Weaponize Your Beliefs

“Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” William James

In the Toltec tradition, they make a differentiation between the person who is the artist and the one who is kind of the canvas. So, the artist is an artist painting the masterpiece of their life, they are holding the brush, they decide how they want to make themselves, they basically forge themselves. These people really decide how they want to be and how they want to show up in life. They express what they want to be and how they want to interact with this incredible school of life that we have available to us. 

Then, the other side is people who are just constantly getting paint splattered on them from other people or parents telling them what they should be. These people swallow whole everything they are told to do and to be. Oh, you should be this or that; you should do this or should do that; you need to look like this and dress like that. These people are constantly being shaped by external pressure. Other people are just shouting their expectations, beliefs to them. You see, in life you either conform to these external pressures and expectations or you say, “No, No, No! I don’t take that, I’m the artist, I’ll decide what I accept.”

You can make your beliefs work for you instead of them working against you which is weaponizing your beliefs. This is using your healthy and supportive beliefs to propel you towards your good and desired life. Remember, a belief is a strong feeling you have about something, right or wrong. As you may know, it’s possible to feel very strong about something wrong and fight for it with everything you have to protect it and whatever you protect or fight for, you get to keep. Now, it’s time to let go of the beliefs that are working against your desires of elevating your life.  The first step to achieving this is to acknowledge that you’ve been a victim of this self-sabotage all along. You’ve to accept that you’ve been a canvas instead of being the artist of your life. 

Step 1: Forgive yourself for what happened in the past and understand that you’re not the same person you were then. You’re now the person that has learned from all those past mistakes. 

Step 2: Fast forward where you are today. Look at yourself in ten, fifteen and twenty years’ time and ask yourself this question, “Is that what I want to be?” And if the answer is No! Then, you need to find a new path. You need to understand yourself more by raising your level of self-awareness that will lead you to self-mastery. You don’t know what you need in your life until you figure out who you are. 

Step 3: You need to learn and understand why our conditioned beliefs affect our ability to achieve our potential, you need to know something about the conscious and subconscious elements of your mind. You need to understand that the subconscious mind is like a plot of fertile soil, whatever is sown, it will grow. If our subconscious was negatively conditioned throughout our childhood, this is highly likely to be one of the reasons why we do not achieve or use our full potential.

Imagine for a moment a baby elephant fastened to a pole outside a circus tent. In the beginning, he tries to move away, but only succeeds in hurting himself. After a while, he gives up trying. When he grows up to become a large elephant fastened to exactly the same pole, he will continue to walk around it even though he is capable of trampling down the entire circus tent. This is exactly what happens with the beliefs which have been conditioned in us. 

Although we have been designed by the creator to be winners, most of us have been conditioned to become losers. This conditioning has affected our self-belief to such an extent that it actually restricts us from utilizing our full potential. Our entire mindset and behaviour become affected.

Step 4: Positive Affirmations.

As mentioned above, if the subconscious is fed negativity, our lives will be full of negativity, together with self-critical behaviour and negative self-perceptions. A positive affirmation is a statement which is repeated time and time again, so that it becomes a belief and the mind convinces the body to conform to this belief. When you do this, you’ll begin to see how positive you become and will appreciate the clarity in your life. You were truly born to win, cleanse your mind of negative beliefs and claim your power!

Veli Ndaba is a Professional and Motivational Speaker, Life-Coach and Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner, Author of three books (You Are Born to Win, Your Dream is Calling You and SWITCH ON!), Newspaper Columnist and Entrepreneur. To book him to speak at your next event or to help you and your team unleash your greatness, contact him on [email protected] , www.velindaba.com or +27 83 304 9773