What’s standing in the way of you accessing your true power?
At this point, you are probably reacting one of two ways: (I could sugar coat it, but we’re all adults here, so let me be blunt), you’re either in blame mode, blaming things external to you (people, events, etc), or, you know that you’re responsible, which is a great thing (although it doesn’t feel great in the moment), because then you’re also in control of the solution!
So here’s the answer to what’s in the way of you accessing your true power:
You …
Your mind …
Your thoughts …
Your beliefs.
Our beliefs about ourselves and about life are zapping our personal power. Perhaps you think that nice people don’t get ahead, and you’re a nice person so you have no chance of getting ahead in your career. Or perhaps you think that you have to work really, really hard to be successful, and you want some balance in your life, so there’s no way you’re going to achieve the success you want. Or perhaps your programming has you thinking that you can’t have it all. That if you achieve career success, it means your personal relationships will suffer. These beliefs are on autoplay in the back of our mind all day without us even realising it (and therefore, without us managing them).
If you want to be the Superhero in your career, then you need to recognise these thoughts for what they are – the bad guys that we need to take on. So that’s where we start – bringing them from our unconscious thinking into our conscious mind. Recognising when these thoughts occur and stop us taking action. Or alternatively, when we feel stopped in taking the action we want, look for what thoughts are floating around in that mind of yours and acknowledge that they are just thoughts, not reality. It’s a program that’s running. Just doing this one thing will have you well on your way to repelling the kryptonite that’s crippling your progress and success.
There are many ways that you can then reprogram these beliefs, some you can do on your own and some with a coach. Here are a few:
- identify where that belief has come from and why you made that decision (formed that belief) in the first place (typically it was a personal safety mechanism during childhood, but it’s still running the show as an adult but no longer serves us).
- balance out the negative belief with evidence to the contrary (ie. the nice people don’t get ahead belief could be balanced out by identifying a range of successful people who are also nice. Or, times when you have achieved success and who observed you achieving it).
- affirmations – don’t underestimate the power of the spoken word (just research some of Dr Emoto’s work), the mind and body registers everything we say at a cellular level. Plus the unconscious mind can’t discern whether what we’re saying it true or false, it absorbs it all.
- theta healing: this is one of the key tools I use to identify a core belief and reprogram it and then test, using muscle testing, that the body has taken on the new belief – it’s fascinating!
And here’s another approach I heard Rhonda Byrne (creator of The Secret) talk about recently on a podcast. I’ve used this process to clear negative emotions before, but Rhonda applies it to beliefs and fears. It’s based on the premise that the more we resist something, the more it will persist. So we need to welcome the feeling or belief that we don’t want, into our minds and our bodies. She talks about giving it a virtual hug. Below is a picture of the process I apply for emotional release which is similar to the process Rhonda talks about. Basically, rather than ignoring that thought we don’t want to think (ie. if I take on that role/project/promotion, I’ll fail) we welcome it. So in this instance we’d say to ourself “I welcome failing in that role/project/promotion”. At that point you’ll probably notice a reaction in your body, in your gut, because you’re stirring up supressed feelings. Sit with it. Keep focussing on that thought and welcoming the thing that you’re resisting. Pretty quickly you’ll notice the feelings start to dissipate. Each time you notice yourself thinking the same belief, do the process. It won’t take long, and that belief will drift away.
One of the challenges is to notice how beliefs are playing out in your career and holding you back, and this is where a coach can help you. So if you’d like to work with me to help you eliminate your kryptonite, you can take a look at how you can work with me here.