In a quote from the book, The Inner Rising, it says "Our belief systems act as filters through which we see the world and which influence the "spin" we put on our lives". This quote implies that your own self-limiting beliefs will therefore influence how you live your life, and by implication the results that show up for you.

In order to eliminate the beliefs that hold us back (one of the main ones being said to be “I’m not enough”), and begin taking back control of the outcomes in our lives, there are three powerful steps we can take.

Step 1 - Questioning

There are certain questions you can ask yourself that will help you understand how you relate to your beliefs, and therefore how you can approach your life in a more resourceful way. Answer these questions yourself and see what you come up with:

1. In what kind of previous situations have you felt strong about yourself, and in which have you not?

2. What did you believe about yourself when you did feel strong, and when you didn’t?

3. What kinds of situations lead you to feeling good about yourself, and not feeling good?

These kinds of questions will help you deepen your self-understanding in relation to your beliefs about yourself, and encourage you to question yourself about your beliefs. So before you read on, answer the above questions, if you haven’t already done so, and see what insights come out of your answers.

Step 2 - Listing

Based on the above answers, list what you would class as the three to five key beliefs that limit you. Look at those beliefs as if from the point of view of a detached observer and consider the thoughts that arise from this observation. Finally, consider the impact each of those beliefs has had on your life.

Listing your limiting beliefs, considering their impact, and looking back at that list dispassionately not only brings those beliefs to the fore, preventing them from remaining festered in the subconscious mind, but also helps to highlight how you can start to change your deepest thoughts about yourself.

Step 3 - Transforming

Based on all of the above, it’s now time to move into the transformation stage. This stage begins with coming up with three to five strong, positive and empowering beliefs that you would like to have about yourself. One of these could be for instance, “Once I know deep down that I’m doing my best, this is good enough for me.” Positive and constructive statements such as this should represent the opposite of your current beliefs. What thoughts do you have about these new beliefs?

Once you have your positive beliefs, you can now use the following three approaches to begin to turn your negative beliefs around and transform them into the strong, positive beliefs you seek:

1. Ask yourself to what extent that negative belief is actually true (10%, 30%, 70%...) and why

2. Look back at your past and write down (for each of your negative beliefs) two examples of times when you demonstrated the opposite of those beliefs

3. Consider who in your entourage already demonstrates each of the beliefs you seek. Ask them how they maintain their strong beliefs and extract from what they say useful nuggets you can use to help transform your beliefs from negative to positive

This powerful 3-step approach of questioning the basis of your beliefs, clearly articulating your existing beliefs, and using proven 'undermining' strategies to disprove their validity will begin to transform your deepest thoughts about yourself into strong, positive and empowering beliefs that will turn your life around.