“You manifest what you believe, not what you want” ~ Sonia Ricotti
Read this simple quote several times and let the meaning sink in.
This is often why people say that ‘positive thinking’ doesn’t work. And it’s also why affirmations by themselves may not be as effective as we’d like. It’s another reason why much of the time even if you do everything you’re supposed to, it still doesn’t seem that you can manifest what you want – and then we get impatient and simply “quit”, saying “see I told you it doesn’t work”.
The hardest (but most rewarding) work you can do along these lines is to really examine your beliefs. Usually you can figure out the limiting beliefs by identifying the “buts”….for example if you say “I am becoming a millionaire” – listen quietly to your inner voice and hear the “but” that follows that statement. It goes something like this:
Your voice: “I am becoming a millionaire”
You mind: “but there is no way that can happen given my current income and my age. I’ll be dead before I could possibly make that kind of money. Besides I have a day job and don’t have time to work hard enough to make that much money and even what if I decided I wanted to try for it, I would have no more freedom and I’d have such increased responsibilities that I wouldn’t know how to juggle them with my family and my day job…..”
Do you see how many limiting beliefs are uncovered in the short time it took me to jot it down. And I didn’t even give it any thought. These are just things that I have heard come out of people’s mouths when I ask them about their beliefs and desires. You can also see that becoming a millionaire, in addition to being a trigger, is probably not something that person really wants deep inside. This person doesn’t want to work any extra or have anything add responsibilities to their already full day, or that might interfere with their relationships (family, job, etc). They aren’t even willing to entertain that there are many ways to become a millionaire and that this process does NOT necessarily require extra work or taking you away from your family. But these are good reasons (aka excuses) as to why they won’t even make the effort. This person will say the affirmation but without looking at the “but”, they won’t understand why it won’t come true.
Examine your ‘buts’ and write them down. Keep going too. I could have just stopped with the “given my income and age” but there was more in this person’s belief as to why they couldn’t become a millionaire so we had to let it just flow. Do that with yourself. You will discover many of your beliefs. Once they have been uncovered, you can work on changing the ones you want to and then your desires can be in concert with your new beliefs.
Remember, though, that beliefs may have multiple layers. So, don’t just stop with one “but” session. Do this repeatedly especially after you’ve identified one or more limiting beliefs in response to a sentence. Then go back and do it again and you’ll most likely realize there are more. It’s that wonderful “onion peeling process” at work. Use it to its full advantage. This part isn’t hard. It may be a bit painful when you see what’s been holding you back (maybe you still think the earth is flat – not really but sometimes your old beliefs are old and new facts have refuted them by now but that message has not made it deep within your subconscious mind). But it definitely will be worth it!
Terrie