comes from wanting to be other than we are, and there’s just no way it will happen. I’m thinking of Sarah Boyles, who on the surface had no chance of becoming a professional singer, but she did have the talent, she did do the work, and once she strapped on her wings in front of the judges, she was able to fly. But if I got up on stage, that would not have happened–no singing talent, no choir practice, no wings.
Storytelling, maybe!
Sounds like positive thinking. 🙂
Jinky, One would hope so! 😀
Love the title of your blog, your post, the look of your book! Is it available for eReaders?
This is great advice, Charlotte! I remember the late, great Ann Landers used to get the occasional letter from somebody who wanted to go back to school and get a degree, but was being discouraged by people who kept harping on how long that would take. Annie always said, “How long will it take if you DON’T go back to school?”
“Be your own fairy godmother” sure says it all! So pleased to meet you through the A-to-Z Challenge!
Marian Allen,
Thank you so much. I graduated with my second masters at 57, the first at 40. Still making student loan payments. Having the piece of paper opens doors I wanted open.
Yes, my book is only available as an ebook, all variations from HTML & PDF to epub (Kindle) and prc (Nook) from bit.ly/MavenFGM at slightly less than $6, thanks for asking.
Love the title here, Believe is always great!
Thanks for sharing!!
~Ola ( a to z visitor)
iluvtosave.net
Thanks, Ola.
I’m glad I read this. I am in the midst of an unhappy job situation and if I start each day saying “well I’m off to have another crappy day” chances are that’s going to be true. I’ll try saying (and believing) I’m off to try to have a better day or something even more positive.
(came over from the A to Z Challenge 🙂
I’m glad you came by to visit. It really does make a difference what you say to yourself every day. If you expect to have a rotten day, you’ll find a way to have it. Ihave written and repeated to my self and even keep a list of affirmations taped to my monitor at work to remind me how good my life is and how everything is working for my highest god.