Whenever I’m asked what methods I personally use to clear myself of limiting beliefs, I always say three things —
1. Ho’oponopono. This simple prayer, described in the books At Zero and Zero Limits, is what I do daily (even right now, as I’m writing this).
2. Tapping. Whether you call it EFT or TFT or something else, I use the “tapping” method almost daily, for anything that feels “off” in my life.
3. Questioning. I question beliefs much like Sherlock Holmes investigated a crime or Socrates guided his students into clarity.
I’ve touched on this last method in various programs and books, but never really explained it here, on this blog. Today’s the day to do so.
Here goes:
I first learned the power of questions from Barry Neil Kaufman, author of To Love Is To Be Happy With.
“Bears,” as he likes to be called, teaches that you can explore any limits in your life with the right questions and the right attitude. I studied with Bears in 1985 and still reflect back on what I learned from him.
Later, I gained deeper insight into this questioning method from Mandy Evans, who wrote Traveling Free and Emotional Options.
I’ve often called Mandy the original Miracles Coach. She’s helped me off and on for almost thirty years. I owe much of my clarity to her, which led to much of my success.
At one point, decades ago, I was so fascinated with the power of questions that I made business cards calling myself a Socratic Dialogue Consultant.
I thought I might help people by coaching them through the right questions and the right attitude. Life redirected me into writing books and coaching people through words.
But those business cards foreshadowed what I later became: a coach through my work.
So what are the right questions and the right attitude to clear beliefs?
My approach to getting clear through questions goes like this:
First, an attitude of unconditional love is essential.
Any sense of judgment will shut down your willingness to explore. You really need the attitude of detachment, curiosity, and pure accepting love behind every question.
Second, I explore beliefs with the curiosity of a benevolent angel.
When I sense or hear a limiting belief, I want to get curious about it.
Remember, beliefs are not facts. Beliefs can be explored.
They may feel like facts, but beliefs are mental judgments we made up at some point for a variety of reasons. They can be explored and released.
“There isn’t enough money for me” or “I’ll never find the perfect love” or “Sex is bad” are all beliefs.
None are real.
None can be proven by science.
None are universally agreed as true.
Those beliefs can be examined.
Many people can’t find their operating beliefs because they are living them as truths.
To explore a belief, you need to know the belief.
That’s why having an objective person help you can be priceless.
But one way to locate a belief is to ask yourself what a situation means.
In other words, I often say, “The meaning you give an event is the belief that attracted it.”
Think about that —
“The meaning you give an event is the belief that attracted it.”
When you feel stuck or have a problem, how do you describe it?
“I’ve always been this way.”
“This always happens to me.”
Your explanation of the event is most likely the belief that helped create it.
If you really feel you can’t locate the core belief, then just guess at it.
If you knew the belief behind the troubling circumstance, what might it be?
Take a guess.
Accept whatever comes as your starting point.
Now that you have the belief, or at least a belief to begin this process, you are ready to clear it.
But how?
My first question of any belief might be, “Do I believe it?”
After all, upon questioning, I might see that I really don’t believe it.
If I don’t, we can stop there.
But if I feel I do believe it, then the next question might be, “Why do I believe it?”
That question is searching for the evidence of the belief. That of course can be anything, from what I heard to what I saw.
I then want to go deeper and ask, “Do I believe the evidence?”
Again, I may answer no, I don’t, and I’m done.
But if I do believe it, I want to ask, “Why do I believe it?”
Again, we are digging deeper, looking for more reasons or stories for the belief.
At some point I might ask, “What would happen if I didn’t believe it?”
The result of all this questioning is freedom.
I’m the first to admit that doing this “Socratic Clearing” on your own is tough.
You can do it, but you’re stuck in the world of your own beliefs, questioning your own beliefs.
It’s like being in a hypnotic trance and trying to talk yourself out of your own trance.
It’s possible, but not easy.
Results will be faster if you actually work with a coach trained to help you get clear of your beliefs.
Of course, I created Miracles Coaching almost a decade ago to help you do just that.
You can learn more at Miracles Coaching.
Ao Akua
Joe
PS – My approach to questioning beliefs is different from what Barry Neil Kaufman, Mandy Evans, and others in their field practice. If you want to know more, please look for their books. If you want to go really deep, learn from the man credited with coming up with the process both Bears and Mandy use today: Bruce Di Marsico. There’s a three volume set of books based on his work that you might enjoy at http://www.dialoguesinselfdiscovery.com/?p=stores&cat_id=1&product_id=10 There is also a warm book about Bruce Di Marsico called The Guru Next Door. See http://thegurunextdoor.com/ Of course, there are many other belief clearing methods around. One of my favorites is from Morty Lefkoe. See http://www.mortylefkoe.com/ And, for the record, the “person” who got me interested in beliefs at all, many decades ago, was Jane Roberts’ Seth. Jerry and Ether Hicks, of Abraham fame, took up the ball that Seth started, but (for me and many others) it all goes back to Seth.
