Your set of beliefs becomes the operating system of your life.

What you believe is your truth and your reality. Whatever you believe shapes your abilities, capabilities, capacity to succeed, and ultimately, what you achieve in your life. If you are not achieving what you want, the place to look first is your belief system.

Our beliefs drive our success or our lack of success.  What do you want? Start seeing it and believing it.  Stop saying to yourself- “It will never happen” – and stop looking for excuses or someone or something to blame. Believe… I believe in you. I know that if you can believe in you- you will see your goals and dreams happen.  I also have witnessed talented individuals, teams, organizations- who never really believe and they plateau or slide backward.

If you struggle with your set of beliefs, there are many tools you can use to help you shift them to a higher level.  Affirmations help you shift. Simple statements like- I believe in my skills. I believe that I deserve to perform at a high level. I believe that I am worthy. I believe that I can do it. I believe … (create your own personal statement).

Practice these statements and also notice your own self-talk. Notice when you say or think,  “I can’t do it”.

Stop thinking in minimums.

Consider this, are you thinking small? Do you think in terms of the minimum you need to sustain your work, your personal finances, or any other goal? When you think small,  you consistently bring in those results that correspond to your small thoughts. What would happen if you thought big? Choose one area of your life, and expand your thinking. Think big.  For example, instead of thinking,  I just want to pay my bills,  think, What do I need to do and change to not only pay my bills but also have a cushion of X amount of money every month? Whenever you set a goal, add some cushion to it.  Here is another example of thinking bigger, when you think of your dream home,  imagine not just the dream home, but the furnishings inside, the money to comfortably maintain the home, pay the taxes,  join the country club, plus a cushion.  Try this same expansion strategy for every major area of your life.

You can apply thinking big to everyday situations, too. For instance, you might think, I need to find the time to exercise. Change this I am creating the time to exercise, sit in the hot tub/sauna/steam room, showering, etc – don’t think in minimums, think about everything you truly want to happen, plus a cushion.

Thinking big gives you big results. Believe in Thinking Big.

Journal Prompt: Ask, Where am I thinking too small in my life? How can I add big thinking to this area?

When you shift to thinking big in this area, track your results.  Keep reminders in clear sight about your commitment to thinking big (sticky notes, calendar reminders, etc).

Challenge your beliefs about yourself and dare to think big.

Some beliefs get in the way, other beliefs are inspiring and empowering. The good news about belief systems is that you can adopt new beliefs, you have choices. If you have beliefs that are not supportive of you and your goals, you can exchange those or change them completely.

Let’s look at some top beliefs that get in the way of success.

The belief that other’s success takes away from your success creates a feeling of competition, a feeling of jealousy. This belief gets in the way of a mentoring relationship or a leadership position.  When you see someone succeed, think- I can do that too. I am happy for this person’s success.

Other negative beliefs include:

• The need for micro-management,
• People are untrustworthy,
• People are demanding,
• There is never enough time.
• The need to rush all the time.

Did you see yourself in any of those negative beliefs?

Did you notice additional negative beliefs that are not listed?

That is okay because again your beliefs involve choice. You can choose differently.

Let’s look at some new beliefs, and these are beliefs of a leader.

They are beliefs of one who inspires other people and remember- you can lead from any position.

Everyone can learn and possess great leadership skills no matter what official position they hold. Leadership has to start somewhere, a few people experience an official leadership title, and then, there are people who naturally lead from where they are. So make a commitment to integrate excellent personal leadership skills into your life starting right now.

Here are some positive beliefs of a leader.

• I have a message.
• I make a difference.
• I care about others,
• I lift up others.
• I create synergy,
• I believe in myself.
• I believe I can do it.
• I also believe we can do it.
• I believe in honoring what I need.
• I believe my time is valuable, yet I have plenty of time to accomplish important things.
• I manage my energy,
• I live a life of consciousness,
• I believe in other’s ability to contribute.
• I believe people are good-hearted.

You can see some of the positive beliefs revolve around what you believe about yourself, and some are about your beliefs about other’s abilities.

Of course, your beliefs about yourself create who you are, and what you believe about other people tends to come true, as well. I am not saying leave your car unlocked or do not lock your house or do not have a security system. However, in general, in your work and personal roles- hold the belief that people are good-hearted.

People are good-hearted. I believe this and apply this in almost every single situation. I believe this whether he or she is a prospective coaching client, a vendor, a front line person, a customer service representative, etc. Across just about every single experience that I have- I see that people are great. I experience positive outcomes and nice people.

I decided the reason why I have these terrific experiences with people is that I have a basic belief that people are good-hearted. People sense this and have a tendency to live up to it.

Though you can change and choose your beliefs, this takes diligence and determination. Beliefs tend to be persistent. Don’t give up if you find the path a bit difficult. Affirmations, prayer, EFT, and meditation help. Reading inspiring stories of triumph over negative experiences helps. Coaching and journaling also will boost your ability to implement and integrate more positive beliefs.

Notice the beliefs of your team at work, your family at home, your friends, etc. You can positively impact the creation of more empowering team beliefs.

A great example of this involves my son’s football coach. Almost a decade ago, when my son was on the ten-year-old tackle football team, they won their first game, then, the second game, they were beaten badly. After the game, the coach was encouraging- he talked about the things the team performed well and then confidently discussed the things they could improve. All the boys were happy. They were happy that they could see a solution and left still believing in themselves. In the same situation, the coach could have destroyed their confidence and made them fearful for the next game. This is the true test of leadership.

Can you keep your team believing and performing through the difficult times? This is what I mean when I say,  Be the Inspiration.

If you liked this, you will love my INSPIRE course

Sheri Kaye Hoff

Coach, Trainer, and Author, Sheri Kaye Hoff, is a Business Coach known for inspiring massive action and a catalyst for personal and business growth, joy, and profits in a way that is fun, relaxing, and fulfilling, Sheri inspires people to do the work they love and make more money. Sheri offers business and mindset coaching for business owners and professionals ( including life coaches, health coaches, creatives, personal coaches, spiritual entrepreneurs, consultants, and more) to relax into success. She uses both spiritual and practical techniques to obliterate blocks and create dramatic change. She is a business, leadership, happiness, and mindset expert. She has overcome nearly dying, and the loss of her brother at an early age. She has made it her life mission to discover the keys to happiness and success and then share them with her clients and community. Learn More About Sheri