An Introduction to

Beliefs and
Empowerment
(A Life Coach View)

Copyright Success3652010

CONTENTS

Introduction

The formation of beliefs

Unlimited Potential

Childhood Control

Empowered?

Can You

Can Do

As You Think

The Subconscious Mind

Challenge

Awareness and Empowerment

Self Talk

Change
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Introduction

This report is intended as a short Introduction to Beliefs, their formation and the use of our
subconscious mind in relation to our present circumstances. Those behaviors and actions
which align themselves with our old thought patterns and bring unwanted manifestations and
untold setbacks in many areas of life.

Much of the report is a culmination of teachings from Life Coach Training, but more
extensively from the writings of various, and indeed countless Authors and is a reflective
sample of both acquired life experience/knowledge and academic achievement.

This report can be used to educate and train your brain or revise and update old teachings.
Either way it is an invaluable document aimed at advancing timeless wisdom and cultivating
the necessity for internal awareness.

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The formation of beliefs

Like the elephant who is conditioned from birth to walk in circles and not stretch the
now imaginary chain or the flea who is taught only to leap so high or it keeps hitting
itself on a ceiling that is no longer there, we are conditioned in a similar way although
not always by limits. Parents, teachers, mentors and others of significant importance
play an enormous part in who we believe ourselves to be, what we are capable of and
ultimately what action we may or may not take.

Unlimited Potential

We are born with unlimited potential and are presented as a blank canvass to the world.
We require guidance and education from our immediate family and this comes in the
form of instruction, often "does and don'ts" and "haves and have nots". It is at this stage
in our development that the most simple and innocuous statements or commands, when
processed as incontrovertible truths by our conscious reasoning mind, are passed to our
subconscious and become beliefs which will either assist or hamper us in our growth.

In his book "No excuse I'm doing it" Jay Rifenbary says, "Responsible parents want
their children to have a healthy respect for life. Yet the warnings, advice and encouragement
we receive as children sometimes defeat that intent".

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Childhood Control

In the main our parents do want whats best for us, i.e. safe boundaries and chastisement
aimed at control in infancy as opposed to limiting us in adulthood.
Likewise a teacher may call us lazy and in our inability to debate or negate this with any
degree of accuracy or maturity we accept it as true, after all it's coming from an authority
figure. Our self-talk and predominant thoughts now programme this as a belief into our
subconscious, and it in turn finds more supportive evidence, i.e. you quite simply forgot to
wash the dishes but you are called lazy by your Dad. You are well on your way to a full
belief that you are lazy.

Empowered?

Once a belief, whether it be empowering or limiting, has been accepted by us in our

formative years and beyond, it then forms part of our conscious reasoning, but mostly
operates outside our awareness. At this stage we filter and sieve for evidence that
supports our habitual thoughts and beliefs and retain it, or if it is in opposition we disregard
it. People who have a similar outlook and preference are often found together for this reason.
As Richard Carlson states "This is why people gravitate toward others who share their
beliefs, and become impatient with those who don't".

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Can You?

We are governed by our beliefs and they dictate whether we take action or not, whether we
believe we can or can't, if we have or have not. They determine our decisions and how we
feel about our world and the direction we take. "Whether you think you can or whether you
think you can't, you're probably right" a statement made by Henry Ford is an example of
how our beliefs play a part in our acceptance of a self imposed limitation and inaction,
or challenge the limitation and embrace the unknown in the confident certainty that all will
be well.

Can Do!

If we have been taught confidence and self belief, we are likely to have high levels of self
esteem, we are certain to be self reliant and self actualised. This comes from a background
of encouragement and positive support from our parents and siblings, fostering an attitude
of anything is possible and as Susan Jeffers alludes to in "Feel the fear and do it anyway",
"I can handle anything that comes my way".
Our *"can do" attitude places us ideally to deal with results that are less than flattering and we
would pay little or no heed to them as these do not align with our strong self- belief and sense
of self.
However, if we have had little support and received rebukes on a regular basis, if we have
been criticised and discouraged from an early age, we are sure to form beliefs that will
support this picture of ourselves as being not good at anything and generally worthless,
we are liable to see the very worst in everything and everyone. We won't attempt new
things for fear of failing. We believe we're no good at anything.

