Are You in Need of a Paradigm Shift?

Our personal paradigms are formed when we are young and often continue into adulthood. They are the beliefs and basic perceptions we have of the world and how it works. Some paradigms are good and support a successful mindset, while others keep you from achieving your goals. If you have a belief that the world is full of opportunity and that everyone has the ability to succeed, you will have more motivation and ambition to realize your dreams. However, if your paradigm dictates that only the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and you didn't grow up in a mansion, then you may find it harder to achieve a great deal of success in your life. The people you read about in rags to riches stories are the people who didn't buy into the paradigm they were given as children. They broke through unhealthy beliefs and created a new paradigm of success for themselves. Our limiting beliefs stem from our personal paradigms. If a paradigm is the map of how we perceive the world, fears and limiting beliefs are the stop signs along the way. In order to release a limiting belief or banish a fear, you need to find the source of that belief and shift your perception of it. In other words, change your paradigm. Choose one of your limiting beliefs and ask yourself the following questions. Fear of failure is very common, so I will use that for an example. 1. Where did this belief come from? Keep backtracking through events in your life until you find the very first time you felt afraid to fail. Did you have parents that pushed and pushed you to get good grades? Did you get into trouble if you got less than an A in a class? Were you embarassed or humiliated in some way when you failed to accomplish a task as a rnchild? Find the root of the fear and see the event again as an emotionally detached observer. 2. How has this belief affected my life? How many dreams have you put off because you were afraid to fail? How many risks didn't you take? How happy is your "safe" life now that you've worked so hard to eliminate any possibility of failure? Has this fear turned you into a perfectionist who never completes anything because you are too busy "perfecting"? 3. What would my life look like if this belief wasn't there? If you weren't afraid to fail, what would you be doing right now? How would you feel? What could you accomplish right now if you took the chance and went for it? 4. When have I proved this belief wrong? What have been your successes? Where did you accomplish something and didn't fail? When did you take a chance and have it turn out great? When have you made it through a rough situation and come out the other side a better person? Those are WINS, not failures! 5. What is my new belief going to be? You know where the fear of failure came from. You've looked at how it has affected your life. You know what it would feel like to no longer have it and have even proven that you can succeed. Now it's time to trade that fear in for something better! Instead of "I'm afraid to fail", try "I confidently take chances and fully engage in living my dreams, no matter the outcome." These are some very tough questions to ask yourself, and the answers won't feel very comfortable. However, they are necessary in order to completely break a limiting belief and change your personal paradigm to one of success and growth rather than mediocrity and stagnation. Soon, you'll be living the life of your dreams!