What You Believe is What You Get
How to Expand What's Possible for You
There are so many contributing factors to what make for a happy and successful life…
How hard you work
Your tenacity
Your mindset
The company that you keep
The circumstances you find yourself in
Even luck plays a role.
But the truth is...
It’s what you believe about yourself, what you believe about the world, and what you believe is possible that determines the life you have.
Or the life that you don’t.
How many times have you thought that you can’t, that you’re foolish to have the dream that you have, or that people like you don’t get to have money or adventure or love….
That’s all beliefs are - thoughts that you’ve repeated enough times that become a part of your default network.
And that’s important.
Because your brain is an incredibly efficient mechanism. Once it learns something it plays it in the background, under your radar and uses it as a filter for what you focus on – what you see.
Imagine you’re watching a film.
Your brain knows to focus on the main character – the main action. If a director wants you to notice something in the background, she needs to do something to alert you that that thing is there, or you don’t see it.
But just because you hadn't seen or noticed it, doesn’t mean it wasn't always there.
That’s the way belief works in your subconscious mind.
Like the director in a film, it points to toward only what you’re supposed to see.
And as far as your brain is concerned, you’re supposed to see only what you believe in. Only what you believe is possible.
This Week: Expand Possibility
Here are a couple of things you can do to start retraining your brain and expanding what it believes.
FIRST – Pay attention to the stories you’re telling yourself and challenge them.
Ask yourself if there’s any other possible circumstance where the story might not be true?
Here’s a hint… THERE IS ALWAYS another possible circumstance where what you’re thinking may not be true.
The more you practice these little reframes, the broader the possibilities that exist for you – the broader the opportunities that your subconscious mind will point you toward.
NEXT – Practice noticing. Start a simple mindfulness practice by spending a few moments each day and focusing intently what’s in that present moment with you. Look out a window and take in every aspect of the landscape. Then slowly draw your focus inward until you can actually see the glass pane itself and virtually nothing else.
You can also do this with sound – close your eyes and listen. Allow every available sound to flood your ears, then try to isolate each one.
By training your "director" to show you more of the world around you, you’ll not only increase your opportunities, you’ll be MUCH more likely to find what you’re REALLY looking for.