Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The subject for todays show: You Are Not Your Beliefs, is one I could debate for either the affirmative or the negative.

The non-negotiable as I see it, is that your beliefs are hugely powerful and impactful either to your detriment or to your advantage.

The great news is that beliefs are utterly malleable. They are not real or right or factual. They are simply possibility filters.

If you’re yet hear the term possibility filter in relation to beliefs perhaps imagine the way you could view eating healthy plant based food.

If you’re of the belief that such food is: Boring. Bland. Restrictive. Hard work. Socially ostracising. Inconvenient. Nutritionally deficient. 

Well if those are your current beliefs there a supreme likelihood your mind will seek out evidence to confirm that bias.

Alternatively if you were to believe that healthy plant based food is: Delicious. Nutritious. Getting easier / more accessible each day. A creative challenge of infinite delectable possibilities. A chance to align your eating actions with your values. The most impactful decision one person can make to help your planet, the animals, the environment – not to mention global food shortages and of course your personal health and vitality.

Well if those are or could become your current beliefs, your eager to please mind will in turn seek out evidence to confirm that bias. 

As mine currently does.

When I look back to the toughest times in my life it was my beliefs that eventually dragged me though.

Sure a shared bottle of vino with a close friend is priceless. And sometimes you’re not quite ready to be dragged out of a slump. Occasionally the most fitting thing might be to wallow – for just a bit – to indulge in whatever you want to indulge in… be that Shiraz, Chocolate, Laziness or perhaps just a lazy little Netflix marathon fuelled with (you guessed it!) shiraz and chocolate. (actually I prefer kale crisps or cashews with my beverage of choice however I know that’s unique!).

I guess my main message in todays show is when you’re ready to step up and drag yourself out of a slump well:

A) You are not your current Ineffective Beliefs.

B) You 100% can be your new chosen Effective Beliefs. 

I truly do believe you get to have it both ways. You can chose to turn your back on whatever belief is not working for you. And you can manufacture the more effective belief that will – with time – work to your advantage.

Here are 3 categories of beliefs to evict from your life for good:

One: The sneaky, inherited beliefs you’ve picked up almost unconsciously from your family, the media or society in general that actually do not align with your personal VALUES. 

Here’s one such belief I traded in: “Vegans tend to be weak and sickly and judgemental.”

I actually sort of thought that for a while. Back when I followed and respected a lot of personal trainers who were all about bacon, eggs and steak. I never ate meat however I seemed to be surrounded by strong, successful, opinionated people who did.

At some point – tipped over the edge by the documentary Cowspiracy – I realised how incongruent with my value of Integrity I felt.

I manufactured for myself the new belief: “Vegans can be buff, ultra healthy and both supremely passionate yet accepting.” 

And then I went to work seeking out evidence to support this new belief. There’s plenty of it. My social media feeds are heaving with inspirational plant based athletes and advocates.

Other examples might be:

“Success is measured by the income you earn and the possessions you accumulate.”

“A woman needs to be thin to be beautiful.”

“Food is a token of someone’s love and should never be politely declined.”

Have you taken on someone else’s belief, that when you take the time now to analysis it: Does not align with your personal VALUES? 

Two: The tired old belief that perhaps once served you yet now is costing you RESULTS and / or JOY.

I have sooo many of these to work through! Here’s one that thankfully I’ve moved well beyond: “All boys are bastards!”

Now you may be thinking “WOW, how could that ever serve you Kate?” or “What a ridiculous belief!”

However that’s the thing with beliefs they can be pretty damn ridiculous and that still does not prevent us form running with them. Until we step back and acknowledge they really, truly are not working for us. They might have protected us in the short term. However what if that was years ago? What if there’s more to be experienced than staying safe, mediocre, risk adverse and… lonely!

Other examples might be:

“I’m naturally lazy, with a slow metabolism and am just destined to be unhealthy and over weight.”

“Asking for help is a sign of weakness.”

“After a great exercising week I deserve to eat and drink whatever I want on the weekend!”

Are you subscribing to a tired old belief, that when you take the time now to analysis it: Is costing you RESULTS and / or JOY?

Three: The delusional, negatively SELF-PERPETUATING belief that never did and never will serve you. 

Now this could be a short term on repeat type of a self defeating result ruining reasoning that perhaps sounds a little like: “I’ll prioritise exercise and meal prep tomorrow, next week, next month… when I have time, energy, money… when I’ve finished this, off-loaded that…” and likely boils down to a belief that: “I don’t have time.” 

Yes, I do believe that’s belief. It’s effective opposing belief is: “I’m a person that will do whatever it takes to stay fit and healthy and as such I always makes time for exercise and meal prep.”

Other examples might be:

“All exercise is hateful and all healthy food is boring!”

“I can buy my way to a fit and healthy body… I just need to track down the latest quick-fix pill, cream, surgery!”

“Exercising is vanity… and selfish. My priority is to exercise my mind.”

Which actually reminds me of one of my fav previous shows in which I share how a very dear (and very blunt!) girlfriend called me on my personal delusional, negatively SELF-PERPETUATING belief that a situation must be OR when in fact as she asked: “Why can’t it be AND?”

I didn’t have an adequate response. Of course it can be AND.

As I tell my clients:

=> Of course you can eat healthy AND delicious food.

=> Yes you can have wine AND still have the body you want.

=> Absolutely you can ditch the treadmill trudging AND achieve your goal.

Here’s a link to that show #203: And Not Or.

Are you subscribing to a negatively self perpetuating belief, that when you take the time now to analysis it: Never did and never will serve you?

To get actionable today do you need to ditch, upgrade or overhaul some current:

One: Sneaky, inherited beliefs?

Two: Tired old beliefs?

Three: Negatively self perpetuating beliefs?

When evaluating your current beliefs AND choosing your new effective beliefs some useful questions are:

Is this way of thinking making me happy?

Is it compelling me to take the actions that will get me the result I want?

Does it take into account everything I’ve already achieved and everything I have to be grateful for?

That’s it for this week in Healthification.

A super huge thanks to you for your support and for sharing this week with me.

If you’ve enjoyed this show and gotten value out of it I’d super appreciate it if you pop over to iTunes and leave me a review. It helps other people find Healthification and it really does inspire me to power on with the weekly episodes.

Till next week, happy training and effective belief manufacturing!

If you liked You Are Not Your Beliefs, you’ll also like: How To Eliminate Limiting Beliefs:

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.