Identifying a core belief is like solving a mystery. You need to follow clues to get past the emotion to discover the nugget of belief that affects everything else. Let’s use the example of fear of public speaking. Fear of public speaking isn’t a core belief. It is an emotional reaction to a belief. The thought a person has is that, “They will think I’m stupid.” This is the fear, not the belief. Fears associated with what other people think of us are very common. This same dynamic can occur in the mind when asking for a raise, asking someone out on a date, or asking for what we want, the fear is that the other person will reject us in some way or another.
However that thought is not a core belief. When solving a crime you follow the money, when finding core beliefs you follow the emotions. A core belief affects everything that comes after. That is to say, if your core belief is one of humiliation, (this is what you would hypnotize for if you wish to be successful, not the fear of public speak for example) it will prevent you from sharing ideas, following your dreams, starting a business no matter how much you want to, speaking your thoughts and many other life experiences. In short it will keep you in your comfort zone where this aspect of belief is not tested.
If someone pointed at your hair, claimed it was green, and then started to laugh out loud at how silly you looked would you feel hurt? Probably not. When you know your hair is not green you would know the issue is with their perception and not with you. You cannot believe something about yourself when you KNOW it isn’t true. If on some level you had always disliked you. Even if your hair WAS green, and you believed it was beautiful, you would see their reaction as rude, ignorant or any other thought that focused on their shortcomings rather than your own.
What other people think would just be a trigger to activate our own negative core beliefs. The other common name we apply to this, is button. There is a tendency to blame others for pushing our buttons without acknowledging that they are already there waiting to be pushed. This can be upsetting or it can be a big clue that directs you to a core belief. To identify our core beliefs we have to look beyond the thoughts we think and identify why our tender spots are tender to begin with.
Often this translates to projecting our own core belief onto others. This is represented by those thoughts that reflect what you believe someone else thinks about you. Oh yes,,, we know that one right?
First Core Belief: We believe we are a stupid idiot.
Second Core Belief: If someone else believes we are stupid then it is true.
This is how that looks: If someone believes we are smart then we are smart regardless of reality.
This means that: Whatever someone believes about us is what we are which means the words and actions of others, validates or negates that belief.
What we believe about ourselves determines how we feel.
All this leads to predictive thinking (exactly like predictive text where without enough information the assumption of the word you are trying to create is often wildly wrong), where you determine what other people think and how they see you is exactly the way you think about and see yourself. It can lead to disbelief when someone offers you a compliment or says they love you as your filters engage the core belief.
Do you know what your core beliefs are?