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As you think

"As you think so shall you be", Norman Vincent Peale relays to us from the Bible.
In addition to the attitudes mentioned above and in relation to Dr Peale's quote, beliefs
also show themselves in our physiology, the way we hold ourselves, lack of self belief
translates into poor posture, looking ground ward and stooping with curved shoulders.
An upright posture and purposeful walk would on most occasions indicate strong self belief.

The subconscious mind.

Dr Joseph Murphy states in his highly acclaimed book The power of your subconscious
mind" that " the world within creates the world without". So whatever is impressed upon
the subconscious mind and dropped into its realm by conscious reasoning or repetitive
self talk, whether it be truth or not, and thoughts in alignment with our beliefs, are stored
and utilised in our everyday experience of life. Events, conditions and acts are produced
by our subconscious mind in reaction to our thoughts." In other words we see things not as
they are but as we are" ( Anais Nin). Beliefs as such are a perspective, a window
through which we view the world uniquely, rightly or wrongly.

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Challenge

We are constantly processing thought; around 2 billion pieces of information are processed by
our senses every second, 95% of it outside our conscious awareness and most
of this goes unchallenged. It's at this point we can raise awareness by providing a challenge,
should any thoughts be disempowering. Our subconscious is extremely sensitive to the
thoughts and images we habitually entertain in our conscious mind and our beliefs are built
here in accordance with these predominant thoughts. With this in mind it is of great
importance that we feed ourselves good "mindfood" As our subconscious takes us literally
at our word it is wise to use affirming supportive language and encourage harmonious
life ward thoughts.

For example, should you nurture predominant thoughts of lack or poverty in your conscious
mind this will be played out in the physical realm as effect born of your desire to honour
the subconscious belief, as would the opposite be true if you had thoughts of wealth and
abundance.

Awareness and empowerment.

By watching and looking at our thoughts, that is to say, raising our awareness of our
conscious thought by listening in to our self talk and being vigilant in what and who we
listen to and who we spend our time with, we can support or challenge the effectiveness .
of our beliefs "Change your thoughts, and you change your destiny" says Joseph Murphy. And
as Wayne Dyer challenges "Taking charge of yourself begins with awareness".

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Self Talk

Our self talk can be constructive or destructive and as we progress through our day, whether
we are alone or in company, we are forming opinions, we are answering asked and unasked
questions, predicting there outcome, we have imaginary conversations and arguments, we go
over old situations in our minds, all self talk. According to Shad Helmstetter in his book
"What to say when you talk to yourself" It is estimated by Behavioural Psychologists that
as much as 77% of what we think or talk to ourselves about on a regular basis is negative.
That is to say that we are criticising, condemning, complaining, ridiculing and generally
bringing ourselves down with our habitual thoughts.

Of course not all programming has led to limiting beliefs; we have been told how well we've
done, received congratulations and been rewarded, all be it, judged by or compared to
someone else's standards and what they believed was best for us. Such encouragement
has motivated us to new challenges and led us to excel at many things increasing our
confidence in many areas and assisting us to attain new levels of achievement.
Most people know when something has to change in their lives but very few are aware that
they have the internal power to adopt and embrace new ways of doing things, which
essentially begins with new thinking. Limiting beliefs and old conditioning are at the very
core of the problem. Unfortunately most people are likely to externalize their challenges and
blame someone or something in their environment. Whilst this is extremely easy to do, it
serves no purpose in the long term.
Lack of fulfillment and feelings of being trapped bring many unwanted side effects such as
anxiety and stress. Challenges have to be weighed up and put under the microscope to decide
if it would be better to carry on, encumbered with a life out of kilter or if it would be worth
trying something new as a shot in the dark.
Recognition of these learned limits and unhealthy practices is key to gaining clarity and
accepting personal responsibility, with a view to travelling a more fulfilling path on the way
to a self defined and independent future.

