Build Your Belief – The Key to Success
Dear Subscriber,
Sorry it’s been a while between newsletters! We’ve been busy wwweloping new products for your success.
Stay tuned for announcements about tools to help you make the most of the upcoming conference season and run your business like a seasoned professional.
But first, we’d like to talk about what you believe. Do you believe in your success? WE DO!
Joy and Success,
The Coaches of Artist’s EDGE – Debra Russell and Wendy Keilin
Please note that Wendy is no longer with Artist’s EDGE
Challenge of the Month
Building Your Belief Muscle
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
- Henry Ford
Just take action – that’s the way to succeed, right? So why is it so hard to do that effectively? Dig a little, and we bet you’ll discover that you have beliefs that work against you, that slow you down, undermine you, and even stop you dead in your tracks.
We can’t say this strongly enough: Your beliefs determine your level of success.
Just as strong muscles help you win a ball game, strong positive beliefs boost your energy and confidence, create opportunities, attract powerful partners, clear obstacles from your path, and propel you effortlessly into action and results.
But how do you believe in yourself when:
- Your parents told you you’d fail
- Your teachers thought you were dumb
- You’ve been taught not to daydream
- You’ve been told “No!” so many times
It’s a question of what you choose to believe.
We start from the fundamental paradigm that beliefs are not TRUTH. That they have only the significance you give them. If that’s the framework – well then, you can have any belief you choose! And the real question is no longer “Is this belief true?” – but “Does this belief work for me?”
We challenge you to become discriminating and ruthless when it comes to your beliefs. Identify the beliefs that don’t work for you – that limit your possibilities, make you feel inadequate, and stop you from moving forward.
Then ruthlessly eliminate them from your model of the universe. Replace them with beliefs that build your confidence, expand your ability to take action, and infuse your life with laughter, love, and joyful creativity.
So how do you do that?
Debra’s Solutions
Unearth Your Beliefs
Very often our beliefs, like the operating system on a computer, run in the background all but invisible to us. So we must first make visible our unconscious beliefs. We will cover several ways to do this in our Artist’s EDGE Membership call this month. But here’s one to start you off:
Take an issue that you are struggling with, (e.g. money, success, etc.) and fill in the blank on the following (replace “money” with your issue) and come up with at least 50 different answers.
- If I have money, then _____
- Money is ____
- People with money are ____
You will discover themes in your answers – these are your beliefs.
Now, don’t beat yourself up about your beliefs. Don’t waste your time and energy blaming yourself or your parents for your beliefs. Observe them with curiosity.
“Well, huh, I guess I’ve been believing that. That’s interesting. I wonder if that belief really serves me. Does it help me take action? What is it protecting me from?” and so on.
The truth is all of your beliefs have served you or serve you now in some way. Otherwise you wouldn’t have kept them. The question for you is – do they help you now to create the life of your dreams? Could another belief serve you better, now?
Be compassionate and forgiving of yourself in this process. If you get angry at your beliefs or feel bad about your beliefs, you only empower and reinforce them. So learn to observe your beliefs with kindness, even humor, “Oh, silly me, I’m believing I’m unworthy — that fallacy again.” Remember, you’ve had these habits of belief for a long time. Like an old English Ivy, they’ve got their tendrils deeply entwined around your thinking and may sneak up new tendrils.
That’s OK – as soon as you notice them, choose a different belief. And choose differently again. And choose differently again. And I promise that over time, you will need to do this less and less.
Contact Debra for a Complimentary Coaching Session
Wendy’s Solutions
Practice, Practice, Practice
Okay, so once you’ve identified the disempowering beliefs you want to eliminate, and the new beliefs you want to replace them with, how do you actually believe the new ones?
Well, how do you build strong muscles? You exercise them – day after day after day.
One of the most powerful ways to build belief is by transforming your language. Pay close attention to the words coming out of your mouth. Are you putting yourself down a lot? Complaining? “Should-ing” on yourself? Speaking thoughts that betray your old broken beliefs? Start noticing the negative beliefs you’re giving voice to, and shift them.
One very effective exercise for your newly emerging belief muscles is a 6-step process I wwweloped called NASCAR.
The first step in the NASCAR process is to Notice what you’re saying. Most of our speaking is completely unconscious and automatic. So this seemingly simple step can take time to master. You’ll grow more conscious with practice. Celebrate every old belief you catch, and don’t worry about the ones you’re missing.
