Our beliefs control our behavior and perspective. If you are struggling to make a change in your habits, I challenge you to dig deep and understand your beliefs about yourself first. I am thrilled to share some insight from our personal development contributor, Emilia Sitton on how to start changing your life and beliefs.

Filters. They’re just about everywhere these days, aren’t they? From chlorine-free water to that perfect Instagram hue, they allow us to create something, in its desired form, to have for ourselves or to share with the world around us.

We use them because we need them. We use them because we want them.

However, I think many of us realize it can be a difficult creating balance here, fore often times we focus too much on how something looks as opposed to how something FEELS.

These “filters” have begun to run the show, we are bombarded by them daily, and connecting to what is actually real in life gets harder and harder. Not only when it comes to others, but with ourselves as well.

Clear the Clutter

So what do we do when we want to get clear on what’s true? How do we create an honest connection? How do we filter through the filters? It all begins with focusing on and cleaning up the most important one of all…our mind.

Awareness

How do we clean the mind??? It all simply starts with awareness. We must stop and start to observe our thoughts (this stream of consciousness that comes at us all day long.)

What are your thoughts saying about the world around you right now? What are your thoughts saying about you and the way in which you view yourself? In what ways do we like what we see and in what ways would we like a change?  Are they building you up or bringing you down?

The main thing to realize is that we are not our thoughts and we can CHOOSE the ones we allow to bring in. It may not always feel like this, but there are a million little ideas buzzing around us all the time, and we have the power to choose which ones we focus on.  

It’s these thoughts that we allow ourselves to continue thinking that slowly turn into our beliefs.

A belief is nothing more than a thought we KEEP thinking! 

And just because we believe something, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s true. These beliefs are what form the filters for the world around us. And these filters dictate much of the outcomes in our lives.

Something to keep in mind is that these weren’t simply created overnight. They come from years of social conditioning and are rooted deep within the subconscious. This is what makes them so difficult to change, so please be kind to yourself and others in the process of transcendence.

Commitment

Often times, there are a lot of layers of muck to dig through and growth can be very uncomfortable and scary.

As I mentioned earlier, it all begins with awareness. We must observe our thoughts and we must detach ourselves from them. We must consciously choose how we would like to view the world and ourselves and we must only allow ourselves to focus on the thoughts that support this. In essence, we must train the brain. Our mind is a muscle and it’s time to send it to boot camp!

Taking time to get clear is necessary.

Activities such as meditation, journaling, yoga, or simply going for a walk outside can help you get to a peaceful place of observation.  Once we get clear on what we see, we also have to get clear on what we would like to see!!

This is when we bring in tools to help us get to where we want to be and we have to commit to them. Daily journaling, affirmations, and mantras are all wonderful techniques that allow us to saturate the mind with new information and begin to slowly shift our perspectives.

I encourage you to find one or two things that call to you and put them into action for one week straight.

What is it that intuitively makes you feel the best? Lean into what feels good and follow that path. Start with a short term goal so that you don’t overwhelm yourself, and see how the days you do this may feel different from the days you don’t. Small actions trigger big results.

Start with a week and I guarantee you’ll want to keep on going!

Patience

While although these internal filters might not be as easy to change out as your Brita, don’t let that deter you.

Believe me, it IS very possible.

We just have to make the choice and we have to do the work. As with every new thing we try, the beginning is always the hardest. We feel the most resistance and we feel the biggest pains. Showing up is the hardest part, but once we start moving, momentum begins and we feel our strength build.

So please take this moment right now to stop, close your eyes and breathe. What would you like to invite in? What would you like to let go of? Right now can be that very start to seeing the world through a whole new filter.

Emilia Sitton is a holistic health and wellness coach with an emphasis on mindset conditioning. She leads 10 week-long workshops that dive into all things mindset and provides a supportive community of motivational women. The next workshop begins on April 30th. She teaches a weekly yoga class at the La Selva Beach Clubhouse every Tuesday from 12:30-2, has a beach class coming soon and is available for private sessions as well. You can find her via Instagram @Kind.Connections and reach out through her email emiliasitton@gmail.com.