To be Successful, the Secret is to start Sqooshing Down your Inner Critic

Fri, Oct 3, 2008

A Passionate Career, Creating Success, Law of Attraction

Limiting Belief:

My dream career of being a [freelance writer, travel photographer, business owner, etc] is a lost opportunity. I just have to accept that I don’t have control over this because I’m stuck in a job that’s completely opposite of what I want to be doing.

Playback Affirmation:

Even though I believe I lack control over what happens in my life, I deeply and completely accept myself…And I am willing to reclaim my personal power to create the Life that I Want.

***

“To know this Secret gives you everything you want. Health, wealth, happiness.”

-Bob Proctor, co-star of The Secret

When I first saw this movie, The Secret, I was so excited about the Law of Attraction and the idea that you can create your life exactly the way you want. (I felt like a privileged princess that cannot be denied!) But is this anything new? Do I mean that I had never heard such a thing as “thoughts become words, words become things”? No, this isn’t the first time. However, after watching this movie, for the first time in years I began to “recover a sense of possibility” as Julia Cameron wrote in her book The Artist’s Way.

The possibility that I can have the writing career that I always wanted. The possibility that I could be a writer, choose only writing assignments I like, AND be wealthy all at the same time! I was inspired!

But, I soon discovered it wasn’t as easy for me to just “turn the other cheek” away from self-doubt and look only towards creating the Writing Career of my Dreams.

And this brings me to my next point. But first, a word from The Secret:

“Once you have your Mind, you can begin to put yourself back together again…”

This is one of my all-time favorite quotes from The Secret. Ever since I watched this movie the first time in March of 2007, I have come a long way in watching my thoughts. But I must confess, I don’t always have my Mind.

I don’t always have my mind?! But that’s crazy! Whose mind do I have then?

This concept is tricky. But the way I see it, both your Mind and your Inner Critic co-exist. (And so does your Higher Self..but we’ll get into that in another Post). I tend to think of my Inner Critic as a brat. When I want to do something to act on an idea I have, my Inner Critic starts trying to talk me out of doing it.

For example, I wanted to start this Blog to share my personal experiences with people about some of the Success tools I’ve been working with, so that readers who are starting to get serious about achieving the Success of their Dreams can have someone to relate to, bounce ideas off of, and be lead to resources that can help them along the way. I was very excited about this new Blog project, but when I sat down to start it, my Inner Critic shouted:

“Remember last time when you did something like that? You didn’t get very far. What makes you think you’ll get somewhere with this?” (Translation: “Once a failure, always a failure.”
“You haven’t written articles in years! What makes you think you can just pick up from where you left off?” (Translation: “You can’t make up for lost time. You’ll never be able to get your groove back.”
“You’re not Successful yet, who would want to read about what you have to say?” (Translation: “You’re not good enough.”
“Who do you think you are to attempt to do something so amazing?” (Translation: “You’re not qualified to do this…And neither are you good enough.”

My inner critic criticizes me in an effort to protect me from getting disappointed (yet again). She is basically responding as if saying “uh oh, the last time you tried to be a Writer, you got writer’s block! Let’s not attempt that again, because that was embarrassing!” She is sometimes simultaneously both acting as my Enemy and ironically, my Friend.

Okay, back to what The Secret said. What The Secret movie means by “Once you have your Mind, you can begin to put things back together again…” is that even when you have allowed your Mind to take over your life (no matter how many years this has been going on) and allowed it to limit you from achieving the Success of Your Dreams, you can still make the decision today to seize the reigns of your Chariot and take over your Mind…and put it to better use by directing it towards the path of Success. And when you do this, you can “begin to put [your life, and your body if it is in pain] back together again.”

The Secret has challenged me to start taking control of my Mind (more of the time), instead of let my Inner Critic control it. And in the moments that I succeed at this (few and far between, but nonetheless), I am a few steps ahead of her and am beginning to allow myself to Succeed at my Dreams. And this, has made all the difference.

***

Do you have a dream career that you feel is “the one that got away”, are afraid to admit having, decided “wasn’t going to happen” in your life?

And are you willing to recognize that you consented to following your Inner Critic’s faulty guidance?

…I would love to hear your experiences, and any insights or questions you may have. Please leave a comment on this Post or send me an email!