Last month, I had the pleasure of speaking as part of an “experts panel” at the Faith2Influence Christian Coaches Academy Live conference in Milwaukee.
We were each asked to share 3 tips that would help the audience members with their businesses.
The feedback I got on the 3 simple tips I shared was so positive that I thought I’d share the tips with you!
So, today, here is tip #1:
Stop saying those pie-in-the-sky affirmations!
You might be surprised to hear a mindset coach tell you that, but here’s why I am…
When we practice affirmations that are so far from removed from what we currently believe, our brain will not only reject the thought, but will actually reinforce our current, limiting belief.
I call this phenomenon “brain back talk”.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say you’ve noticed that you believe “money is hard to make”. You find some money mindset affirmations on the internet and start practicing one of them every morning.
You dutifully recite to yourself, “Money flows easily to me” (one of the most commonly shared affirmations I see out there regarding money mindset).
And what does your brain do with that every time you say it?
It back talks you by muttering, “No it doesn’t.”
And when it back talks your affirmation, it leaves you feeling frustrated, resistant or some other type of negative feeling.
When you practice an affirmation your brain totally rejects, you actually end up strengthening your current limiting belief that money is hard to make.
So what do you do instead? Create and practice a “back-pocket thought”.
First, take your current thought and flip the script.
Current thought: “Money is hard to make” flips to “Money is easy to make.”
Try that on. It will likely NOT feel true to you, yet. And if it doesn’t feel true, you don’t want to practice that thought (yet!)
Instead, tweak it to get it closer to what you currently believe while still being an improvement.
There are several ways to do this.
You can make the thought more believable by making it more generalized instead of personalized.
For example, “Money is easy for some people to make”
Another approach is to add a phrase like,
- “I’m considering that…” or
- “It’s possible that…” or
- “I’m becoming a person who…” or
- “Maybe…”
to make it easier for your brain to accept.
Think of it as if you’re “shopping” for a new thought. You grab a bunch of options and then head to the “thought dressing room” and try them on to see what fits.
So, head into the thought dressing room with the following:
“I’m considering that money might be easy to make”
“It’s possible that money could be easy to make”
“I’m becoming a person who makes money easily”
“Maybe money can be easy to make”
Take the new thought for a test drive and see how you feel when you say it.
If you feel better than when you are thinking “money is hard to make” then you can begin to practice the new, better feeling thought.
If you don’t feel better saying the new thought, keep tweaking it until you find a sentence that feels better than your current thought AND is believable.
Once you have a thought that creates a more positive feeling than the thought you currently believe, you have a new “back-pocket thought” you can practice.
Write that thought on an index card or post it note and keep it in your literal or metaphorical back-pocket. Whenever you catch yourself thinking, “Money is hard to make” bring out your back-pocket thought and say it instead.
In an upcoming email, I’ll share an important technique for making your new back-pocket thought even more effective. For now, simply practice saying your new back-pocket thought as much as you can.
Before long, you’ll rewire your brain and it will begin to offer your new thought up on autopilot. Then you can use the process to level it up another level. Repeat until you believe the full “flipped script” version.
What’s some limiting belief that’s holding you back? If you share it with me, I’ll send you a few options you can try out as a back pocket thought. Just email it to me ([email protected]) or visit my website and use the Contact Me page to leave me a message.
Or, if you want to explore how coaching with me can help you change your thinking, manage your emotions and show up more effectively so you can grow your business to 7-figures without sacrificing your values, relationships or well-being, then book a free Breakthrough Session.