8 Ways To Happiness

4) Understanding & Changing Your Beliefs

Beliefs are any ideas you think are true about yourself, others, and life. Clarity about what you believe, who you are, what you want, and why you want it can be like a beacon on a clear night, guiding you to the fulfillment of your desires. Unfortunately, most of us aren't aware of our beliefs, many of which we acquired as children. You can live your whole life unaware of how you're beliefs are effecting your feelings, thoughts and actions.

Some beliefs are counter-productive to what you say you want. Wouldn't it be nice to identify those beliefs? Examine them for validity? There are so many self-defeating beliefs but here are just a few I've identified in myself and others. Do you believe any of the following?

Self Defeating Beliefs

• If I'm happy now, I won't be motivated to change anything.
• I can't change. This is just the way I am.
• My feelings are natural reactions, not something I can control.
• If I control my feelings, I'll be a robot.
• I have to have [love, sex, or money] in order to be happy.
• If I don't feel guilty, I’ll continue to do "bad" things.
• You have to do some things you don't want to do in this life.
• No pain, no gain.
• If I was happy all the time, I’d be a blithering idiot.
• People who are optimistic aren't realistic.
• You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
• If happiness was my priority, I'd be inconsiderate of others.
• It's a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Changing Your Beliefs

I don't know if you're like me, but I have read a lot of books, attended a lot of programs, listened to umpteen tapes and talked about personal growth a tremendous amount. But none of this really made any huge difference in how I felt, what I did, or helped me get what I wanted, at least not in the long term.

I'm telling you this because I've been where you are. If you're reading this, you're searching for answers. I didn't experience any concrete changes in my life until I was exposed to the Option Method.

Although the Option Method has been compared to many different types of psychotherapies, it is radically different than anything I've ever experienced. It's the only process I've found that not only helped me changed my mind, but where you could visibly see the differences in my life. And isn't that what we all want? I mean it's nice to feel inspired and get high off a new realization, but what I really wanted was to feel better about myself and life on a more consistent basis. I wanted to be able to pursue my desires without all the fears (and they were numerous.) I wanted to make more permanent changes where I didn't keep falling back into old habits that weren't working. The Option Method helped me do all that for myself.

The Option Method

Although the process was designed as a Self-Help tool, it's my personal opinion that you can't really reap the full benefits of a dialogue by yourself until you've had a few dialogues with an Option Method Practitioner. When I first did the process on my own, I kept getting stuck. After I had had four or five dialogues with a Practitioner I was much better able to do the dialogues by myself.

It certainly doesn't hurt to read about the Option Method, but you won't experience the changes I talked about until you actually have an Option Method dialogue on your own. I make no money if you schedule a dialogue with a Practitioner, but I will have the satisfaction of knowing I helped you. Below are links where you can learn more about the method. The links will open a separate browser window so you'll easily be able to return to this site.

Learn More About the Questions
The Attitude Behind the Questions
List of Available Option Method Practitioners
The History Behind the Method
Articles About the Method

5) Gratitude