Mastery of Self Belief: The Exercise
Here's a powerful exercise to pinpoint your beliefs and their origins:
Turn a sheet of paper to landscape and title the left side "My Ideal Life." List your perfect life vision, one bullet point at a time, such as:
Devoted spouse
Loving parent to two children
Earning $20,000 monthly
Commitment to daily workouts
On the far right, label it "My Life Today" and draw parallels with your current situation. For every point on the left, reflect and write down the present reality, for example:
Challenging marriage
Father of one
Monthly income of $7,000
Only 4-5 workouts a month
Struggle with poor eating habits
In the middle column, title it The Gap and note what seperates you from your ideal life. List reasons for the Gap and in some instances you should write down what you should either remove or implement to close the gap:
Dedicate 30 minutes daily to meaningful conversation with my spouse, maintaining eye contact.
The above point should also positively impact my role as a parent.
To increase my income, plan to grow my market share by at least 200%.
Schedule workouts each morning at 6 am to ensure consistency.
Prepare meals on weekends to enable healthy eating throughout the week.
Be expansive in your "My Ideal Life" section—it's enthralling! Notice your thoughts here; are they restrictive or expansive? Understand the underlying beliefs fueling these thoughts and their sources. Are some of them limiting beliefs based on someone’s unwritten rule? When contrasting with "My Life Today," scrutinize your thoughts, the driving beliefs, and why.
In the Gap column, detail steps to manifest your perfect life. Reflect on the beliefs that previously held you back.
Ask yourself these probing questions for further insight:
Who occupies most of my time?
Whose advice do I seek out?
What is my TV consumption like?
What books have I read this past year?
How do I invest in personal development?
Who are the people I admire the most, and why?
Who influences my decisions readily?
The goal of this exercise is multifold:
Recognize your current self and your circumstances.
Clearly articulate your aspirations by writing them down.
Understand what's keeping you from reaching your goals.
Identify the beliefs and origins contributing to self-limitation.
Develop a detailed plan to alter or eliminate these beliefs, paving the way to your desired life.
This process is not just about identifying gaps but actively working towards a better you.
