Do you ever feel like you’re not in control of your life? Do you ever feel like there is something deep within you holding you back from happiness?
Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy in life, and most of the time we will be completely unaware of it.
This doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with you.
It simply means that you may have negative core beliefs that deeply affect you on a subconscious level.
You may wonder what are core values? What are core beliefs? Core beliefs are nothing more than assumptions we have about ourselves, our values, and the world around us.
Let’s identify your core beliefs and figure out how to take complete control of your life.
Personal core beliefs are fundamental beliefs and values about us personally, about others, and about our worldview.
Core beliefs are our mental foundation which influences all of our actions and experiences in the world. They guide our behaviors on a daily basis with each interaction and each thought. Our core beliefs are essentially responsible for the outcome of our lives.
Core beliefs are formed from various experiences both internally, and externally. This includes things we’re told, things we’ve thought, and things we’ve learned.
Many of them come from the community we live in. Beliefs also come from other communities we belong to, like a church.
Some of us blindly follow beliefs told to us from these institutions. Some of us blindly follow what our parents believe. We also follow the beliefs told to us by our friends and even what we see on TV.
Slowly year by year we have created a set of values and beliefs, perhaps only some truly being our own. What are some of your personal beliefs?
Though we may think that we’re all positive people and don’t have negative core beliefs, it’s important to explore.
They might be holding you back from living a really great life. As you look at the list of beliefs below, If you’ve ever said any of the following phrases to yourself, you have negative core beliefs.
There are also negative core beliefs about the world. If you’ve ever said the following phrases you may have negative core beliefs about the world.
All these common negative core belief examples may be causing you extreme unhappiness and taking away all your personal power. Not only does this bring more negativity into your life, but this unbalanced perspective dilutes reality to such an extent that all critical thinking is lost. Make your own list of values and beliefs.
Positive core beliefs are crucial to living a happy and productive life. They help us get up in the morning. They help us stay motivated and maintain our personal strength. Good core values keep us centered as individuals.
Here is a list of positive core beliefs.
Positive core beliefs aren’t always about being positive all the time the same way optimistic people don’t always have good days. Optimists just choose to believe that tomorrow will be a better day. Positive beliefs are fair and balanced. These core beliefs examples are honest truths from learned experiences.
We need to start questioning our negative core beliefs and ask ourselves why we feel this way.
Where did we learn this from? Did it come from myself or from somebody else? Did one bad experience create my entire worldview and do I need to rethink it?
These are good critical questions to ask yourself. When we change core beliefs, we change our reality.
To get clear on our individual core beliefs we need to take the time to figure them out. Break them down one at a time. Start by making a list of core beliefs. You can use the core beliefs examples above. Take them and add a why, when, where, and what question beneath them.
Here is an example for you to use and write down:
Negative Core Belief:
“Life is unfair”
Positive Core Belief:
“I love who I am”
As you can see, by asking a lot of questions around each core belief we can begin to really reach beneath the surface and figure out who we are and what we believe.
Negative beliefs can impact our lives in many different ways emotionally, physically, monetarily, and spiritually. These types of beliefs create hazards that don’t allow us to live up to our full potential.
It’s like trying to scale a mountain with a giant boulder attached to you. You can try but you’re most likely not going to get to the top. They weigh us down and prevent us from achieving what we want.
Having a negative belief such as “no one can be trusted” prevents you from having solid relationship, or perhaps you feel needs are not being met which may mean you are disconnected from one another's love languages.
Possessing a negative belief such as “life is unfair” creates a scarcity mindset leaving you to believe there’s not enough goodness to go around for everybody.
Having a core belief that you are a failure ruins all your current and future achievements. You’ve clipped your wings before you’ve even had a chance to soar.
Start clearing out these automatic negative beliefs before they ruin your entire life.
Self-belief is everything. Having the power behind our beliefs is crucial to our success and happiness. It’s about feeling undeniably confident in our abilities as we move toward our life goals.
