Happy Tuesday,
Thanks once again. What a week. So many wonderful questions and interactions. I'm accumulating some amazing people here.
Many of my questions this week were technical. So, if someone knows how blogger works and wants to let me know how to tell people to sign up so they get notification of a post, I'd love to know. marxstuff@gmail.com
I thought I'd get specific with the mechanics of belief so that people could have something a little more concrete as a map for change. I think it was Einstein who said (and I'm paraphrasing) "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result".
Changing behavior without changing the underlying belief that causes the behavior is like medicating symptoms. Wouldn't you rather find out why you have a B12 deficiency and fix the 'why' as opposed to having to get in the car and drive to your Dr.'s office every week or month for the rest of your life and get a shot?
To go a little deeper on last week's example, if I believe that smoking makes me calm and I like being calm... why in the world would my body give that up, even if I can see the statistics staring me in the face that say smoking is killing me a little at a time?
Our beliefs are embedded and therefore can be uprooted on the basis of two fundamental factors. Emotion and priority. You see, being calm is deeply emotional. It doesn't even occur to me that I might be uptight because the nicotine is leaving my system from the last cigarette I had... I 'crave' calm. My emotional investment in calm takes priority. Calm is immediate. Death by cigarettes is way down the road...in fact, there's this one guy who lived to be 100 and he smoked every day...
I reverse this trend only when I change the belief. I use my conscious mind to affect change in my subconscious mind in 3 steps:
Step 1. Identify the emotional factor (connection) that ties you to the unwanted behavior. (For the sake of our example...smoking makes you calm)
Step 2. Create a new, opposite, emotional connection. (Smoking is extremely irritating, I will never feel calm as long as I smoke)
Step 3. Use my old priority to infuse great strength in my new 'conviction'. (I must be calm at all cost).
I use the power of my conscious mind to infuse the new 'belief' into the subconscious by being aware of the constant useless nattering and putting that to use. I take every spare moment I have to repeat to myself how irritating smoking is and how I love being calm. Sooner than you can imagine, you will never understand what you got out of smoking. When your subconscious mind begins to keep you safe, heaven and earth will move to make it so.
This can be used for any behavior...
If you're having trouble identifying the emotional connection in the behavior you want to change. Drop me an email.
Have a great week.
Negative emotion is like a sign post for knowing what you do not want, and as soon as you know what you do NOT want in your life, you can PIVOT and make a conscious decision to think about what it is that you really DO want. And as soon as you have shifted your way of thinking, you are closer to receiving exactly what you DO want in your life and you feel great!
ReplyDeleteWell said Helen!
ReplyDeleteThanks
I read a book recently called "Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives" We are constantly bombarded by thoughts and emotions throughout the day and sometimes in the middle of the night when we can't sleep. Some are pleasant, many are irritating and depressing. Negative thoughts can invade our psyche and cause us to feel bad. Good thoughts can give us peace. Our "good" thoughts and feelings are not always beneficial either, since we look at them through the filter of our own ego. Beliefs, thoughts, emotions are all tied up in a jumbled mess in most of us. I agree that I crave calm especially as I get older, but it seems that the world around us pushes the opposite. This is why we all need some quiet time to contemplate, pray, relax during the day to replenish our souls. Sometimes it only takes 5 or 10 minutes. Sorry to ramble on, Good topic Mark. Irini Paci. (Peace be unto you)
ReplyDeleteGreat points Harry.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to ramble no any time!
Our greatest struggles come not from the many thoughts we have but from identifying with them. Contemplation, prayer or meditation are all versions of the same thing. When I stop to consider my thoughts, the simple act of doing so aligns me with my higher self. Most of us believe we 'are our thoughts but the minute we contemplate them... 'who' is doing the contemplating?