You turn the door knob and the cellar door creaks open.
Something on the floor.
You freeze as a shiver runs up your spine.
Oh fuck. A snake!
Oh wait…
It’s just a rope.
This ever happen to you?
Or seeing the silhouette of a spooky-looking man against a window…
… before realizing it’s just a hat perched on a coat rack.
This illustrates one of the most important lessons that really struck home for me over the past year:
Our emotional reactions are a response to our BELIEFS, not the facts of reality.
If someone calls you fat, how do you feel?
Well, it depends on what you believe.
If you don’t believe yourself to be fat — or if you don’t believe that your weight has any meaning about who you are or what you are worth — then it will barely register an emotional response.
You might react with something like, “Cool story bro.”
However, if those words find some resonance with what you already believe about yourself…
If you are holding onto a belief that you are somehow not good enough or not worthy because of your body weight, those words might strike a nerve.
And the emotional response may be anything from sadness to outrage.
This might be a hard truth to face but the fact is…
No one else’s words can hurt you if you don’t already believe them to be true.
The reason it hurts is because their words activate something that already exists within you.
You cannot be triggered if there’s nothing there to trigger.
Any event, object, person or circumstance is inherently NEUTRAL.
Our emotions about any condition only tell us what we believe those conditions mean about us.
A dog passes you on the street.
Person A might be overcome with feelings of joy and delight, the dog reminding them of all the wonderful dogs they have known.
Person B might have been bitten by a dog in childhood, and seeing a dog may instantly trigger sensations of fear as they are reminded of the traumatic memory.
Anything you experience will trigger all your memories and beliefs about things like that.
And so all your experiences become filtered through layers of memory and belief.
And this applies to everything:
How you feel about ANYTHING depends on what you already believe about it.
How you feel about your financial situation has nothing to do with how much money you have in the bank.
But if you open up your banking app and feel waves of despair wash over you, wondering what the fuck you’re going to do to pay rent next month?
You may think that’s because you don’t have enough money.
But what’s really going on is…
… you have an external condition that is activating within you all your beliefs about lack and scarcity and limited resources… a lack of capability, lack of worthiness.
A few years ago, I was dealt a severe financial blow that made it seem unlikely I would be able to even make it through the month.
I was faced with a dilemma:
I needed to either double my income in the next 30 days, or I would need to sell all my shit, get rid of my apartment and move somewhere else.
That night, I made a commitment:
Fuck it, I’m just gonna make more money. I don’t know how, but I will do it.
In that instant, desperation and despair turned into inspiration and fuel.
3 days later, I was offered a $5000/month copywriting contract.
You see, there are two sides to every coin.
When faced with any situation, you have the ability to choose how you will react.
And these choices determine how your life unfolds.
Your actions flow out of your beliefs.
If a situation makes you feel weak and incapable and unworthy, your actions will flow forth from that emotional state…
… because, basically, we always do what we FEEL like.
You can choose to see it as an insurmountable obstacle, or you can choose to see it as a challenge.
And you can choose to rise to the challenge, or not.
Understanding that any situation or circumstance has no meaning other than the meaning that you give it is the key to breaking out of any and all of your self-limiting patterns.
And the key to that is by understanding the webs of belief that structure your entire understanding of who you are in relationship to the world.
We go deep into this in the Manifest Momentum Experience.
In 20 mins a day, you will learn the tools to re-orient your beliefs in all areas of your life.
And you will begin to transform your daily life experience, one belief at a time.
If you’re up to it… I reckon it’s a pretty decent way to kick off the new year.
Happy new year!
I am looking forward to all the adventures ahead, and I hope you are too.
I am also clearing some time for some free 1-on-1 sessions this month for those looking to move ahead with greater clarity and momentum into the new year.
Drop me an email (linus@manifestmomentum.co) and we’ll set it up. :-)
~LINUS
Photo by Fidias Cervantes on Unsplash
I love how you wrote this one. Very powerful!