PPS – This free new e-book can help you, too: http://www.theabundanceproject.com/book.php?linkid=428600
In the October, 1927 issue of Nautilus magazine, prolific Law of Attraction author Brown Landone revealed a way to give yourself a “shock treatment” to attract more money.
I’m a huge fan of Landone. He wrote more than 100 books, including The Success Process, before his death in 1945. I was deeply interested in this article by him in this old magazine of New Thought ideas.
In it, Landone told the story of coaching a woman who came to him complaining that her husband had a weak heart and wasn’t successful.
She wanted him fixed.
Landone explained that he didn’t fix anybody.
He knew that once you found your own inner peace, the rest would follow.
He wrote:
“..I know that abundance is a result of attaining the kingdom of heaven, and that each soul’s kingdom of heaven is within himself.”
He went on to say that he might help in uncovering the source or cause for the heart palpitations and the lack of success, which would help the man discover his own inner kingdom.
In other words, if he could help the man get clear of his inner blocks, the results would follow.
So he agreed to see the husband.
After a brief discussion with the husband, Landone discovered the man had $647 in savings and made $47.50 a week. (This was 1927, remember.)
He also learned that the husband had lost much of his “gusto” for life; that he was simply going through the motions in his day to day life, without much hope or enthusiasm for anything better.
With that information, Landone did something shocking.
He told the husband to go out and spend all the money!
“I told him to buy his wife five new dresses that afternoon, to order a $90 suit of clothes for himself, to purchase a $740 auto within a week, and to buy a $6,000 or $7,000 home within a month!”
What!?
The advice stunned me.
How in the world could he tell a struggling man, just getting by, to go empty his savings and extend himself financially?!?
What logic was behind this?
I was riveted to Landone’s article, wanting to know why he gave such a controversial directive.
Landone went on to explain, “Beginning to lose hope, leads to lack of daring.”
He wanted the husband to wake up!
He wanted the husband to stretch.
He wanted him to dare again.
He wanted him to get out of his comfort zone.
He wanted him to shock his own mind and awaken it.
The man listened, and acted.
Landone said the first thing that happened is the man’s heart began to beat evenly again. 🙂
And then the man began to think of new ways to improve his position at work, which led to him getting promoted, and then getting a higher salary.
Within a few months, the man’s consciousness had changed to the degree that he left his job, started his own business, and saw his revenue leap to $90,000 a year — in 1927!
The man told Landone, “Why it’s silly to be poor, isn’t it?”
I love the story and the message.
In my book, Attract Money Now, I call Prosperous Purchasing one of the seven steps for attracting more money.
The idea is to honor and appreciate yourself by being honest: when you have the desire for a product or service, and you have the funds, then go ahead and make the purchase.
It’s an affirmation of prosperity to do so.
But Landone suggested buying and investing more than what you are comfortable with, and putting yourself into a scary place financially, as a way to “shock” or “kick start” your own mind.
Instead of playing it safe, you shake yourself by taking a risk.
You over ride your fear with an act of faith.
And then you watch your mind come alive with new ideas.
It’s not about feeling desperate, but about feeling driven.
When I interviewed Jen Sincero, author of the book, You Are A Badass, she told me that her life changed when she hired a coach.
She also said making the decision to do so rocked her world.
“I tapped out my credit card to hire the coach,” she told me. “And the first thing that happened is I threw up.”
Jen went on to tell me that she called her coach and tried to get her money back.
“But the coach told me that my vomiting was part of the process,” Jen explained. “I was beginning my transformation right then and there.”
If you find yourself in a financial lull, consider giving yourself a prosperity shock treatment.
Simply Dare Something Worthy.
Consider what you really want to buy (for yourself or someone else) but are afraid to do so, and then go buy it!
If you are reading this and feeling your heart race and your palms sweat, then you know what to do next.
To be blunt, are you going to come from fear or faith?
Said another way, the idea isn’t to get rid of fear, it’s to use it as a catalyst for new ideas, actions, and results.
Dare and grow rich.
Shocking, eh?
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS — Just as Brown Landone was a coach to the husband, you’ll get faster results with your own coach, too. Check out Miracles Coaching. Remember, it’s okay to stretch. It’s time to shock yourself into awakening. Do it!
