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Does Paying Attention to Limiting Beliefs Reinforce Them?

Posted on May 21, 2013 by James Scouller

After The Three Levels of Leadership came out in 2011, readers followed up with questions on leadership, leadership psychology and self-mastery – all of them interesting. So interesting, in fact, that I’m releasing my answers here as they supplement the “Three Levels” material and others may find them useful. Here’s the seventh in the series. I’ll post the others over the coming months…

Q7. I’ve heard it said that paying attention to ideas and habits only strengthens them, so won’t I only strengthen my limiting beliefs if I unearth and examine them?

“There’s a difference between paying continued attention to limiting beliefs and simply defining and examining them in the process of letting them go.

Let’s define our terms. For me, ‘continuing to pay attention to these beliefs’ means giving them the energy of your consciousness (your pure self-awareness), causing you to believe they are so true that you identify with them. And because you identify with them, you habitually act on them. Continue reading →

Can A Negative Self-Image Reduce Awareness?

Posted on May 10, 2013 by James Scouller

After The Three Levels of Leadership came out in 2011, readers followed up with questions on leadership, leadership psychology and self-mastery – all of them interesting. So interesting, in fact, that I’m releasing my answers here as they supplement the “Three Levels” material and others may find them useful. Here’s the sixth in the series. I’ll post the others over the coming months…

Q6. If you have a negative self-image arising from limiting beliefs and negative feelings about yourself stemming from the beliefs, can that reduce your self-awareness?

“In one sense yes, but in another sense, no…

Numbing Yourself Against Feelings

I say ‘yes’ because if you decide to defend yourself against the limiting beliefs that make up your negative self-image and their painful feelings (above all, shame) by numbing yourself against them, you can indeed reduce what you are consciously aware of. Ironically, such decisions are usually unconscious.

Note what I just said: ‘you can reduce what you are consciously aware of.’ Continue reading →