Look, don't get your shorts in a wad.
It's not my fault. It's that dumb head of yours.
And that brain inside it -- the one that seems to get it's jollies from stuffing you down and holding you back from experiencing the full levels of awesome you're really capable of.
It's those stupid limiting beliefs that dumb head of yours keeps force-feeding you, like Edmund's Turkish Delight.
Here, let me tell you a quick story...
This one comes right from Chapter 2 (pg 46) of Brian Tracy's Maximum Achievement, which was suggested to me a while ago by my bud Patrick Riddle, but which I'm just now getting around to.
It's really good – highly recommended.
Anyways, here's the point-maker...
=====BEGIN QUOTE=====
One day, I read a true story about a young man from a small town who graduated from high school with straight A's. He then applied to the state university for admission.
As part of the admissions procedure, he had to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test, like all the applicants to universities nationwide.
A few weeks later, he received a letter from the admissions department informing him that he had scored in the 99th percentile on the test and he was accepted for the fall semester.
He was happy to be accepted but there was one problem. He didn't know about percentiles and he concluded mistakenly that the 99th percentile was his IQ score. He knew that the average IQ is 100 and he felt he could never do university-level work with his "limited" intelligence.
For the entire fall semester he failed or nearly failed every course. Finally, his counselor called him in and asked him why he was doing so poorly.
"Well," he said, "you can't blame me. I've only got a 99 IQ." The counselor had the student's file in front of him. "Why do you say that?" he asked.
"That's what it said in my letter of admission to the university," he replied.
When the counselor realized what had happened he explained the difference between an IQ and a percentile.
"A 99th percentile means that you scored equal to or higher than 99 percent of all the students in America who wrote this test. You're one of the brightest kids on this campus."
When the young man realized his error and changed his belief about his intelligence, he became a different person.
He went back into his classes and went to work with a new sense of competence and confidence. By the end of the semester he was on the honor roll and he eventually graduated in the top ten of his class.
This story holds a valuable lesson for you, as it did for me. We too easily accept that we are limited in some way. Then we ignore or reject any evidence that contradicts what we've already decided to believe."
=====END QUOTE=====
Wow...pretty strong stuff, eh?
Here's a fact: You have no idea what you're really capable of. And the old saying "It's all in your head" actually applies here – and it applies in your favor or to your detriment, depending on what's actually in your head.
Meaning this: If you truly believe that you're strong, confident, compassionate, generous, loyal and successful, then you will by default act in a way that will make this your reality.
Conversely, if you truly believe that you're naturally weak, stupid, relatively stingy, poor, prone to mistakes/failure, relatively unsuccessful, etc...then you will by default end up making this your reality also.
You tend to act in a way that's congruent with the way you see yourself on a core level.
If you see yourself as overweight, you may settle into it, even if you're unhappy about it. But if you see yourself as a skinny person trapped in an overweight body...if you truly believe this is the real you, then the skinny you will keep fighting to free itself.
My 11 year old daughter struggles intensely with seeing herself as "bad at math" – so she hardly even tries anymore. (We're working on her :-)
Belief is ridiculously powerful.
I'm not saying circumstances and the world around you don't affect you. And I also happen to believe the Man upstairs has more than a little impact on how things go. Let's be clear about that.
But in human, fleshy terms – in the realm we can understand and seem to have some kind of sway over – in that world... it's all in your head.
That's why hypnosis can often be such a powerful tool for change. If you can skip past a person's "dumb head" and directly impact their subconscious mind (which doesn't really have much of a filter), then you can outright short-circuit their limiting beliefs.
You can actually make them stop seeing themselves as prone to being overweight...or chain smokers...or serial failures...
You can literally change their preferences and sometimes even physiological responses. I've seen people under hypnosis fully believe they were feeling sensations like burning, or bad smells, simply because their non-filtering subconscious mind truly believed it.
Total belief doesn't automatically equal reality..but it tends to create reality, sometimes very quickly (as in our student above) and sometimes over time.
So...what are the limiting beliefs your dumb brain is using to hold you back?
Having a hard time seeing yourself as a big-time real estate investor?
It's all in your head.
Not feeling like you know enough yet to really make it happen? Not confident enough to ask for private money? Feel like you're too shy to make offers?
It's all in your head.
Not quite the husband, wife, father, mother, sibling you wish you were?
It's all in your head.
I could go on and on, but this one's already longer than I really anticipated or intended.
My point is this:
Don't like some parts of who you are?
Well, you can change who you are.
First off, if you happen to be a person of faith like I am, ask for divine help. It's always a great starting point.
I know we have people of many faiths here, and that's super awesome. But keeping it real, I would be remiss if I didn't convey my core belief that the strongest force for lasting change in the universe is God.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
That said, you now have to choose to change your beliefs about what you're capable of.
Depending on what your particular poisonous concoction of limiting beliefs happens to be, it might be a relatively quick fix – just a quick mental shift, and you're off to the races.
Or if you're especially entrenched or it's been a lifelong version of your dumb head thinking, then it might take some re-training over time.
You might keep struggling for a while to truly see yourself as who you want to be rather than who you've always felt like you were up to now.
But even if it takes a while...it's worth it, right? Keep fighting the good fight and over time, you'll show your dumb head who's really in charge.
But first – and this is critical – you gotta believe it's actually possible to become that person. It's all about your core belief. That's where this whole process is sparked.
We too easily accept that we are limited in some way. Then we ignore or reject any evidence that contradicts what we've already decided to believe.
Don't do that.
Do you instead.
Okay, off the soapbox now.
Thanks to Mr. Brian Tracy for sponsoring today's mental cage rattling.
Now I've got some Yerba Mate (look it up) and a tea kettle in the next room screaming at me.
Keep it real,
...jp
PS - Hey, if you want to pick up Brian Tracy's book, which I'm still in the middle of reading, but very much enjoying, here it is on Amazon. Enjoy.
Understand – Understand your tendency to act in a way that's congruent with your own self-perception on a core level.
Ask – Ask yourself, “What are the limiting beliefs my dumb brain is using to hold me back from being a successful big-time real estate investor (or other goal)?”
Choose – Consciously and proactively choose to change your beliefs about (i) who you are and (ii) what you are capable of accomplishing.