Can it be Harmful to Hold onto Some Beliefs?

I am asked quite often by clients, whether it is harmful to hold onto our beliefs? Today, I’m sharing my thoughts on the harm of holding onto many of the beliefs we have along with tips for discerning whether a belief is harmful or in your highest good.

For most of us we are taught specific beliefs about society, social beliefs, financial beliefs, beliefs about ourselves, our relationships, our religion,  and even beliefs about our health. Some of the beliefs are taught to us and many more become our beliefs based on our experiences up to this point in our lives. The questions I believe that would serve us all are:

1. Where did this belief come from?
2. Does this belief support me and the goals I have for myself to live the life I desire?
3. In my heart of hearts do I want this belief or would it serve me to change the belief?
4. If I change this belief, what would I want to change it to?

Let examine a few examples.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

You may hear this statement made with regards to our economy or you may have been brought up hearing this as your parents were struggling financially. Many people would argue that it’s obvious that based on our economy this is exactly what happens. And, if you look at the facts you’d notice that the middle class in the US is shrinking while we now have more Billionaires that we have ever had and yet more than 50% of our population is living below the poverty level.

That being said though, we can also point to people that grow up in some of the worst of conditions who become very wealthy. In fact Oprah Winfrey is a great example of this and today she is a Billionaire. So, what is the difference? The difference in my opinion is that she didn’t buy into that idea and decided that she could do anything she wanted to and she did it.

This particular belief is one of those that many of us have and are totally unaware of it. I call beliefs like this one Co-Created Unconscious Beliefs. With this type of programmed belief, unless we take the time to reflect on it and work to change it, it could play out for us our entire life, even though we do affirmations, and vision boards and we work hard, etc.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

This belief is interesting because it seems quite positive, right? Except if you are a “Night Owl” who works late into the night and gets up a bit later in the day, then what happens? Well, if you have this belief and you are that “Night Owl” person, you are going to either need to change that belief or change your habit.

I am a failure or I am Unworthy

This belief could come from many places, although for the most part it is a belief you took on as a child, because instead of praise you were told you could do better or maybe you were even told you were a failure or that you weren’t worthy, because of something you didn’t do to their expectations.

You only have 6 months to live

The number of months may not be the prediction you received, but the point is that if you take on that belief, just because a doctor told you so, than you are most likely going to die within that predicted period of time. I’m reminded as I write today, of a story that Dr. Wayne Dyer shared about a friend who was a doctor. This friend applied for life insurance and was required to get a physical exam. The X-ray taken of his chest taken during the exam show a black spot and the doctor was told that he only had a short time to live. He died within the predicted period of time. So, most of us would say, see the doctor was right, if you only knew that part of the story. Shortly after the doctor died, Wayne was helping his friend’s widow, go through some of his belongings. They came across a chest X-ray that had been taken 30 years earlier, and when comparing it to the more recent X-ray, it turns out that his friend had the exact same black spot on his lung the entire time. So, it begs the question was the doctor correct, or did his friend buy into the doctor’s prediction?

How to Identify Your Negative Core Beliefs…

Here are several techniques to discover your negative core beliefs.

1. Journaling is a great way to discover your underlying core beliefs. Set aside some time when you will not be disturbed. Also setting an environment, such as a warm cup of herbal tea (no caffeine or alcohol), incense, or a lighted candle. You may also want to play some soft music in the background. Then state your intention to clearing be shown the underlying core beliefs that are keeping you stuck from achieving XX. Then write whatever comes to you.
2. Using muscle checking, make a yes/no statement, such as I am going to die in the next 6 months. Muscle checking can be quite effective, and in this case if you get a “Yes” answer, it only means that you believe you are going to die as predicted. This gives you the knowledge to dig deeper to determine whether this is your core belief or if your real core belief is fear of dying, or maybe fear of being an invalid and having to have someone else take care of you. With muscle checking you can narrow down the core beliefs.
3. Use a pendulum instead of muscle checking and follow the same steps.
4. If you aren’t sure that you will keep clear from affecting the results of the muscle checking or pendulum, write all of the possible answers on index cards, shuffle them, lay them face down and then without looking at what is on the other side, check them to see if they are your core beliefs, by stating… The statement written on the reverse side of this card is one of my core beliefs that is stopping me from achieving XX.
5. In all of my books, you’ll find a symbol known as “Straight Path to Core Beliefs”, that can help you more quickly identify your core beliefs that are keeping you from achieving whatever you desire.
6. Find a partner to reflect back to you in a loving, non-judgemental way, when they hear you repeat a negative self-talk pattern of any sort. Be sure that this is a two-way street between you and the friend.

How to Change Your Core Beliefs

One of the biggest mistake I made when attempting to change my beliefs, was to not understand what the “Core Belief” was and to work on beliefs based on where I was currently.  If you are attempting to change a belief by starting with affirmations that focus on your desired end result you are likely to make little to no progress. If instead you chose to do affirmations that bridge you  forward from where you currently are to where you want to go you will have a much great level of success.

I liken this to the idea that as a child, when we wanted to start walking, we didn’t just stand up and try to walk. Instead we first learned to push ourselves up, until we got onto our knees and crawled, later we learned to pull ourselves up and stand and still later we started stepping while holding something, and finally we took our first steps without holding onto anything.

You’ll find a symbol for Installing New Beliefs in all of my books, along with an easy to follow process for changing your beliefs, without having to repeat the same lists of affirmations for 21 days in order to change your core beliefs.

It’s also important that when you are changing your beliefs to your new powerful beliefs, that you make sure to use only positive words. Instead of saying that you are “Pain Free”, focus your affirmation on more positive words, such as Feeling Awesome, Being Totally Healthy, etc. Look at each word in your affirmations to be sure they are strong and positive. Here are a few very popular words that I see people using in affirmations that are not strong works; Effortless, Unconditional, Limitless, Fearless. Better choices for those words would be Effortless – easily, effectively, efficiently; Unconditional – total and complete; Limitless – infinitely; Fearless – Courageous. The rule of thumb is that if the word you want to move away from is in the affirmation you won’t have very good success, use a positive and powerful word to replace it. Remember if I tell you to NOT think of a Pink Elephant, you will find it impossible to not think of a Pink Elephant. The same is true with the words you use.

If you have questions or comments please leave them in the comments box below. Remember if you have a question, it is likely others do as well, and will enjoy the discussion. I do respond to all comments and questions.