Our beliefs determine what we will and won’t try. They determine how we feel about others. They literally shape our future. For most of us, our beliefs were formed out of our past experience and environments. Many times, they don’t even make sense! The following information is a set of tools to help you discover and take control of your beliefs.
This is an oversimplification of the real guts of what Tony Robbins teaches about reprogramming your brain for success. The end goal is to discover your current beliefs so that you can change the disempowering ones. You should write down your answers to each question. Don’t just read this stuff! Do it! Take the time to get clear about your beliefs!
When I refer to “states” below, I’m referring to mental states or feelings. Really they are the same for our purposes.
- Brainstorm: List your “ends” values, which should be states, not things. You get these by asking the question, “What is most important to me in (my life, my family, my career, etc)”. If you find yourself saying something like, “my house” or “my car”, you need to ask yourself why is it that thing. Every want that you have in life is because you believe it will help you feel a certain way. That feeling or state is what we are after.
- Sort that list in order by which states you would do the most to have.
- Brainstorm: List the states that you would do the most to avoid. A helpful way to get these is to ask yourself, “When have I felt horrible about myself or my situation?” Remember, we don’t want to relive it, just capture the state in a word or two.
- Sort that list in order by which states you would do the most to avoid.
- For each state in each list, answer the question, “What has to happen for me to feel this way?” These answers can usually be expressed as “if, then” statements. These statements are your beliefs about your life, your family, your career, etc.
- For each belief, ask the question, “Is this belief empowering or disempowering?
- Create new beliefs to replace the disempowering ones. What would be a better, more empowering belief to have?
- Reprogram your brain with new beliefs! (see below)
Brain reprogramming techniques:
- Scratch the record: A record that has been scratched will never play the same again! Like a digital image or an audio recording, your memories CAN be modified! More importantly, your interpretation of your memories can be modified. To do this, replay the memory in your mind’s eye while purposefully changing it to reflect your new belief. Do this with feeling!
- Incantations: What you repeatedly say, you will eventually become. Use your new beliefs to create incantations which you will recite with feeling each day.
Updating your beliefs is powerful! Remember that your beliefs affect everything you think and do. They shape your thought patterns and your actions. It’s absolutely critical that you get to know yourself and take control of your vessel!