How to Identify Unconscious Beliefs
Know thyself.
These words were inscribed in the vestibule of the Temple of
Apollo at Delphi.
For centuries, petitioners seeking advice from the oracle at
Delphi would view the inscription. Philosophers throughout the
ages offered this same advice to their students. These words are
as valuable today as they were almost three thousand years
earlier.
Part of knowing yourself is understanding your beliefs. The
difficulty is that most beliefs are subconscious. They have been
accepted without ever having been critically examined.
As was described in 3 Steps to Manifesting Your Ideal Life, the
Law of Attraction states that you will attract to yourself those
experiences that match your beliefs. These beliefs create your
experience of reality. What if these beliefs are in opposition
to what you're actually trying to accomplish? What if they no
longer serve you? Wouldn't it be useful to eliminate these
limiting beliefs?
There are a number of techniques to identify unconscious
beliefs: taking a battery of psychological tests or tapping into
your inner wisdom via meditation are two of them. There is a
shortcut that can predict with 99% accuracy what your beliefs
are. It is so simple that people usually overlook it. Even when
it is clearly stated, they frequently ignore it.
After all, most people have accepted these beliefs as true and
don't want to hear anything that might contradict what they
believe is true. Remember, you are not your beliefs. You are a
divine spiritual being, so why hold onto anything that is
preventing you from realizing this truth?
So here's the secret.
Look around. Whenever you have a repeating problem in some area
of your life, then that is where you have a false or limiting
belief. This doesn't mean that just because you're in between
relationships or jobs, you necessarily have a false belief. But
if the problem constantly reappears, then you can be 99% certain
a false belief is involved.
Avoid the temptation to blame someone for inserting this false
belief into your belief system. After all, you could easily
point fingers at your parents, teachers, friends, TV, etc., as
well as yourself. It's not important where it came from, you
just want to be rid of it, so you can experience your ideal
life.
You have two choices here. You can 1) identify your unconscious
beliefs and release them, or 2) learn to recognize the symptoms
of accepting this limiting belief and change your thoughts. You
can also do a combination of the two.
Choice 1) Use your attitudes to identify your false
beliefs. Let's say you want more money. What is your
impression of wealthy people? Are you happy for them or
resentful? If you're resentful, then what signal do you think
you're sending out to the universe? You don't want anything to
do with those "rich people!" Consequently, the Law of Attraction
states that you won't attract wealth into your life. One way to
free yourself of a negative belief is to write it on a piece of
paper and burn it while telling yourself it is forever banished
from your being. Write a positive affirmation on another piece
of paper such as "Good people can have money." You can add other
affirmations, such as "I am worthy of prosperity" and "Money
flows easily to me." Repeat these affirmations aloud 9 times a
day for 21 days. This is the length of time it takes to
reprogram your instinctive mind, where these beliefs are stored.
Choice 2) Make sure you are always sending out the proper
vibration. Remember that your goal is make sure that you are
sending the right vibration to attract to yourself the
experience you desire. The best barometer of whether you are
sending out the proper signals is to MONITOR YOUR EMOTIONS. If
you're not feeling good, then you need to change your thoughts,
because the emotions that are being felt, indicate your thoughts
are sending the wrong message. Replace your negative thoughts
with positive ones. The book, Ask and It is Given identifies and
ranks 22 emotions. Understanding that most people can't go from
hatred to joy in one step, they advise you to simply keep moving
up the ladder. Eventually, you'll get to feel joy more and more
frequently and for longer periods of time.
In both cases, you have substituted positive thoughts and
feelings for negative ones. You may recognize this involves a
degree of self-observation. As was inscribed on the Temple at
Delphi, "Know Thyself."
Incidentally, this process of substituting thoughts will work
for any thought, including a memory. If you have any unpleasant
memories, you can substitute positive experiences for them.
Mystics call this Mental Alchemy, after the old alchemists that
transformed lead into gold. We'll cover this subject in our next
newsletter.