How To Change Your Beliefs

Have you noticed what you say to yourself at an audition, in the waiting room, on the way out, on the set, or even driving around in your car?

Is your inner dialogue filled with ridicule or praise?  Denis Waitly’s wise words ring true:

Your inner thoughts are reflected in your outer world.  So, if you change those thoughts, your experience will begin to change.  Here’s how…

“Whatever you’re thinking about is literally like planning a future event.
When you’re worrying, you are planning.
When you are appreciating, you are planning…
What are you planning?“

~Abraham-Hicks

It seems like the biggest thing that gets in actors’ way of their own success is not the competition, the casting director, their agents, the amount of time they had with the sides, but rather, the thoughts and inner dialogue that goes on in their head.

Most often, the only thing that is keeping you from your own success is YOU!  That can be hard to hear, but also exciting, because it puts you in charge!

“It’s not what you are that holds you back, its what you think you’re not.”
~ Denis Waitley

Only you can control the thoughts you think all day every day.  As you change your thoughts, your beliefs will change, your actions will change, and your experience will change!

Think of your life as a garden, and in it are all the experiences you are having.  In order to create a garden of blossoming beautiful experiences, you have to plant positive seeds of thoughts and tend to them each day.  Some experiences may be beautiful flowers, others may feel like dead weeds, and others may be buds about to blossom.

Ask Yourself: What is the seed of thought and self-talk that needs to be planted in order to grow the experience you want to grow?  Another way to think of it is to begin with the end in mind. Think of it like this….if I woke up tomorrow, and everything I wanted were my new reality, what would my thoughts and inner dialogue be?

So if you want to grow new experiences, you have to plant new beliefs.  What are beliefs?  Beliefs are just thoughts you keep thinking…a daily, habitual thought you keep telling yourself over and over again.  In fact, your consistent thoughts have brought you to where you are right now.   So, change your consistent thoughts, change your experiences!

The great news is you can dig up the dirt at any time.  You first have to acknowledge and be aware what is in front of you, take 100% responsibility for planting it there, decide to release it and then you can begin to change it.

5 Steps To Changing Your Beliefs

STEP 1: Discover Your Beliefs
Take some time, quietly by yourself and think about all the areas in your career that might be frustrating or concerning you.  Your goal is to uncover your beliefs in each area such as  success, age, credits, representation etc.  Make a positive and negative column under each category, and begin to list all the positive and negative beliefs you have in each area.  Add as many areas as you’d like to address.

STEP 2: Ask yourself, “Is This Belief 100% True?”
Writing your beliefs down on paper helps it get out of your head where you can see it, acknowledge it and face it head on.  Seeing it on paper also allows you to make it tangible, and you will be amazed how that helps to diminish it’s power.  When you look at the negative beliefs, ask yourself, Is this belief 100% true?  The answer might surprise you, because it’s most often NO!

This belief has just been a lie you have been telling yourself that isn’t true!  It’s a story you’ve been telling yourself (and others), sometimes for years!  Maybe it’s a story that was told to you by a parent, teacher, friend or colleague.  Just because a story was handed to you doesn’t mean you have to accept it as true!  Now it’s time to let it go.

STEP 3: Release What You Don’t Want
Once you acknowledge a belief, you can let it go.  One great way to do this is to go to the mirror, look yourself in the eye and say…

I now release any old beliefs that do not serve me.
I let go of everything I do not want or need
I let go of old programming that keeps me stuck in old patterns.
I give myself permission to release any blocks that have been holding me back.

STEP 4: Affirm What You Do Want
Take each negative belief and re-write it as a positive affirmation.

Turn “I don’t have enough credits” to
“I can get to where I need to go from where I am right now.
I have enough credits for where I am right now and I continue to evolve.
All is really well.”

STEP 5: Practice Your New Beliefs
What if you practiced daily to change your thoughts? As you continue to practice your new thoughts and beliefs, and take action from this new, improved place, you will feel different and your experience will begin to shift.

What if every time you began to think a negative thought about yourself, your life or your circumstances, you reached for a thought that felt better?  What would your garden look like at the end of the month of planting better thoughts?  At the end of the year?

The key is daily practice. Here’s to planting a successful garden + watching things blossom.