Creating what you want

A lot of us SWWANs end up with "portfolio" careers--moving from one job or business to another, sometimes because we have to, and other times because we just want to. With a little luck--and the power of belief--each move leads to better things.

Listened to an interesting telephone workshop yesterday--Lyle Lachmuth of Creative Careers Unleashed interviewing a guy named Allan Allard about how to use your subconscious mind to achieve your goals. Seems Allan's had multiple careers because every couple of years he got bored or saw that he wanted something else. And each time he was highly successful--in sales, in the ministry, in sales again, then in mental health, and then in leading seminars. He's now a coach (an occupational category that's exploded lately).

Allan made some good points about how our beliefs affect us:

Unless something is true for every single person, it’s just a belief--99% of everything in our heads is a belief, not a fact. Remember that even in your dreams your are communicating with yourself. Ask yourself: Is this useful for me, or is it less than useful? Am I willing to try on a new belief?

He advises not to spend time examining old beliefs because focusing on them means you’re reinforcing them. Instead ask yourself: What new beliefs do I need to reach the goal I want? Then find a more useful belief and tack it on.

This isn't new-age crap--even science has proven that what you believe affects everything you do. And if you feel sure that you didn't ask for what's in your life, you might want to get some help to dig down and find out what hidden (unconscious) beliefs are at work. I may say that I want to lose weight, but if I have strong subconscious reasons for not doing so (like it's a good excuse for, say, not dating), I'll either not try to lose or will fail when I do try.

For a wonderful book on the subject, read Shakti Gawain's Creative Visualization. You can actually get used copies of Amazon for as little as a penny! But don't let the cheap price fool you--it's great stuff. I bought a copy many years ago when I first got divorced and I was trying to reprogram my brain more positively. It's simple, helpful, and inspiring.