The Hidden, Limiting Beliefs That Keep You From Wealth
Wealth is a funny thing.
Not “ha, ha” funny… but odd, quirky funny.
You want it. You spend most of your life in pursuit of it.
And yet, for many people, there’s a shame and guilt attached to it. Maybe you feel that way consciously, and maybe it’s buried deep down in your psyche somewhere… but odds are it’s there.
If that underlying feeling of not being deserving of wealth, or not being “smart enough” to accumulate wealth is there bubbling under the surface, you’re in for a bumpy journey, my friend.
Because all your hard work, all your training, all the cool tools and top-notch processes you have in place aren’t going to overcome a deep-seated, personal belief that you don’t deserve wealth or aren’t capable of creating it.
How Your Brain Helps (and Hurts) You
If you haven’t already, go ahead and check your address bar to confirm you’re still on LinkedSelling.com
I know. I don’t blame you for checking. This isn’t our typical subject matter. We’re pretty nuts-and-bolts strategy and process people here. But the fact is that if your head isn’t in the right place and you don’t have total control over your own choices, emotions, and decisions when it comes to money… well, that’s a problem.
Because when you’re in that negative mental place, whether you mean to or not, you will subconsciously keep yourself in line with your beliefs. And if your beliefs are limiting, your ability to reach your financial goals will be limited.
See, your conscious mind includes everything inside your awareness like memories, feelings, and perceptions – things you know you’re feeling and sensing.
Your subconscious mind is more like a giant box where you store everything that’s not in your conscious mind. Things like your life experiences, things you’ve seen, your memories, your skills, your values, and your prejudices. Things that you may not even realize have made an impression on you.
When you find yourself in a new situation, your brain goes to this storage box, finds a corresponding experience from your past, and attaches to it. For instance…
When someone jumps out at you, you might run away or you might take a swing at them.
When you see a big dog running toward you, you might quickly duck behind a fence, or you might squat down and extend your hand, smiling.
Whatever your reaction is, it’s based on something in your subconscious mind, and your reaction is both instantaneous and without conscious thought.
The problem with these types of subconscious patterns is that more often than not, you take them as correct… or as smart. That can be a mistake.
So when you have negative subconscious attitudes like…
- I’m no good with money
- I can’t ever see myself being wealthy
- I’m a terrible investor
…then you have a very real problem that could seriously throw a monkey wrench into your business plans, because your subconscious mind will act on these limiting beliefs and keep you from your financial goals.
To identify these subconscious limiting beliefs, you have to be willing to take a hard, honest look at yourself and your behavior. If you do, you’ll notice these negative tendencies… and then it’s just a matter of re-training.
Can You REALLY Retrain Your Brain?
All this talk about conscious mind, subconscious mind, attitudes, and mindsets…
Come on. Can you really train your subconscious mind to concretely affect your behavior and your life?
Yes. You can.
This handsome devil off to the right is Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist who proved that it was actually pretty easy to build new habits in animals.
You probably know of the famous dog experiment in which he rang a bell every time he fed a group of dogs so they subconsciously associated the sound of the bell with eating.
After a while, he could ring the bell and the dogs would salivate – even though there was no food anywhere nearby.
The human brain works very similarly… positively or negatively to automatically and instantaneously react to different stimuli.
So when you adopt limiting beliefs about yourself with regard to money, your subconscious mind acts on those beliefs and makes them real.
The great news is that you’re not stuck with that limiting story.
Like the dog in Pavlov’s experiment, you can re-train your brain to replace limiting beliefs with more positive, empowering beliefs that can help you achieve your financial goals.
You CAN re-train your brain w/ more positive, empowering beliefs to help achieve your financial goals Share on XOne Simple Way to Start Reprogramming Your Subconscious
While Pavlov used a bowl of food and a bell to reprogram his dogs’ brains, that same technique probably won’t be as effective for your financial life… depending on the quality of the food, of course. Maybe a nice steak?
One common technique to rewire your brain and beliefs is the use of affirmations. And while they have gotten a bad rap as a “woo-woo” kind of thing, in reality, affirmations are an extremely powerful way to influence behavior in humans.
The process for effectively using affirmations is actually very simple, but there are a few steps to follow…
1: Choose a limiting or negative thought you have about yourself…
When you identify the negative thought, write down the exact opposite of it… a contradictory statement. So, for instance, if you believe you’ll never break the $150k income barrier, write down the opposite. “I WILL earn at least $150k in a year. Repeat this for each limiting belief you can identify.
2: Affirmations always start with “I” or “My”
This is a positive statement about you and “I am a good manager of money” is a stronger statement than “Money management is something I’m good at.” Start with yourself.
3: Affirmations are short
Short statements are easier to commit to memory – and can be even more powerful than long ones.
4: Affirmations are written in the present tense
You want to write the affirmations so that when you read them, your brain feels as if it’s happening right now. “I am a smart investor…” instead of, “I will be a smart investor.”
5: Affirmations are positive statements
“I don’t spend money on dumb things” is a negative statement. Keep it positive by saying, “I spend my money wisely.”
Then, when you have several good affirmations – use them. Keep a copy on your desk where you can see it, stick another copy on your computer with a post-it note, and stuff another copy in your wallet. Read them often, and believe them. You’ll be amazed at the difference in your mindset and your behavior over time.
Now, granted, writing affirmations is just one baby step on the road to unleashing the full power of your brain to make your financial goals become real.
One Simple Way to Start Reprogramming Your Subconscious Share on XStepping up to the Big Time
You know that at LinkedSelling, we like to provide you with as many next-level resources as we can hunt down for you.
It just so happens that LinkedSelling is familiar with an organization who produces top-notch, scientifically sound content around the subject of brain training. They’re called NeuroGym, and we’ve referred many of our clients to them.
John Assaraf, CEO of NeuroGym, has a couple powerful free tools that can help you figure out if your subconscious beliefs could be preventing you from achieving your income goals. And if they are, he’s the expert who can show you how to fix it.
Check out NeuroGym’s free blueprint and Brainathon event here.
Now, time to share…
Do you have a limiting belief about your income… or anything else?
Do you have any advice on overcoming limiting beliefs?
