By Peter Field

The much quoted phrase ‘you become what you think about’ is not new. Many people have come to realise the importance thought plays in the creation process. But what is less understood is the sneaky way in which your beliefs influence your thoughts!

To help understand why beliefs are so important to your success, let me ask you a few questions? How would you describe yourself … do you think you are shy or outgoing, fearful or courageous? What about people generally … are they kind, generous and dependable or are they mean, selfish, and unreliable? What about money? Do you think it’s easy or hard to earn money? And what about life generally … do you wake up each morning excited by the prospect of new opportunities or do you see life as a never ending struggle?

Well of course, no matter how you answered these questions, you just shared some of your beliefs about yourself and how you ‘see’ the world. But here is an important understanding. You think you’ve just described what reality is like ‘out there’, but what you’ve actually done is describe the reality YOU have created as a result of your own personal beliefs. Your answers do not reflect true reality, but a dramatically filtered version of reality created through your beliefs.

Here’s how beliefs work. To make sense of the estimated two million bits of information which bombard our senses every second of every day, our brain filters out over 95% of everyday happenings and only allows into our awareness information which is important to us or consistent with our beliefs and values.

For example, have you ever taken ownership of a new car and then seen identical cars everywhere you go? They’re at the stop lights, parked near you in the car park and cruising past you on the motorway. Where have they all suddenly appeared from? Well of course these similar cars have been ‘out there’ all the time, but they have not appeared in your reality because they have not been important to you. They have been automatically and unconsciously deleted from your awareness.

So why is this important? Well you can’t focus and take action on information deleted from your awareness. Yet your beliefs only allow into your awareness information that is consistent with them! This is why so many people feel stuck. Their underlying beliefs are consistently regurgitating the same type of thoughts day after day, week after week and month after month. These thoughts lead to the same behavior and the same results. Their belief system deletes from their awareness all the information ‘out there’ that things can be different for them … sneaky or what!

For example, if you believe “it’s hard to earn money” or “money is evil” or “I don’t deserve to be rich” the filtering process will work as follows. You will unconsciously delete and distort all incoming information so as to support these limiting beliefs. You will attract and be attracted to people and situations that confirm the truth of what you believe. If you are faced with a number of possible interpretations, you will select those which support your beliefs and filter out all the other interpretations which contradict your beliefs.

If your neighbour believes the exact opposite – “it’s easy to earn money” or “money is good” or “I deserve to be rich” – they will filter into their awareness a completely different set of thoughts and ideas in accordance with their more empowering beliefs. Every type of experience is ‘out there’ and your beliefs will determine which experiences become possible for you.

So contrary to what many people think, beliefs are not fact. They are simply a conviction or an acceptance that something is true. When people believed the world was flat, it did not change the nature of reality. The world was still round. They simply saw and experienced a world according to their own beliefs.

Your beliefs are the foundations of your goals and dreams. If the Wright brothers hadn’t first believed in the possibility of human flight, the thoughts, feelings and dreams of air travel wouldn’t have filtered into their awareness and the dream of air travel wouldn’t have taken of … no pun intended.

If Roger Bannister had not first had the belief that he could complete a sub-four minute mile, it would not have occurred. Only when you have total belief in your goals and dreams will the ‘right’ information flow into your awareness at the ‘right time’ to enable you to see how you can achieve your goals and dreams. The much quoted phrase “I’ll believe it when I see it” is the complete opposite to how the creation process actually works. The truth is you will see it when you believe it!

The process works as follows. Your beliefs determine your thoughts. Your thoughts determine your feelings. Your feelings determine your behaviour and your behaviour determines your results. So the thing to work on is not your behaviour or even your thoughts. It’s your beliefs.

How do you know what your beliefs are? Look at your results. Your results will always be consistent with what you believe to be true for you. And now you know the importance of beliefs, you can consciously decide to choose empowering beliefs in all the main areas of your life to support what you wish to experience.

Peter’s Mini Bio:

Peter Field is an international best-selling author. His first book ‘Lighten Your Load’ received favourable acclaim from teachers of the hit movie ‘The Secret’. His second book ‘Empowered’ in which he is a contributing author with Brian Tracy, Wayne Dyer and other leading names in the personal development industry, reached No. 1 in the top 100 Barnes and Noble best seller list (Self Improvement Category). You can find out more at http://www.peterfield.co.uk/lyl-book.html

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A Message from Jaki ~ Thank you

Thank you Peter. Our Beliefs are more powerful than we often realise ~ “when you have total belief in your goals and dreams  …  the ‘right’ information will flow into your awareness at the ‘right time … ” ~ for me personally my life changed beyond recognition once I realised just that.

Awareness can become a powerful ingredient for living an empowered life. Awareness can help to change the ‘filters’ that you have, thus changing the things you notice, the things that create your reality.

Simple Positive Steps You Can Take Now ~

• Remember if something isn’t ‘working’ in your life – changing your belief – can change your outcome :)
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In Gratitude

Jaki :)