Later this year I’ll be releasing a new book titled, The Secret Prayer.
It will reveal a three-step formula for attracting miracles through right prayer.
Prayer is a way to activate the Law of Attraction by requesting an intention and inviting inspiration.
In researching, I’m reading really old books, such as Prayer: The Forgotten Secret, from 1906, and really new books, such as Healing Words by Larry Dossey and Draw the Circle by Mark Batterson.
From what I can see, prayer has been around since the beginning of time.
But as we all know, they don’t always seem to work.
So what’s the secret to having a prayer deliver?
Let’s look at incorrect prayer first:
First, I don’t think most people actually believe their prayers. They pray without any real belief that anyone is listening or anything will happen. They simply “toss” one to the sky, like a stranded person on an island throwing a note in a bottle into the ocean. They hope someone picks it up. Then they hope someone acts on their plea.
Second, desperation is the other problem. Most prayers are just begging. People pray for help, solutions, miracles, healing, money and more. But when they pray, it’s often because they don’t see a way out and are pleading for intervention.
Third, most people don’t take action. This is a common thing in the world of metaphysics. People think their praying is action, when it’s really an action, but not the entire blueprint to results.
Again, prayer is a way to activate the Law of Attraction by requesting an intention and inviting inspiration.
So what’s the right way to pray?
“When you put yourself into the state of the wish fulfilled and think from it, you are praying, and in a way your reasoning mind does not know, your wish will become a fact in your world. You can be the man or woman you want to be, when you know how to pray.” – Neville, The Right Way to Pray, 1967 lecture, http://realneville.com/txt/the_secret_of_prayer.htm
First, begin with a spirit of gratitude.
To me, this is the core issue. If we all felt more gratitude for what we have, even the things we complain about, we’d shift our focus, our mind, our thoughts, our energies, our spirit, our direction, our action, and more. Gratitude for the now is the number one way to begin any prayer. When you sincerely do it and feel it, you can stop with this step, too. It’s that powerful.
Second, requesting rather than begging is wiser.
After all, we don’t know the big picture or the whole story. Begging for a certain outcome is an ego trip; it’s pretending we know it all. We don’t. We barely know a tiny percentage of what is happening in our personal world at any one time. A wiser approach is to make a request but acknowledge that something better may be more appropriate. End requests with the phrase, “This or something better.” This step requires faith.
Third, acting on the insights, inspiration, intuition.
We co-create results. The Higher Power (God, Divine, Universe, etc) works through you, not for you. When you see an opportunity, seize it. When you receive an inspiration, act on it. You are the missing ingredient in most results from prayer. The famous joke about the man who prayed to win the lottery but was reminded to buy a ticket, is good to remember.
“Prayer is the effort to bring the human soul into tune with the Infinite.” – W. J. Dawson, Prayer: The Forgotten Secret
My book will explore all this and more when it comes out later in the year. For now, I wanted to give you a crash course in prayer.
If you really want your prayers answered, then follow a proven formula:
1. Be grateful.
2. Detached request.
3. Inspired Action.
Try it today and note the difference.
Expect Miracles.
Ao Akua,
joe
PS – If you have other pointers or stories about prayers that work, please let me know with a comment below. Thank you.
PPS – If you want to explore prayers and music, be sure to check out my latest album http://www.InvokingDivinity.com
Every month I answer questions from people in my Miracles Coaching program.
Been doing it for years.
The questions are always raw, in depth, fresh, sincere, and often surprising.
For example —
Every call is recorded, and the best of the questions and answers get put into a series of books called, The Miracles Manual. There are currently two volumes in the series with a third on the way. (All are free right here.)
Recently I had this question tossed at me —
“If you were forced to set all learning aside and could only teach one principle for the rest of your life – what one principle would host the most importance to you?”
“I can answer that question in only two words, ” I replied.
“Oh?”
“Active Gratitude.”
“Active Gratitude?”
I went on to say, “If each of us would practice gratitude in the moment, all worries would vanish, all problems would resolve, all miracles would come easily — in fact, if we really were in gratitude in the moment, we’d realize we are already happy, already peaceful, and already living the miracle.”
Active Gratitude means noticing the good in every moment. When you actually come from gratitude, you wouldn’t judge the moment as good or bad because you’d realize the jury isn’t in yet and so every moment can be seen as good.
Active Gratitude means you live in a spirit of thankfulness, realizing all you have right now is a gift and a miracle in itself.
Active Gratitude means your meditation is gratitude, your process is gratitude, and your “technique” is gratitude.
Active Gratitude means giving thanks in each moment for the moment.
