When I first started studying NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), I was fascinated by how we program our minds. This programming first starts out unconsciously as we are children growing up modeling the behavior, beliefs and values of others. As we become adults we can choose to consciously program ourselves such as when we start a new exercise program or begin learning a new skill.
We have so many different programs in our minds running our daily lives. Most of these programs are run unconsciously and that’s where the trouble begins. When we allow the unconscious to take over, it’s like running on auto-pilot. For some people, this really works. They take a seat, eat, drink, watch or movie or TV show and let the programs run by themselves. For the rest of us, we can’t just let these programs run (and sometimes ruin) our lives. We need to take control and behave deliberately in line with our goals.
The self-sabotage seems to creep up though no matter how well-intentioned we are. We might find ourselves really motivated at times to get things done and at other times it’s like we are fighting our programming to stop turning on the auto-pilot. This happens because we’ve learned to accept something less than “Amazing” from ourselves.
Think about it. You had dreams when you were a kid. You had big dreams of becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a fighter pilot, or the next Steve Jobs. Whatever it was, there was a dream. And then life happened. With each attempt of living your dreams, you found obstacles and challenges and disappointments. And with each trial and failure, we learned to settle for something less than our amazing dream. It happens so slowly over years that most of us don’t even know when it happened. It just did.
And this is what we tolerate. We tolerate in our lives what we have gotten in the past. We settle for the way we’ve been treated by others. We tolerate not achieving that promotion. We accept procrastination. We permit being in debt. We endure popping pills instead of feeling vibrant. We go along with not feeling fully connected to a higher source. We don’t want to be disappointed so we just accept less from life.
It isn’t just from ourselves though. We tolerate less in others as well. We sit and take it when we feel disrespected. We tough it out when our children don’t follow our rules. We stand for family members ignoring each other as their devices take over what used to be our time to connect. It seems to hard to do anything else but to follow that program.
The fact is that what we tolerate is just that, a program. And just as it was create it can be undone.
Take yourself off auto pilot and start living your dreams once again. Make conscious efforts to change small things each and every day to shift the controls back into your own hands. Celebrate little achievements and start planning for those bigger ones. Take one conscious step after another after another and you’ll be on your way to tolerating success, health, happiness and abundance in your life.
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