Are Your Beliefs YourFriend or Foe? - By Diane England

Are you aware that you operate under certain beliefsand assumptions that help you to make sense of this world and your lifeexperiences, and that also guide you as you maneuver through each day?For example, you may believe that you were put on this earth for aGod-given purpose. Hence, you're striving to understand and adhere towhat that purpose is. You're open to examining things that happen toyou because you believe they have lessons to teach you and indeed, maybe guiding you towards new directions you need to now be taking.

You may also deal with life's problems and setbacks well because you seethem as developing your ability to cope with what may yet lie ahead onthis path you believe you're being asked to follow. Furthermore, youmay believe that even tragedy offers newfound opportunity if you'll butlook for it and seize it.

Hand-Me-Down Beliefs or Your Own?

Even if you cannot relate to what you've just read, you're undoubtedlyoperating in accordance with certain beliefs and assumptions--likelyhanded down by significant adults during your childhood. Then again,they could come from conclusions you drew as a result of experiencesduring that phase of your life. So, whether you are aware of it or not,you think about other people, the world and how it operates, as wellas your position as a system within larger systems--such as yourfamily, your community, and your country--in certain ways that othersmay not because they had different experiences and were handed otherbeliefs.

Since the smoothness of your early life was largely dependent upon yourability to please the significant adults in your life, or to adopt andlive in accordance with their beliefs, it is not surprising that youoperate automatically in accordance with these beliefs. Also, since itis important that we all adhere to certain beliefs so as to remainproductive and law-abiding members of our society, it has likely beenhelpful that you've clung to beliefs taught by teachers and others.

Still, while there are guidelines as to what is considered reasonable orrational thinking and behavior within our country, there isnevertheless a considerable range of beliefs and assumptions underwhich you could operate and still remain an upstanding citizen of bothour country and the world.

That said, even if you have been operating under a world view that youbelieve has been serving you well, it may be time to re-evaluate itsappropriateness for both your life today and where you want to betomorrow. After all, these are challenging times for many peoplethroughout the world. You may need to change up some beliefs andassumptions so you can still notice and embrace life's possibilities ata time when negativity may seem ready to engulf you. On another note,if you have doubts about continuing to walk the path you were committedto previously, it may be time to consider some remodeling.

You may become more self-aware by striving to continually examine yourthoughts, your emotions, and your behaviors. Let's look more closely asto how you can use these to direct you in ways you've perhaps notconsidered before.

Listening to your Mind--or Not?

Many people experience their minds as something akin to committees ofpeople chattering and arguing anyway in their heads. They hardly knowhow to proceed because of all the conflicting messages their minds feedthem. Hopefully, though, this is not your situation. Assuming this tobe the case, you may still be wondering if you should listen to it ornot. In other words, should you trust that all thoughts that come tomind are essentially your friends and hence, will serve you well?

People who suffer from the mental disorder schizophrenia often come torealize that their minds feed them many thoughts that need to bedisregarded. Someone who suffers from Narcissistic PersonalityDisorder, on the other hand, may believe that his thoughts (themajority of narcissists are men) are perfectly fine while indeed, theycreate havoc and emotional pain for those who must interact withhim--or who suffer the consequences of his choices made as abusinessman, for instance. The person who develops Post-Traumatic StressDisorder or PTSD following a traumatic event may have once been ableto trust his or her thoughts, but now realizes because the brain waschanged by trauma, it is no longer a good idea to do so--that whereassome of the individual's thinking may be right on, other thoughts fallinto that category known in twelve-step programs as "Stinkin' Thinkin'"instead.

Even if you have a calm brain and a world view that has served you well,just as you may want to stay attuned to the functioning of yourseemingly well-running car, you'll want to review your automaticthoughts and how they're continuing to serve you. After all, thoughtscan fuel emotions--that can fuel behaviors that may prove detrimentaland take you away from the path you intended to follow.

Listening to Your Emotions versus Blindly Following Them

It can be painful to face up to a new truth that feelings or anemotional response seem to be asking that you attend to now. If you arefacing such a struggle currently, you may want to consider that ondown the road, things may well become more painful or worse if youdon't heed the message and act. Remember, most problems don't just goaway. Rather, they typically grow worse--or they create new problemssuch as physical health issues. Therefore, you'll want to listen toyour emotional warning system and take any action that it seems to beasking of you.