If each of us practiced Active Gratitude, we’d change ourselves and the planet and probably invite instant enlightenment.
We’d realize that in each moment the Universe is giving us so much that we rarely acknowledge — It is keeping us alive without our paying or doing a thing — that we would feel overwhelmed with love.
Active Gratitude would open our eyes to see the miracle of right now.
And from practicing Active Gratitude, we would have raised our vibration so all we attract in the future moments would be better and better, always raising the bar on the incredible beauty of the now.
Why don’t we practice Active Gratitude?
We are afraid.
We subconsciously think some version of this belief:
“If I’m happy and accept this moment as good, I won’t do anything to make my life better.”
But is that true?
I’ve discovered that when I am happy, content, and at peace, I tend to pursue my calling, my life path, and my life mission.
When I lived in fear, desperation and survival, all I attracted was more of the same.
The secret door to escape the mental torment of suffering is to begin the practice of praising.
In other words, look around and find what you are thankful for, and express it.
Yes, if I was backed into a corner and told I could only teach one thing, it’d be Active Gratitude.
And I’d be grateful for that, too.
Any more questions?
Ao Akua,
PS — Check out Miracles Coaching by clicking right here.
“None of your books work!”
“None?”
“None!”
“I’ve written over 50 books. You’re saying not a one of them works?”
“Not for me.”
“Decades ago I attended a seminar that was supposed to be a turning point in my life. I thought it was a waste of time. After it, I met with a friend who pointed out that the seminar was designed to get results, and that it was getting results for others, so maybe it wasn’t the seminar, it was me.”
“Are you blaming me for your books not working?”
“I”m suggesting that you may have some issues about what I teach, and those issues will see to it that the books don’t work.”
“So you’re saying if I believed they would work, they would work?”
“Kinda.”
“So you’re putting all the work on me?”
“Well, I wrote the books, but I can’t do the work for you.”
“You’re like all the other authors!”
“If they are offering you methods that work, and they work for others, but you insist that they don’t work, then it seems logical that the issue is with you, not the books.”
“But others agree with me and say your books don’t work!”
“Of course. I’m sure there are people who believe like you, and you are of course attracting them to you because of your shared belief, but there are many times more people who believe the books do work, and they are attracting evidence to support their beliefs. Both camps are proving the Law of Attraction.”
“Screw books! I’ll wait for the movie.”
“You mean like The Secret?”
“Saw it. Didn’t work, either.”
“Have you ever thought that the common element in all of your complaints is you?”
“So?! I don’t want to change!”
“Ah. There’s the core of it!”
“Huh?”
“You don’t want to change, so of course nothing will work for you. You’ll see to it that it doesn’t.”
“That’s nonsense!”
“In truth, you don’t fear change, you fear the unknown. If you knew change would be good for you, you’d welcome it.”
“But I’m tired of people saying I can have it all. I can’t!”
“You just affirmed your own limitation.”
“What?”
“You said you are tired of people saying you can have it all and that you can’t have it all. That’s the belief that is creating the reality of nothing working for you. It’s actually all working — to give you exactly what you believe.”
“My head hurts.”
“You are just wrestling with a new view of life that doesn’t yet fit your current view.”
“So what do I do?”
“Read one of my books but this time apply it as you think ‘Maybe this stuff will work for me after all’.”
“It’s that easy?”
“Simple is probably more accurate a word.”
“What should I read?”
“I have numerous free books. Maybe Attract Money Now or pick up either Volume One or Volume Two of The Miracles Manual or if you want a quick read, look at The Abundance Manifesto.”
“Those are all free?”
“Yes. But I have numerous books you can buy at Amazon, too.”
“Free is good.”
“I thought so.”
Ao Akua,
PS — The fastest way to create change is with the right help. Consider Miracles Coaching.
PPS – Volume 1 and now Volume 2 of The Miracles Manual: The Secret Coaching Sessions are still free for you at http://www.MiraclesManual.com but if you prefer the Kindle version to read on your iPad or Kindle or other device, it’s now available for you (for only .99) at —
US
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KGY70L2
UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KGY70L2
CANADA
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00KGY70L2
SPAIN
http://www.amazon.es/dp/B00KGY70L2
FRANCE
http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00KGY70L2
ITALY
http://www.amazon.it/dp/B00KGY70L2
GERMANY
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00KGY70L2
JAPAN
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00KGY70L2
AUSTRALIA
http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00KGY70L2
You can also get a printed paperback version of either volume (for about $10 each) at http://www.amazon.com/The-Miracles-Manual-Coaching-Sessions/dp/1496148584/