This week in Innerspace, our third lesson, we will be taking a look at fears, blocks and limiting beliefs. Of course, there is the initial tendency to be fearful of looking at fear, however, raising your level of awareness of the existence of fear in your thoughts is an empowering and potential life changing process.
One way you can determine what might be a fear or block in your life is to see where you may think or say, can’t, won’t or never. These words are part of Wayne Dyer’s dozen Power of Intention principles “Beware of won’ts, can’ts and nevers.” We may have reasons we do not want to do things or feel like we can’t do things however, we should be mindful that this may not be true. In fact, our mind has been scanning the environment to make sense of the world since we were born. In this way, our mind has been making stories to accompany our observations. For instance, if you think of a family with three children. One may have been categorized as the smart one, another was the funny one, and the third may have been the athletic one. These labels befell each innocently, however into their adulthood, they may assume limitations. The funny one may be very smart, while holding herself back because of a comparison within the family. She may have created a story that established her as not smart based on the categorization.
When we bring these limiting beliefs into the light, we can better see how they truly relate to us today. By keeping in mind that we created stories based on our observations, we can see how we can create an equally true story that empowers us to move past our fear and get in touch with our desire.
Common limiting beliefs that easily lead us to feel stuck revolve around too little or too much: lack of time, lack of resources, too many responsibilities, too many projects going. As we raise these negative thoughts into our conscious awareness, we can counter them. What is a new story? “I have plenty of time”, “resources come to me”, “I can share some responsibility”. When we acknowledge our fears and limiting beliefs, we can counter and prevent them from blocking us.
One way to get in touch with what our own fears may be is to take a “fear inventory”. Gabrielle Bernstein, author, coach, speaker whose latest book Judgment Detox is available on Amazon for preorder (to be published Jan 2018) is a proponent of taking a personal inventory. A Fear Inventory assesses what is ‘coming up for us’ on regular basis. In essence, we are asking ourselves the following questions:
What is my fear today?
What is the fear based story that is blocking you?
In what ways does this fear based story block you?
How does this fear based story keep you from living your desired life?
What is a love based story (faith in fear rather than faith in love)?
Take a journal and write down the answers to these questions.
Bernstein also promotes taking the next step in a fear inventory, which is “If fear was not a factor…” I like to call this the “Magic Wand Test”. If I waved a magic wand and all fears were removed, then …
What next step would you take?
What goal would you reach?
What unfinished task would you complete?
What career change would you make?
What healthy relationships would you attract?
What unhealthy relationships would you let go?
What doors of opportunity would you walk through?
What doors of failure would you close?
What final decisions would you make?
What direction would you follow?
Continue by answering the questions above.
By taking an inventory, you are processing these feelings and better able to address the fears that have become blocks to stand in your way. Where do these fears prohibit your forward movement? Where do these fears hold you apart from your truest self.
There is a verse in A Course in Miracles that states, “Nothing you understand is fearful. It is only the hidden that can terrify, not for what it is, but for its hidden-ness.” As we bravely take face our fears and process the impact it has on our lives, we diffuse the power of fear in our lives. The world is certainly not short on situations that cause us fear, however, we can listen to our fears to help us clear a path to our highest, truest self.
In future weeks, we will continue to learn more about mastering our mind, looking inward, and connecting to our truest selves. You are so worth it! Thank you for investing this time in Innerspace. If you are interesting in joining the INNERSPACE Facebook Group we would be happy to welcome you!
_________________________
Kim Perone, Certified Life Coach at The Center for Clarity, Compassion & Contentment serves clients with one-on-one and group coaching. She can be reached at [email protected], (518) 301-3593.
For more information on life coaching and the Center’s activities, visit www.Center4c.com.
