Process for installing/changing beliefs

[RT Wolf]

Hi everyone, I've got a quick question about installing or changing beliefs I hold--I'm looking for ways to implement and change more deeply rooted beliefs.

That is, sometimes I can change some very shallowly held beliefs by just reading/listening to a new belief. Another way I've found is to imagine myself taking actions that reflect the new belief versus the old one and then being mindful of that when the time comes for those actions. Yet another way is the Belief paraliminal. I haven't tested this one extensively, but if anyone's got any experience with this one, I'd love to hear it.

I've also heard that NLP can be used for this, but I don't have a clue where to start with it, so any info there would be very helpful, too. How about the silva method or something?

So, to reiterate, what are ways to change your deeply held beliefs?

Thanks!

[Sam988]

I know some methods, but i cant point the right method if i dont know a bit more about the beliefs you holding.


So if its not asking too much, could you explain a bit more about these beliefs you have and want to change?

[Lola]

RT - I have several pretty deep self-limiting beliefs that I've been working on. I started using the Belief paraliminal about three weeks ago and can see some changes.

This particular paraliminal has a part A and part B. A is about identifying and releasing a self-limiting belief. B deals with installing your new belief.

When I started, I was thinking a bit too globally, I believe. For instance, fear holds me back in many areas of my life so I worked on identifying and releasing the old belief of fear. After a week or so, I decided I should be more specific so narrowed it down and did sessions on specific issues - fear of rejection, fear of failure, etc. My method for using the paraliminal is to listen to side A a couple of times to be sure I've accurately identified the belief I want to release. After that I listen to the B side frequently, as needed, to reinforce my new belief.

Like I said I have several of these to work through so it's going to take awhile! What I'm noticing so far is that I am much more conscious when the old knee-jerk reaction self-limiting belief kicks in. I hear myself go there automatically, catch it, stop it, and replace the thought with my new belief. So it's not automatic yet but I'll get there.

[RT Wolf]

Things like LoA (I want to try it out). With LoA, I'm doing the progressive thing by manifesting larger and large sums, which is fine, but it'll take a lot longer than some other method.

I want to be able to put in a ridiculously deep belief that I'll succeed in some of my goals that I'm not too sure about consciously. To be honest, I'm having difficulty coming up with particular beliefs right now cause my brain is fried. I'll try to write back tomorrow with more beliefs I want to change/install.

I also want to install new beliefs where there might not have been any before. I especially want to experiment with installing habits faster than just doing it over and over again. It seems to me that a habit is a very ingrained belief, although that may be an incorrect interpretation. So I might want to install the habit of washing the dishes right after I've eaten (instead of waiting later and wasting energy and time).

If its not asking too much, could you list your methods and the kinds of beliefs they work best with? I just realized that that question really is pretty broad, just because there are so many different kinds of beliefs.

[Sam988]

Oh that kind of beliefs... sorry i had other beliefs in mind (like self depreciating beliefs), my mistake, i should have imagined your problem was above all of that stuff =P


I actually have the same problem you have with installing new beliefs into myself, and probably most people have the same problem, developing genuine faith is something very difficult, and i would love if someone could show me also some ways of developing a good amount of faith in whatever i want to develop.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by RT Wolf

I want to be able to put in a ridiculously deep belief that I'll succeed in some of my goals that I'm not too sure about consciously.

For this kind of belief, what you need to do is consciously give yourself permission to be ridiculous.

What I mean is this. Define your goal. Set aside some time to IM it. For this IM session, since the goal is one that you're actually not yet able to consciously believe in, give yourself permission to think & visualise it in a purely fictional way.

For example, you could bargain with your conscious mind like this: "Ok, I know I probably can't succeed in ______. But anyway, I just want to have a little fantasy about it. So for the next 20 minutes, I'm just going to pretend that I can. There's no harm in that, right? It's just for 20 minutes."

This actually has the effect of freeing your mind to visualise powerfully about the goal. After all, you've already decided that you don't need to keep the visualistic realistic. It's pure fantasy.

As they always tell you, don't worry about the how.

[RT Wolf]

Thank you for your post ALG. I really like that idea and I can tell that'll be helpful for me. Alternatively, I could work on the belief that things have to be reasonable for me to achieve them.

While browsing through the old blogs on beliefs I came across this:

Installing new beliefs

Once you’ve identified a new belief, you have to install it. I explained the basics of how to do this in Podcast #5: Beliefs. Essentially you immerse yourself in the new belief until your subconscious accepts it as true and integrates it into your mental operating system. My favorite method is to use visualization, but some people swear by verbal affirmations, especially when combined with strong emotion. The techniques in the article Cultivating Burning Desire can also be used to recondition your beliefs.

