Step 12. Life's 7th INGREDIENT: Your Beliefs.

Our VIBE is the combination of what we are doing and how we are being!

The final ingredient in the recipe is our beliefs, which are what I term the root of our VIBE, because our beliefs are behind, and will determine:

• WHY we DO what we DO
• and HOW we choose to 

So what do I mean when I say beliefs?   

When I talk about beliefs I mean anything that you think (for whatever reason) to  true.

A thought or word that you have not disagreed with and taken on as a truth e.g.:

• In terms of time – there are 7 days in a week, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.
• Or more personally you are smart and can do anything you choose – or perhaps that you are lazy, stupid and that life is hard.

We literally have thousands of beliefs shaping our map of reality – what we see as being real to us.

Seeing that our beliefs control how we are they are very important to recognise…if you wish to change your life and VIBEAGE – this recipe is designed to help you with this. By following this recipe and examining my own beliefs I changed my VIBE from feeling totally flat to one that now feels bright.

Of course life has its ups and downs, we all have good days and bad days and we cannot control everything that will come across our path – or the paths of the ones we love – time will run out for all of us at some point. We can however take responsibility for our path, lift ourselves, increase our joy and boost our VIBEAGE by focusing on each of the different areas of life. Setting clear intentions and making changes to find and make our own direction in life – avoiding being a victim of circumstance by taking steps onto a happy path.

When we think of belief we tend to think of religions. Belief is a word that can carry so much emotion and judgement.

This word almost makes my toes curl. For me as someone dragged to church each week when I was young, I tend to avoid talking about beliefs in terms of religion and can see how people switch off when this word is mentioned. I cannot get my head around the madness in the world supposedly justified by this one word and find it insane to make someone right and others wrong about something no one can prove. For me it will always what you do that counts & not just what you say you believe – which I guess this is another example of belief – I choose to believe that we ALL share a desire to  happy, to  healthy, to  abundant in all areas; family, friends & love.

Our beliefs are more than our views on religion, they drive our values and fundamentally our self worth. 

Where do beliefs come from?

If we go back to the beginning of the recipe you will recall STEP 1 “Everything starts with a thought” (click HERE to read again). The importance of thought is totally underestimated and the power of our mind is not given enough credence to in my opinion. As Buddha said ‘Thoughts become things!’ 

When we Believe them – or

‘  live’ them – we are choosing to give a thought life, by giving it energy via our further thoughts and then actions!

What we believe we pick up from our parents, school, society friends etc…not wishing to spout a whole study of sociology and psychology here – as this may be massively interesting to me, I appreciate you just want to hear the good bits about how to put energy into the different areas of your life so that change occurs. To plant seeds of focussed change so that things shift and move forward for you.

Beliefs are externalised as our values

What we choose to go and DO and  based on our beliefs are our values. The things that you do not just think – you act on – values are what you stand for.

When you have a thought – for example: that you think it is not right to test products on animals. You think this idea is something you wish to live by – because you BE lieve it!

So…you then value this belief enough to take action on this thought, by buying products that do not test on animals.

Our values are so important as they are what we stand for or against. They might include how we treat ourselves and our chosen levels of respect and honesty for:

• Ourselves.
• Others.
• Animals.
• Or the environment.

Our beliefs are internal…what we think about ourselves determines what we DO and how we behave. This is the measure of our self-worth

Our beliefs are not often conscious it is our sub conscious that stores our beliefs and determines the colour of our lives. Beliefs are set from the influences around us and experiences in our lives that are imprinted in our psyche and then determine how we react in the future based on the past experience.

As an extreme example one person may believe in themselves and have confidence to become a doctor, another may not believe that they can become successful and so chooses to go out and steal. 

Therefore the detail of our beliefs is so important to consider when looking objectively at our life because our beliefs control how we think and react to everything.

This ingredient is last on the list and is here to ask you to reflect and check whether your beliefs are harmonious with your wishes. (The wishes that you have detailed by completing the first six ingredients in STEPS 6-11 of this recipe, where you made a note for each one about what you wish to DO and to ).

This final ingredient asks you to consider what you do believe now and what you want to believe for your future. Since if you want to DO and something different to what and where you are now, then you may need to alter your beliefs (the root).

