Right before making this live video, my brain came up with an almost endless stream of warnings and reasons why I shouldn’t do it-
- No one will watch it
- Your wrinkles don’t look good in this light
- You don’t have anything important to share
And on and on. Now I could have listened to one or all of those inner voices and not made the video. Heck, I could have started the day by listening to them and not left the house! But I didn’t, and you often don’t listen to them either. You push yourself past your comfort zone, you reach for your goals, you feel the fear and do it anyways.
But then, there are those moments when you don’t. Moments when those inner limiting voices stop you dead in your tracks and you no longer feel ready/able/motivated to do what you actually REALLY WANT to do. Those inner limiting voices can be so dang convincing, they can sound so much like truth. Here’s the fact about those inner limiting voices –
They are almost never based on fact.
Those negative inner limits are based on an ancient psychological tool to keep us safe. They are based on
- Conjecture RATHER THAN FACT (“they won’t like you”)
- Worst-case scenarios (“you’re probably going to fail”)
- A belief that all change is BAD/DEADLY (“don’t do that new thing, you never know what can happen”)
It’s easy to test this out. Simply sit quietly for a moment and bring to mind something meaningful that you really want to do. Now tell your mind, you are going to start doing it today. Stay still and listen to your mind give you a ridiculously long list of reasons why you shouldn’t do it. For fun, you can even write those reasons down or say them out loud.
Now, here’s a way to feel the fear, hear the limiting voices, and DO IT ANYWAY!
- Follow the steps above to connect to the limiting voices.
- Bring awareness to the limiting voices and what they’re saying.
- Bring TRUTH to those limiting barriers by asking “WHO SAYS?” or “SO WHAT?” to each one. E.g. “You have nothing important to share.” And I ask myself “Who says?” Turns out no one important in my life says that. In fact, it brings to mind several people who say the opposite. Good! Now move on to the next limiting belief.
- You can also answer the limiting thoughts with FACTS and TRUTHS that you know about yourself. E.g. “Don’t bother, you will fail anyway.” And the truth is that when I work hard, I don’t fail. Good! Another limiting belief crushed by truth.
- Connect as fully to the TRUTH as you can. Feel it in your body if you can.
- Then move immediately into action. Set yourself up for success by going from thought to action in any way you can.
Even if you only practice this once per day, by the end of a year, you will end up having done 365 things that you really wanted to do!!
Try it out and let me know how it goes. And in case you’re wondering, it is practices exactly like this I work on with my coaching clients. We practice it, build on it and integrate it into their lives. After a while, the process can be almost immediate when an inner barrier tries to keep them from meaningful action. I’m here for you!