Be patient with yourself because it can take a while for new beliefs to take hold. It usually takes me anywhere from a few weeks to several months before I’ve successfully integrated a new belief into my subconscious, depending on my internal resistance. If there’s no resistance, I can install a new belief in a day, but that’s rare for significant changes. It takes time for my mind to accept the new belief as fact instead of merely considering it as a possibility or an interesting idea, and it has to be successfully integrated with all the other thoughts going through my head.

From here:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...ering-beliefs/

The links he mentioned are:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...t-005-beliefs/

http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles...ing-desire.htm

Here's another one:

Through NLP I learned how to interrupt the pattern of old beliefs and condition new ones. These techniques are often used for overcoming fears and phobias. So first, I learned that it was indeed possible to intentionally reprogram my own beliefs, and I learned how to do it. A good book on this subject is Using Your Brain for a Change by Richard Bandler.

From this entry:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...-the-red-pill/

Cheers! I hope this helps someone else as well.

Just a quick summary of different ways of changing beliefs:

Visualization (with excellent tips by ALG)
Affirmations (either spoken, thought or put onto an mp3 player and listened to)
Belief Paraliminal (side A for rewriting self-limiting beliefs and side B for just installing new more empowering ones)
NLP

Any others?

[RT Wolf]

Another one:

Reinforcement. There's multiple kinds of reinforcement (negative, positive, etc). Some of which are detailed here:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles...ing-desire.htm

Another thing that helped me is the notebook method from Abraham-Hicks which I learned from ALG's website:

Acting Like Godot: Simple Approach

I reckon between all the methods I've listed here, I've got most of the tools I need to change my beliefs. I'll keep an eye out for other (perhaps more effective or efficient) but I think I've got the most effective ones. Time to start using them.

[MGJ]

Hi RT... I have a few video's in my video library that might help. Take a look at #48, #49 and #50.

[RT Wolf]

^ Thanks for those MGJ, they were very interesting.

Here's another thread about changing beliefs that some people may find interesting. I am currently learning the Sedona Method, so I'm curious to see how it can be used to help me change my beliefs.

How to change beliefs
How to actually change beliefs

Also, some good stuff in this thread:

At what point does changing your beliefs become a process?

[starlet]

I've learned to dicconect with my limiting beliefs. One of my big ones is that it is impossible to become a working actress, and that if the thousands out there who want to have not, then why should I believe that I can?

I held that belief but it was not mine. It is the belief of others, who have told it to me so many tmes that it has taken root in my subconscious. Any belief that I hold, if it does not make me feel good, is obviously not mine, it is a stowaway and must be dug up and chucked out.

[RT Wolf]

^ Have you read this entry?

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...-a-black-belt/

It might give you a boost, if you haven't.

[starlet]

Originally Posted by RT Wolf

^ Have you read this entry?

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...-a-black-belt/

It might give you a boost, if you haven't.

Yep. Of course I had already taken the bad belief and imploded it My new belief is that I will succeed. Why? Because I want to succeed and know I will succeed, and there is a whole list of actors who have succeeded, which is living proof that I can too.

George Clooney lived in a closet for a few years. Brad Pitt used to drive a limo for a strip-o-gram service. But then you have Rosario Dawson who was discovered while sitting on a porch step, and David Borenz (sp?) who was discovered while walking his dog.

[BelleEnchanted]

Originally Posted by RT Wolf

Just a quick summary of different ways of changing beliefs:

Visualization (with excellent tips by ALG)
Affirmations (either spoken, thought or put onto an mp3 player and listened to)
Belief Paraliminal (side A for rewriting self-limiting beliefs and side B for just installing new more empowering ones)
NLP

Any others?

EFT is another very good technique. And the best thing about it is that it works even if you don't believe in it.

Belle

[Liara Covert]

Journal writing can be useful to enable yourself to step back and see your own beliefs differently. As you learn to better understand why you think the way you do, its easier to motivate yourself to change, especially where you no longer think your thoughts are as appropriate as they were before. The idea of affirmations, visualisation and otehr techniques can all be useful. However, you fist need to decide you wish to change in teh first place and truly understand why. The 'how' can be explored more effectively after that.

[RT Wolf]

Thank you both for your contributions.

I also found this blog entry about creating beliefs:

How to Believe You Can Do Anything » Self Improvement Blog - *************

A lot about reinforcement and visualization. Good how-to.

Also, The Sedona Method and Byron Katie's The Work also promise to help change beliefs. I'll try them out and let you know the results.

As you might've guessed, I'm trying to bring together all the tools of belief-change into one place, hoping that it'll help someone else as much as having this kind of reference helps me.