Think Your Way To A Better Life

Recycle Your Beliefs

It’s all your fault! Those were the words coming out of my car speakers from Tom Bilyeu, co-founder of the billion-dollar company Quest Nutrition and host of Impact Theory. It slapped me so hard that I pulled into the nearest parking lot, jumped out of my car, and did my happy dance. Here’s what bubbled up in my mind: My failed marriage? My fault. The career that I love? My fault. My flabby thighs? My fault. All of it is my fault.

That was a defining moment for me. I couldn’t un-hear those words. My gut told me he was right. My thoughts have created my life!

I felt like I had just won the lottery.

A belief is just a thought that you keep thinking. — Abraham Hicks

You’re reading this article because you want to find a way to improve your life. One way is to change your beliefs. We navigate life based on our beliefs. Beliefs drive our choices in that we make decisions to take action (or not) based on what we believe about ourselves and about how the world operates.

This means that you can take responsibility for your life. All of it. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Your decisions to act or not act brought you to exactly where you are in your life right now. Logically, if your beliefs got you here, then your beliefs can take you to where you want to be.

What’s Holding You Back?

What’s holding you back from having the life you want? Maybe you want to lose weight. Maybe you want to ask someone on a date. Maybe you want to become a millionaire. There’s an abundance of information available to you that can teach you how to do any of those things. So, why aren’t you doing them? The answer is limiting beliefs.

A limiting belief is a disempowering belief (the thought you keep thinking is true) that blocks you from choosing to take action toward the life that you say you want. If you believe you can’t do something, then you won’t even try. Your limiting beliefs have accumulated over your lifetime and are part of your identity. Think of it as a mountain that has taken years to form and that’s always in your line of sight.

Here are some common limiting beliefs:

• I’m never going to find a good job.
• I’m not good with money.
• There are no good single men/women out there.
• She is out of my league.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” — Albert Einstein

The Bright Side

While the phrase “It’s all my fault” might feel uncomfortable, there is a bright side: (1) You are in control of your own thoughts. (2) You can think your way out of a limiting belief.

If a belief is a thought that you keep thinking, if you think a different thought, you can acquire a different belief; one that empowers you. Grab a notebook and let’s explore how you can do this!

FRAME™ it!

Thinking your way to the top of the mountain and beyond can be done by using the FRAME™ technique: Find, Recycle, Action, Movement, Evidence. Let’s dive in.

Find: What’s an area of your life that you’d like to improve? Areas of life are things like Money, Love, Health, Career. Then, ask yourself why you’re not doing anything to make that improvement happen. For example, what could be an underlying limiting belief that is preventing you from finding love? Could it be that you believe that relationships never work? Or that you’ll never find love again? Or that you’re not attractive enough? Whatever the belief is, it’s causing you to avoid doing things like accepting or initiating a date, or avoiding online dating, or even taking better care of yourself. Once you’ve identified the limiting belief, write it down.

You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. — Dr. Phil McGraw

Recycle: Recycling is “the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects”. Here’s where you’ll recycle your belief into something new. Start by challenging it. Is it possible that this belief is not true? Look for evidence in your life and of those around you to support that it’s not true. Do you know people that are in love? Have you been in love before? Have you seen people you don’t think are attractive find a partner? Once you’ve found some evidence, recycle the limiting belief into an empowering one like “relationships can work” or “finding love is possible”. Annihilating the limiting belief isn’t necessary, which is good because old beliefs will not fully surrender easily. The goal here is to weaken the limiting belief enough by turning it into something more helpful. Write down the recycled version of the belief.

Action: Let’s go a step further and get tactical! Recall that our actions result from our beliefs. Now you can take action and live according to your new belief. With your replacement belief in mind, come up with as many actions as possible that could move you toward the thing you want. Using our example about finding love, what are some things you could do? You could sign up for online dating. You could do things that make you feel attractive, like getting a haircut or a pedicure. You could join an online singles group. Write down all of the actions you will take.

Movement: Start executing on those actions! Whenever you complete one of them, put a big checkmark beside it. The more checkmarks you see, the more progress you’re making, the more confident you’ll feel to keep going. Look at your list often so that you keep fuelling your confidence and motivation. If you want to build your confidence, check out one of my previous articles here.

Evidence: It took years for you to install the limiting belief in your mind by focusing on the evidence to support it. From now on, make it a practice to actively continue to look for evidence to support your recycled belief. The more you do this, the stronger the recycled belief will become as a permanent part of your belief system.

Final thoughts

Since that defining moment in my car, I’ve filled up my mind’s blue box with the beliefs that were holding me back. So far, I’ve been able to improve my fitness, get a promotion at work, and start writing on Medium. I will keep going and taking credit for it because it’s all my fault!

You can do it, too. You really can think your way to a different life. Adopt the concept that your life is your fault and you’ll have the key to unlocking new possibilities for yourself. What’s standing in your way?

Clear your path. Keep going. One belief at a time.

See you at the top of your mountain! 💙

FRAME™ is a trademark owned by MK Ranger Coaching. Learn more about my services at mkranger.com