Last week I shared the first takeaway after attending Tony Robbins’ Unleash The Power Within! (read it here if you missed it). Here’s the second takeaway…
Takeaway #2: Know Your Outcome
“As a man thinks, so is he.” – Proverbs 23:7
Beliefs do not equal certainty. Beliefs equal the feeling of certainty.
Any thought, behavior, or feeling that is consistently reinforced will become habit.
The problem is our beliefs are not always true.
And many of those beliefs aren’t even our own. They were passed down through our environment (family, friends, and community).
You can change your negative and limiting beliefs though.
Change is never a matter of ability. It’s always a matter of motivation.
“It must change now.”
“I must change now.”
“I can change now.”
Here are the three steps to lasting change:
- Get leverage: You don’t get what you want. You get what you must have! Find leverage over your limiting belief that drives “It must change now” to your core.
If you can’t find leverage then use pain as leverage. Our brains prioritize pain avoidance over pleasure. Mentally tie not changing to immeasurable pain & suffering for you and those around you that you love the most. What are the negative consequences for not changing? - Interrupt the pattern: When the limiting belief starts to materialize, immediately interrupt it. Reassociate the belief with pain (leverage).
Tony Robbins’ shared the story about how he quit biting his nails. In his younger days his impulsive habit caused a potential big client to walk away in disgust. From that moment on every time he went to bite his nails he recalled the pain and embarrassment from that day. He never bit his nails again.
I had the same bad habit so after hearing Tony’s story I reassociated biting my nails with physical pain. It took about 48 hours of interruptions to eliminate the habit for good. I haven’t bit my nails since. - Create a new empowering pattern: It’s typically not enough to simply reject limiting beliefs. You must replace them with empowering patterns & beliefs. You must know your outcome with absolute certainty. I’ll go more into that next week with the final takeaway, Eliminate & Replace Negative Thoughts.