Remember, your emotions are there to help protect you or remind you thatthere are changes you need to be making to move forth with your lifeand purpose. Anxiety or emotional pain, for example, may become severeenough that they seem impossible to ignore because, indeed, you aren'tsupposed to be ignoring them! They are there to awaken you to the factit is time to take action--to make some changes in yourself or yourlife.

Some people will not be brave enough to do this. Rather, they will tryto avoid what is being asked of them by abusing substances, forexample. Some will seek emotional pain relief through non-stopinvolvement in activities -- which could include over-shopping, sexualacting-out, or overeating.

What you want to strive for instead is a balance between emotion andthinking. In other words, do not subtract either from the equation butinstead evaluate both your thoughts and your feelings regularly tobecome more self-aware. And, just in case you believe that you are thevictim of your genetics and brain, realize that you can modify yourbrain through changing your thoughts and behavior.

Change your beliefs and indeed, you will change your self-talk. Alteryour self-talk and indeed, your emotional responses to life events willsoon change. Alter your emotional response, and soon your behaviorwill change, too.

Humans have a need to have their beliefs and their behaviors inalignment. Thus, if you change one so that it is no longer in alignmentwith the other--there is dissonance--ultimately, you will be driven tochange the other.

Hopefully, now you'll be more capable of keeping your beliefs, thoughts,and emotions aligned so that they continually lead you toward apurpose-filled life. After all, you should soon feel calmer and hence,be better attuned to any inner guidance--or you'll perceive and seizeopportunities put before you that you were undoubtedly inclined to misswhen you weren't so self-aware.

About the Author:

Dr. Diane England is a licensed clinical socialworker who is also the author of "The Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderRelationship: How to Support Your Partner and Keep Your RelationshipHealthy." This self-help book was designated one of the "BEST BOOKS OF2009" by the "Library Journal."

NOTE FROM LARRY SMITH: Do you need to explore your current beliefs?  What are you thinking these days?  I offer a Free Coach Session to focus on this area.  Contact me at: ItsHowYouThink@gmail.com

        

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There are Three Business Killers on the Loose!!....

I use the word "Killer" because the reality is, that these three things will absolutely bring your business down... In Nature, The Rainforest, these same threats exist and will destroy a plant or tree.

According to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center in Panama, there are only three natural threats to the plants and trees.  These are called Pests, Pathogens and Parasites... and untreated, they are deadly!  They are 'Killers"!

In business, the same phenomenon exists.  Today, we will explore the first Killer...

Pests attack a plant or tree from the outside.  They will devour the foliage or bark until the tree dies... It is an external attack.  In Business, the Pests are the things that destroy our Productivity and Time... they destroy What We Produce... and they are all around us!

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What does a Rainforest and Business have to do with one another?...  Interestingly, there is an amazing correlation...



According to extensive study by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Laboratory in Panama, the Rainforest is the most diverse and abundant ecosystem on the planet... and it somehow gets this result from a soil base of apparent scarcity.  This is truly fascinating.  How does it do this? 

There are remarkable systems at play, that when working together, create an extraordinary capacity to thrive and flourish.

With our current economic and business environment, there is an obvious scarcity reality - both in capital and sales (to name a few). 

Nationally acclaimed Business Consultant, Author and Speaker, Michael Pink, has studied these natural systems for many years, and has created an extraordinary business model, taken right out of Nature... The analogy is so powerful that he has written a book, The Rainforest Strategy, and has established an educational organization - The Rainforest Business Institute.

My name is Larry B. Smith.  I am a Professional Business Life Coach working with the Rainforest Business Institute.  I have been greatly fortunate to go to the Rainforest with Michael Pink, and have seen these natural systems up close.  The reality of seeing 200 foot trees, fruits and produce so nutrient rich, (that they are called Super Fruits), and the capacity of vegetation and animals to work so well together, that they literally cause one another to flouish... is quite shocking! 

And, it all happens with soil that is so deficient, that it would have a hard time sustaining weeds... 

We saw that we could draw powerful business concepts right out of this "natural stage" set before us.  If nature could do it so well using its systems, then why couldn't we emulate the systems process in business?  And, we found a way to do it!...

Come with me now, on a fun and enlightening adventure... and learn how to draw abundance, profit, and productivity using concepts right out of one of the most ingenious, natural environments on Earth...

Welcome to the Rainforest Business Concepts Blog site... I look forward to sharing insights with you, and watching you grow your Business and Life today!

Larry B. Smith - Buisness Life Coach
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