#021 Belief Systems — From Limited to Empowered

Read Time: 5.5 minutes

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Hey bud,

Have you ever felt frustrated because you wanted to make a positive change in your life, but you ended up not taking the right action?

Or have you ever been close to achieving a goal, but you fall flat at 80-90% of the way there? You may even have said something like: “This is already good enough, I don’t need to keep putting in effort for this.”

These are some examples of what is known as self-sabotage.

One of the main reasons why we self-sabotage is because the beliefs we hold don’t fall in line with the desires that we have.

A few more examples of self-sabotaging are:

• Procrastination

• Negative Self-Talk

• Avoidance

• Underachievement

• Victim Mentality

Just to name a few.

If these are behaviors that you have experienced or that you are currently struggling with, then you need to hear this:

You will never achieve your goals with ease and flow if you don’t align your beliefs and self-image to your desired outcome. 

I say this with love and respect.

It’s definitely still possible to achieve those same goals with sheer force and will, but you’ll end up exhausted.

So, let’s remedy that, shall we?

In this week’s letter, we will dive into what beliefs are, how they influence your behavior, and how you can build empowering ones so that success eventually becomes automatic for you.

Imagine that! Success on autopilot. It’s possible.

Now, before we get into it, you may have noticed some changes if you are a long time reader of this letter.

The look of this email you received is different, and you might wonder why.

I’ve decided to move the newsletter platform I use from Substack to Beehiiv. If you like the changes, do let me know what you like about it by replying to this email.

Let’s get into it.

What Beliefs Are and How They Are Formed

We have two components in our minds that operate together but serve different functions.

We have the conscious mind which rules over your:

• Present Awareness

• Cognitive Reasoning

• Short-Term Memory

• Voluntary Actions

• Language and Communication

The conscious mind rules only 2-5% of your actions, decisions, and behaviors on a daily basis.

On the other hand, we have the subconscious mind which is responsible for:

• Automatic Processes (Autopilot)

• Knee-Jerk Emotional Responses

• Long-Term Memory

• Habits

• Beliefs and Values

Here’s the interesting part, the subconscious mind rules a whopping 95-98% of your actions, decisions, and behaviors on a daily basis.

Do you realize what this statement means?

Your subconscious mind runs the show majority of the time! And most people are not aware of this fact.

You are running on autopilot for the majority of the day.

Now, going back to beliefs, these are stored in our subconscious mind.

If you consciously think about an idea enough times, it eventually gets transferred from the conscious mind, to the subconscious mind — which becomes a belief.

There are two ways beliefs are formed:

1. A specific event with enough emotional impact behind it.

2. Enough repetition of thoughts or experiences.

Thoughts charged with enough emotion become beliefs (think beliefs that come from trauma or even a life changing event).

If you win the jackpot at a lottery, for example, you’ll most likely form the belief that you are a lucky individual.

By being repeatedly exposed to a specific thought or experience it will also form into a belief.

I, for example, have written and sent 21 letters like this over 5 months. I now presently have a belief that I am a writer, whereas I didn’t think so at the first or even second letter I’ve written.

How Beliefs Influence Our Behavior

A belief you have about yourself is your self-image. You may believe that you are:

• Creative

• Shy

• Confident

• Smart

• Not Good Enough

Whatever belief you hold about yourself, your self-image is you feeling absolutely certain that you are that kind of person.

We always act in alignment with who we believe we are.

So going by the examples I gave:

If you believe that you are a creative person, you will act like one.

If you believe you are a shy person, you will act like one.

If you believe that you are a confident person, you will act like one.

Now, I’ll say this again: You will never achieve your goals with ease and flow if you don’t align your beliefs and self-image to your desired outcome. 

If your desired outcome (goal) is BIGGER than your self-image, you will unconsciously self-sabotage.

So you have to match your self-image (the belief you have about yourself) to the goals that you set.

If your self-image does NOT match your goals and they hold you back from taking the right action, you have limiting beliefs.

If your self-image DOES match your goals, you have empowering beliefs, and they will help you take the right action with less effort and resistance.

How To Build Empowering Beliefs About Yourself

If you want to build a healthy self-image that matches the goals you set, daily affirmations and confirmations will be your best friend.

Remember, a thought that you repeatedly think with your conscious mind over time will set in your subconscious mind, thereby forming a belief.

Here are 3 actionable steps you can take to do this:

1. Identify Your Desired Outcome.

2. Ask Yourself This: “What do I need to believe about myself for me to achieve this outcome?”

   Write 5-7 things on a piece of paper.

3. Read This Aloud Twice A Day to Yourself (once in the morning when you wake up, and once in the evening before bed).

Do this daily affirmation activity everyday for an entire year, and success will eventually become autopilot for you.

For example, the desired outcome I want for myself is to double my current monthly income. (Step 1)

Now I asked myself, “What do I need to believe about myself for me to achieve this?” (Step 2)

I need to believe that I am:

1. Abundant

2. An Excellent Receiver

3. A Man of Integrity

4. Financially Capable

5. Worthy

6. Resourceful

7. Confidence Personified

I have been reading these aloud twice a day at least for the past 2 weeks (Step 3)

Here one result and a huge win that I experienced after just 2 weeks of doing this:

I have finally started generated revenue in this online venture since starting it 5 months ago. And I’m over the moon about it!

I have more clarity in how to move forward with my online venture, and I’ve noticed I’m less resistant to receiving things that people offer (whether it’s help with the luggage I was carrying, or someone treating me for coffee).

I can only imagine the results I’ll get a year from now of doing this every day!

But affirmations alone aren’t enough, you need confirmations as well. These are proof points or evidence that your affirmations are true.

Confirmations can be in the form of evidence through action, or evidence through result.

For example, one of my affirmations is “I am a man of Integrity.”

A confirmation of that is when I actually do what I said I would do. If I say to myself that I’ll wake up at 4:30am to go for an early morning run, I do exactly that.

Whenever I successfully take action in alignment with that affirmation, I reinforce the affirmation by saying it to myself again.

You HAVE to give your brain evidence or it will call B.S. on your affirmations.

In Conclusion

Your beliefs will either create or destroy.

If you want to create lasting positive change in your life, you have to start taking a look at the beliefs that you have about yourself.

You must take account of whether your beliefs are helping you create the life that you want, or destroying the possibility of your dreams becoming a reality.

Your beliefs are not set in stone.

You can install new and empowering ones through repetition and time.

And once you’ve installed the empowering beliefs that will lead you to the life you want, success will become autopilot.

Always remember, that you deserve that.

Talk soon,

— Zach Marañon

P.S. Whenever you are ready, there are 2 ways that I can be of help to you:

1. Follow me on Instagram here if you want a source of bite-sized ideas and content that can help you reach your next level in life.

2. Book a discovery call for one-on-one coaching here if you are an entrepreneur or sales professional currently looking to create solutions to a problem or challenge in your life but you seem to be stuck.