Recently I started to read again an amazing book from Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements. Using four approaches he suggest how to have awaken life, free from the limiting beliefs. The four agreements are:

Be impeccable with your word

Don’t take anything personally

Don’t make assumptions

Always do your best

Below is a story about the last agreement: Always do your best

There was a man who wanted to transcend his suffering so he went to a Buddhist temple to find a Master to help him. He went to the Master and asked, “Master, if I meditate four hours a day, how long will it take me to transcend?”

The Master looked at him and said, “If you meditate four hours a day, perhaps you will transcend in ten years.”

Thinking he could do better, the man then said, “Oh, Master, what if I meditated eight hours a day, how long will it take me to transcend?”

The Master looked at him and said, “If you meditate eight hours a day, perhaps you will transcend in twenty years.”

“But why will it take me longer if I meditate more?” the man asked.

The Master replied, “You are not here to sacrifice your joy or your life. You are here to live, to be happy, and to love. If you can do your best in two hours of meditation, but you spend eight hours instead, you will only grow tired, miss the point, and you won’t enjoy your life. Do your best, and perhaps you will learn that no matter how long you meditate, you can live, love, and be happy.”

All personal breakthroughs begin with a change in beliefs. Anthony Robbins

Have you ever thought:

I just can’t do that

That’s just not for me

I lack the ability to

I’m just not good enough to

I just don’t deserve to be

I would love to ….. but I’m just not that kind of person

What is your limiting belief ?

How does it affect your attitude and your behavior?

Have your limiting beliefs become self fulfilling prophecies?

If you want to face and change your limiting beliefs, this is a very interesting NLP exercise:

Museum of Old Beliefs

1. Do you recognize that you have a limiting belief? How would you describe this belief? How does it influence your behavior? How has it served you at a certain time?

2. Can you see that this belief could actually be untrue? Do you have evidence that goes against this limiting belief? When was the first time you had this belief? Have you seen other people change? Do you believe you can change?

3. Maybe this old belief once served you, but now you no longer feel comfortable with it. You don’t have to get totally rid of your old belief, you can put it in into a Museum of Old Beliefs that you can visit when you want and have a look at it, but it will not be part of your life any more.

What is the size, shape, color, texture, location and the smell of your Museum? You can put your old belief in the Museum and leave it there

4. Now, what belief would serve you better at this point in your life? How would you describe this belief? How would you name it?

5. Do you sense that this new belief could be true? Are you open to believing something different from your old belief? Are you ready to embrace a new belief? Can you think of a time in the past when you were open to a new belief? How did you feel then? How do you feel about your new belief now?

6. What are your most dearly held beliefs? How would your life be if you held this new belief in the same way? Can you close your eyes and see, hear, feel, smell how and who you are embracing this new belief? What will you do now that you have this new belief?

If you can’t get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you’d best teach it to dance. George Bernard Shaw.

Contribution of Peter Strijdonk