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Change

Given that clients who come to a Session with change in mind and are aware that something
in their lives has to change, it is fair to say with reasonable accuracy that one or more limiting
beliefs may be at work outside their awareness. They have come to the Coaching relationship
to be assisted beyond their present lack of fulfillment, the feelings of being stuck and
imbalanced that is presently inhibiting their growth. The challenge for the client is
recognising these beliefs and shining the light of their inherent wisdom upon these self
imposed limitations, allowing them to break free and redirect their energy through this new
self knowledge into building a future that is bright, attractive and achievable.

The challenge of the Coach is to gently guide the client through the stages of the Coaching
Session assisting the client to elicit their life purpose and attach their Goals to their Values,
helping them to get motivated into action. This can only be achieved if all the old stumbling
blocks and previous sabotage devices have been removed allowing the process to flow.
An exceptional awareness of client language and listening to their inner world helps a Coach
identify where the client is holding back, Im not able to and I cant are obvious signs of
doubt and uncertainty that can be questioned and carefully highlighted for the client to
examine and move beyond. How is this belief unhelpful and What are you gaining from
this or quite simply Is this true are reasonably challenging questions which can be directed
to the client to have them search out where they may be holding back. This process cannot be
taken lightly and should be approached with the careful understanding that the clients life up
until this point has been coloured by present beliefs, as Laura Berman Fortgang points out in
her book Living Your Best Life, beliefs are so deeply rooted in experience and so
wonderfully steeped in evidence that they colour the lens through which they look at their
entire life and the world itself. When the client has gained awareness of these limiting beliefs
and the impact they have on progress, The Coach can work with them in establishing more
constructive and empowering ways to what they want to be, do and have.

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Bibliography and resources

1 No excuse! I'm doing it. Jay Rifenbary (Success publishers and speakers 1998).
2 You can be happy no matter what. Richard Carlson. ( Hodder & Stoughton GB 1999 ).
3 Think and grow rich. Napoleon Hill. (Wilshire Book Company 1999 edition).
4 Feel the fear and do it anyway. Susan Jeffers. (Rider 1991).
5 The power of positive thinking. Norman Vincent Peale. (Vermillion 1998).
6 The power of your subconscious mind. Joseph Murphy. (Pocket Books 2000).
7 Neuro Linguistic Programming for Dummies. Ready & Burton. ( J.Wiley & Sons 2004 ).
8 Your erroneous zones. Wayne Dyer. (Time Warner 2004).
9 What to say when you talk to yourself. Shad Helmstetter. (Pocket Books 1987).
10 Living your best life. Laura Berman Fortgang. (Thorsons 2001).
*

A can do attitude and culture often referred to by Scottish Businessman and

Entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter.

** Taken from NM Life Coaching- Distance learning course.

Please respect the Authors rights and do not allow or encourage copying.

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We dont see things as they are; we

see things as we are.
Anais Nin

IT THEN FOLLOWS

Change the way you look at things,

and the things you look at change.
Dr Wayne W. Dyer

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You are a living

magnet. What you
attract into your
life is in harmony
with your
dominant
thoughts.
Brian Tracy

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Questions

How can you know that this is true?

How is this belief/thought serving you?
How would letting go of this belief impact on you positively?
Where does this belief come from?
Who told you this was so?
What might help you overcome this belief?
When is this belief true for you?
When have you succeeded in the past and paid no heed to this belief?
What new beliefs would better serve you?
What is your internal chatter saying?
What language would be more supportive?
What beliefs are you passing to your children?
How will a more empowering perspective affect them and you?
Whats a more empowering and positive use of language?
How could you start to make changes in your thinking patterns?
How many benefits are there for you and your kids?

Copyright Success3652010

Allan Wilson
Success365
Motivational Life Coach and Speaker
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