What Holds You Back?

I've been receiving email after email recently, all offering to help me "clear" limiting beliefs, and thereby to explode my businesses and revenue and to create the life of prosperity and abundance which is my due or what I desire (depending on whose email it is). And, of course, since many of these people are all reselling eachother's products as affiliates, I get multiple copies of these emails daily. How frustrating!

It does make me wonder, however, if I have these limiting beliefs. Am I afraid of success? Am I afraid of failure? Which set of fears are greater in me? Should I even be bothered worrying about this? Were these emails simply wasting my mental energy by even thinking about them? After all, weren't they just trying to sell me something?

Well, of course, they're trying to sell me something. After all, like the folks sending me these emails, I'm striving to achieve and to grow increasingly prosperous. Furthermore, I have often felt as if I was being held back. But who, or what, was holding me back?

The answer, of course, is me. I'm the one holding myself back, and this is because of limiting beliefs. But who would be afraid of success? As it turned out, I am. How about you? Are you as afraid of success as you are of failure? How has this affected your life without you even knowing it?

The answer is that our limiting beliefs are those beliefs that hold us back. They are beliefs that are so deeply held in our subsconscious, we don't ever question them, their origin, or our motives. These subconsious beliefs are translated into thoughts and actions that directly influence, and prevent, that which we are afraid of.

Recently, I read an article that asserted that the American prejudice against elitism is destroying our educational system. At the time I read it, the concept really bothered me. After all, I had been taught that the American aversion to elitism is the foundation upon which so many of our achievements are based. The common man or woman can aspire to be or to achieve anything. But still, this thought really worried me, so I decided to take a deep look both within myself and in the popular media to see if there was anything upon which this might be based.

To my horror, I found portrayal after portrayal of the decadence that is the right of those who have money. To be rich or to have made great achievements is to be perceived as elitist, as snobbish, as believing falsely that you are worth more than others. In my own life, I have often resented the expectation that if one did not graduate from an Ivy League school, one's education was rendered worthless. My mother, in an effort to make me feel better, told me how I was much better off with the honest hard-working folk I'd find at the other colleges I applied to. I believed her, and my life went on.

Then, I thought about these revelations in terms of my beliefs of what would happen to me if I was as financially successful as Dr. Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra or J.K. Rowling. I started free-writing, which is my favorite method for freeing up my subconscious. I discovered that I was afraid of many things that might happen to me or to my family if I were to be incredibly successful.

The fear of losing it all, after all the hard work that would have necessarily preceeded the achievement, the fear of the impacts on my children and their motivation, the fear of the loss of love, marriage and friends -- all seemed very real to me as I wrote. I took a deep breath. Could it be that I was more afraid of success than failure?

Curious, I continued the free-writing exercise, this time focusing on the fear of failure. Again, the fears and beliefs run deep, and are just as meaningful and real as the fears of success, including the impacts on my children, my marriage, my life and my world.

The realization hit me: I am trapped, vibrating between desiring success and rejecting it, equally afraid of monetary success and failure. It wasn't a fear that there enough to go around -- actually, I'm pretty sure there's a surplus. It's the fears of the impacts on everyone else, and the loss of all I hold dear.

I am where I am, afraid that the sword over my head will fall on me if I move.

How about you? What are you more afraid of -- failure or success? I challenge you to discover the answer for yourself. Sit down with a pen and several pieces of paper. On the first, start listing what you are afraid will happen if you achieve success financially, professionally, or in whatever area you're concentrating on right now. Then, repeat the process for what you're afraid will happen when you don't. Continue to go back and forth between the two lists until you've exhausted all ideas. Then, go back and read your lists. There will be several beliefs that strike you deeply. THESE are the first fears you'll need to clear, or sweep out of your life.

To begin this process, create an affirmation or mantra that directly contradicts this belief. Write this affirmation on post-its and put them everywhere. Repeat this phrase to yourself every morning as you wake, and as you drift to sleep. Start imagining yourself with the affirmation as your new reality, instead of in the grips of the limiting belief.

You will, very quickly, begin to see the changes in your life. This is simply because the subconscious mind can not tell the difference between a vivid illusion and "reality". Each is perceived as real. So, just as you are told to dress and behave as the professional you aspire to be, believe as that professional believes, or as that person to whom you aspire believes.

And, as you believe, so shall you behave and experience. You are very powerful in your ability to create and recreate.

As for me, I am reaching up to unhook that sword and to cut through every cord by which I am bound.

It's time.

How about you?

Allow yourself to be patient and to be true to yourself. Remember to take at least five minutes every day to simply be by yourself and breathe. Allow yourself to indulge in a moment of thought, reflection, and planning when the mood strikes. It's your life, your choice. Allow yourself to simply succeed on your own terms, to live in peace, abundance, and joy. One day, one decision at a time, remaining aware of your choices and your feelings. You CAN get there.

And, as always, if you need help, I'm available. It's what I do, and it's what I love to do.

Sharon.

Hypnotherapy can help you to think healthier, happier, and more successful thoughts while adding the power of relaxation to your life. As you go through your day, you feel better and perform better.

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Hypnosis or Hypnotherapy, in any form, does not diagnose, treat or cure mental or emotional problems, and is not a substitute for other professional help.