Woop There It Is
In the last post, I discussed affirmations and some additional considerations when attempting to shift your way of thinking.
In that post, you learned that affirmations are a great tool for increasing positive thoughts and improving general well-being. But, they alone, are not enough to shift your thoughts into beliefs (which are ultimately what change our behaviors).
That’s because “Scientific assessments reveal that the wishes, desires, and aspirations of our creative conscious minds only control cognitive behavior about 5% of the time. Subconscious programs are in control 95% of our lives. (Bruce Lipton)
Information passes through your senses causing you to respond/feel a certain way about a situation. When thoughts or behaviors are repeated and that “feeling” occurs over and over again, it is recorded in your subconscious mind as a belief or habit. You have trained your brain and all of its neural pathways to respond in a way it now knows and understands to be “normal” for you.
So, imagine that you, as a child, grew up in an environment where money was scarce. Maybe you heard your parents discuss how hard it was to make ends meet despite how hard they were working and the sacrifices they were making. Then, anytime you wanted something, you were met with “we can’t afford that” or “that’s not something we need”. Over time, this caused you to feel a certain way about money.
Maybe you now view money as only available to those that work hard and sacrifice their time with their family and friends so you believe you can’t make money unless you sacrifice something. Or that you should only spend money on things you need not things you want. Or that things you want are not available to you because they’re deemed too expensive or you haven’t worked hard enough to earn them.
With these beliefs about money firmly held in place by all of the experiences you had as a child and now as an adult capable of making their own money, you’re still finding it difficult to accumulate wealth because you are reacting (taking action) as a person who believes that money isn’t available to them.
You can tell yourself all day long that you are wealthy using the previously mentioned affirmations, and visualizations, and all of the manifestation tools in the world, but, until you believe that you are wealthy (not merely capable of wealth) AND rewire your subconscious mind to release your limiting beliefs, you will not be (at least not in the way you intended).
“Becoming aware of the subconscious source of our behavior gives us an opportunity to change our lives by rewriting the programs of limitation or the things that interfere with us. If we change those programs, we are empowered; free to express the wishes and desires of the conscious mind.” (Bruce Lipton)
SO, how do you even begin to rewire your subconscious?
You’re going to begin by using the WOOP method. This method, devised by Gabrielle Oettingen, links wishes and outcomes (conscious mind) with obstacles (limiting beliefs) and their resulting behaviors (subconscious mind).
WOOP is an acronym for Wishes, Outcomes, Obstacles, and Plan and is based on Oettingen’s own observations and research using the technique of Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions. By using the WOOP model, you will use your subconscious mind to focus on a solution to your internal obstacle which excites your brain giving you additional motivation to achieve your desired outcome.
To put theory to practice you are going to begin with your Wish. What is the one thing you most want to accomplish [insert whatever timeframe you think will work best for your particular Wish — obviously you aren’t going to Wish to lose 50 pounds in a month]? You’ll contrast that Wish with where you currently are in life and how that relates to the Wish you are attempting to achieve.
It’s important here, at the Wish stage, to focus on something that is challenging, but that you feel you can reasonably accomplish within the timeframe you choose. Shorter timeframes allow you to focus on smaller changes that can impact your everyday life. Longer timeframes allow you to focus on deeper, more impactful changes.
Next, visualize the best possible outcome resulting from you actually fulfilling this Wish. This is a great way to check that your Wish is one that really resonates with you — if it doesn’t evoke a sense of excitement when visualizing the outcome, then you likely don’t care enough about it which means it’s time to find a new Wish.
Next, think about your biggest obstacle within you that is preventing you from fulfilling your wish. If you focus on the obstacles in your path, you’ll be met with excuses as to why you cannot achieve your desired outcome. By focusing on the obstacles within you, you give your brain the opportunity to find a solution to the problem/obstacle. And, because it’s within you, it’s within your power to change it.
Following that, what then, is the Plan? If you know what obstacle(s) may come up and how to overcome them, you can make a plan for if and when they actually come to fruition. “If [obstacle], then I will [action]”.
So, by using the WOOP method, you can begin to rewire your subconscious mind bringing it into alignment with your conscious mind so you can truly affect lasting, transformative change.
Amy W. Barbour, MS
Certified Hypnotherapist & Life Coach