Once you notice a disempowering belief, Acknowledge it. “Oh, I just said ‘I can’t’ again!” Own it, be amused by it, don’t judge it.
Perhaps the most challenging step is to Stop saying the thing that isn’t serving you. If you don’t Stop the thought before you say it, you can still Stop after you’ve spoken, simply by saying, “Let me rephrase that.”
Now Get Centered. Taking a deep breath or brief pause is enough.
Then Ask yourself what belief you really want to express. “I’m learning this new skill,” perhaps, or “I know I can do this.”
And Respond – by speaking it.
You can apply the whole process the first time out, or if you find it challenging, take it one step at a time. Spend a week mastering Noticing, then learn to Acknowledge. You may not be ready to Stop just yet – take your time. Just like building your fitness, everyone builds belief at their own pace. Celebrate each success along the way, and strive for forward progress. And practice, practice, practice!
Please note that Wendy is no longer with Artist’s EDGE
Invest in Your Success
What’s Happening in the Artist’s EDGE Membership
If you want to learn more fun and effective exercises for wwweloping beliefs that work, please join us for this month’s Artist’s EDGE Membership Toolbox Teleclass on Build Your Belief – The Key to Success.
- Monday, June 26 – 8pm EDT / 5pm PDT
In the call, you’ll learn tools to create and maintain beliefs that will give you any results you choose to believe in!
You can attend the call for only $1 by becoming an Artist’s EDGE Member.
In this month’s Q&A Call, June 11, we covered these issues:
- Following up with people who say they’ll “get back to you”
- How to avoid playing “phone tag”
- A powerful formula to ensure you get the most important things done
- Handling people who don’t listen
- Transitioning from paying work to what you really want to do
Recordings of this call and over a dozen others are available on the Artist’s EDGE Member Site.
Do you have an issue or a question you’d like some specific solutions to? Become a Member today for only $1, to participate in our upcoming live calls and access recordings of all past calls.
Join the Artist’s EDGE Membership
Membership Success Stories
What Our Members Are Saying
“I’ve been working the ‘SPECIAL’ steps outlined in the call and am having a great time doing it. Inventive, inspiring and creative stuff that’s taking the drudgery out of the business side of this stuff. ‘SPECIAL’ turns out to be a great acronym for creating that road map (read: smart strategy) – one step-at-a-time, in “chewable chunks” that are manageable without sacrificing Big Visions.” – Jean Synodinos
“I downloaded all the calls and listened to them in one long drive. FABULOUS way to re-energize. It really is making interesting differences. I’ve been trying to figure my goals and 5-year plan for the non-music parts of my life, and it is opening up other opportunities that fit many more of my diverse interests together, expanded.” – Gigi Johnson
“Things went great! Everything that I wanted to have happen, happened! I had this thing to do that I was afraid and wary of doing, something that took me way out of my comfort zone. And, I did it, and it worked out great. Now I feel buoyed up to do more. I wholeheartedly recommend participation in the Q&A calls!” – Marji Zintz
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Artist’s EDGE Membership News
RATE INCREASE – July 1st
Since its inception in November, the Artist’s EDGE Membership has been priced at a special introductory rate of only $19/month, after a 3-week trial Membership for only $1 . We wanted to give you a chance to try us out and to participate in a live call if you wished to.
We now have over 6 months of teleclass recordings available on the Members-Only web site. It’s time to raise our rates to our regular $27/month membership fee.
[If you're already a Member, don't worry - your fees won't change as long as you keep your Membership current.]
If you’ve been thinking about joining, but haven’t yet – now’s your chance, before the low introductory price disappears. Join now for $1 to lock in the $19/month renewal rate.
Beginning July 1st, you’ll still be able to register for $1 for a 10-day trial period. If you decide to continue, your Membership will be renewed for $27/month. Still a steal! To save $8 a month, you must register before July 1st.
There’s no obligation, and you can cancel at any time.
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We’re Bloggers!
Announcing the Artist’s EDGE Blog
Yes, we’ve gone and done it! We’ve started a blog. In the nineties, the catch phrase was “Blah, Blah, Blah.” Well, now it’s “Blog, Blog, Blog.” And that’s what we’ll be doing!
Join us at The Artist’s EDGE Blog
Add us to your homepage. Ask us questions. Come play with us!
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