Our past has a way of influencing all of our actions and experiences in the present, and can negatively impact us. If we had a past failure in a particular area, it can give us a painful association leading us to avoid certain situations. Our negative core beliefs can get us off track.
This is exactly why we need more positive core beliefs to counteract feelings of inadequacy and pain.
In our darkest of times when we are stressed and anxious and feeling unsure, it is the power of belief that gives us the courage to keep pushing forward.
When you love and value who you are, you keep maintaining momentum with confidence and vigor. Obstacles always become a learning opportunity that you learn to break through, jump over, or move around. Believing in yourself with a deep burning passion is essential in life.
In the context of productivity and fulfillment, we unconsciously deal with hidden forms of resistance every day.
Our core values are challenged constantly by our emotions which formulate our motivations and resting periods as they relate to self-disciplinary systems. I really should do this, should do that and I must organize my room.
I need to call that person and must send those emails. Disorganization and procrastination on menial tasks cause us to question our core values constantly.
Why do I procrastinate on these things? Why don’t I call these people if I value friendships and relationships? Secondary beliefs start to show within the cracks.
Secondary beliefs are beliefs and values that are open to change. These can change based on convenience, time management, and other factors.
Sometimes we prioritize and value certain things more than others. This needs to be explored as we go about our daily lives. The integrity behind the power of our values must be acted upon in every aspect.
The way to eradicate our negative core beliefs is to analyze them and disprove them. Identifying core beliefs was something we explored earlier in this article. Often these negative beliefs come from a basic undeveloped understanding of certain events and circumstances.
One person broke your heart, therefore all relationships are bad. Our negative biases can contribute to more negative experiences and control our perspective.
Many people experience heartache from bad or failed relationships. However, they move onto the next relationship and manifest love.
No single experience defines our lives unless we allow them to. How can this relate to other aspects of your life? Perhaps if you’ve had consistent money problems, you think money is evil and too hard to attain.
However, maybe you’re just on the wrong career path and don’t invest any time into building a real income for yourself. A does not always equal B. Disprove your negative beliefs.
As individuals, we experience greater fulfillment when we live by our values and beliefs. When we don’t honor our values, we suffer. To establish good values we must write them down and organize them into categories.
Categories such as honesty, passion, integrity, and purpose. Then we can break down multiple core values from there.
Honesty
I believe in sincere honesty with myself at all times
I believe in being completely honest with my spouse, friends, and co-workers, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Passion
I believe in the value of passion in everything I do. If I’m not passionate, I won’t continue it
I am passionate about living every day. If I’m not, I must figure out why.
Integrity
I believe in personal integrity.
I believe everyone should be accountable for their thoughts and actions.
Purpose
I live my whole life with purpose.
My purpose is the most important motivator in my life.
I believe everyone should find their purpose in life.
Use the categories to organize your own core values. Make new categories of your own and experiment with it.
Remember at all times that where energy flows, the energy goes.
We attract what we think and feel about every single day.
Let’s decide now to focus on the good. Focusing on the good is going to bring more goodness and abundance into your life.
Doing anything else will result in more negative circumstances and events.
If you ever want to improve your life in any way, it’s time to start getting your mind focused on all the things that are going right in your life.
It’s time to focus on the things that bring you joy and make you want to wake up in the morning. Focus on the good.
This whole process is about challenging our beliefs and our values.
As we discussed earlier, how we’ve been lead to some of our beliefs can be from external sources.
it’s very important that we pay attention and monitor the type of content we consume in the news and entertainment outlets.
Companies have their own agenda and values that may not be aligned with your own. Absorbing information at face value is a dubious and dangerous cycle to be a part of.
It can increase your anxiety and take you away from your path. Not only monitor the material but the amount of time you spend on it.
Seeing constant negativity or hearing constant negativity won’t help you. Stay focused on you, your journey, your purpose, and your beliefs.