I wrote earlier in the recipe about this in STEP 5 “Time to take a look at & apply The ‘RAISING’ Agent before gathering your ingredients” (click HERE to read again). Albert Einstein’s wise note puts it perfectly that: 

So to do something different takes a new belief that something different is

a) desired and

b) possible.

ACTION: Try to become aware of your beliefs, write down in your birthday book the ones you are aware of

So that you can determine if the wishes and woo’s you have listed for STEPS 6-11 are going to work.

See if they are harmonious or if there are gaps?

If you do not examine your beliefs then writing out what you wish for each ingredient is futile because if you do not believe you can/or are worth  things, then you are not going to get them.

Beliefs will affect each of life’s ingredients 

Read the following for extreme examples of beliefs designed to prompt you to think about your own for each of life’s ingredients:

You and Your Health

I believe that my life is worth putting time and thought into to make sure I live the life I want to.

• Do you believe that you are worth the effort of time for you?
• If you do not believe this you will not allow yourself to relax and time to just .  Which will influence the levels of stress and strain on your heart and body.
• Do you believe that your health is important?
• What are your beliefs about?
  • Your diet.
  • Exercise.
  • Rest.
  • Relaxation.

Your family

I believe that it is important to focus on what we have in common rather than what sets us apart – to make time for and to appreciate my family by making fun memories together.

• Do you believe that you and your family all have to  the same and have to agree?
• Do you look for the good and the great things that connect you? Allowing and accepting each other to  different?
• Do you believe that you are responsible for everyone’s happiness?
• What is it that you believe?

Your friendships

I believe that friendships are to be appreciated and are amazing – they bring me so much joy!

• Do you believe that friendships are hard to come by?
• Do you believe that friendships can  balanced & uplifting?
• Do you believe that it is ok for friends to spend all of your shared time telling you all of their complaints?
• What is it that you believe?

  LOVE

I believe (as corny as it sounds) in the power of love! That love is the greatest energy – I give it out and have it reflected back to me.

• Do you believe that you are loveable?
• Do you believe that there is someone for everyone?
• Do you believe that love hurts? Or that it is ok to be treated unfairly?
• What is it that you believe?

Your career

I believe that work can  uplifting and that it is possible to earn a great living in ways that are meaningful.

• Do you for example believe that you can  what you choose – so if you wish to become a doctor you will study to do so.
• Or do you believe that you are not clever enough so will not give it a try?
• Do you believe that work is hard?
• Do you believe that it is possible to love what you do?
• What is it that you believe?

Your free time

I know that for me to feel balanced and happy I need to  creative, so I believe in making time to get crafty.

I too believe that it is important to keep my VIBES high by doing things just for fun! 

• Do you keep time spare for fun?
• Do you believe that music play and arts are just for children?
• Do you believe in keeping life interesting by taking up and trying new things each year?
• Do you have time mapped out to spend on things that you find joyful?
• What is it that you believe?

ACTION: Take time now and come back to this over the course of the year, become aware of your beliefs to see if you are open to aiming higher and willing to make changes, if necessary for each area of your life.

If you find it hard to examine your own beliefs then think about some of the people that you know and love, see if you can take notice of what they must believe about themselves in terms of how they live. Can you see where some of their choices reflect their own self-worth? A key to becoming aware of these is the language they use when they talk about their lives, I find it fascinating to listen to what people say – you can learn so much about beliefs from people’s language. For example someone who always says I will never afford to…or I can’t… – is limiting their options for the future somewhat – try it and see what you pick up.

  It is actually simple to see what you believe – since beliefs are reflected in what you DO and have done 

Reflect on this and you will find the answers.

The more times that you complete this recipe with each passing birthday, the more you will have become aware of your beliefs. (You can read a lot more on this and learn different ways that you can shift your mind-set and alter your beliefs to create changes in your world in the ‘BAKING’ part of the recipe). 

For now it is just important to note what you do believe and what you wish to believe. 

For once we know ourselves it is far easier to  ourselves

If we know ourselves and our beliefs/what we stand for, we become aware of how we will react to different things. What our strengths are as well as our weaknesses and trigger points.

 

Beliefs are made up of our own free will; no one can force them upon you. Once they are highlighted they can be changed – if they are limiting. If you change your beliefs (the root of your actions) you can change everything as the wise words of Lao Tzu state: