Why-To's And Why-Not-To's

Noah St. John
©2003 All Rights Reserved

A person stops themselves from success because there's a subconscious association within the person with success and something they don't want.

In other words, the individual has more why-not-to's of success than why-to's of success. The trick, however, is that most of our why not to's of success exist subconsciously, while our why-to's are on the conscious level.

Remember the story I told you about asking my father for permission to be more successful than him? I really wanted to succeed on a conscious level. I was reading books, listening to tapes, going to seminars, really trying to get better. I was motivated. Working hard. Writing affirmations. I even prayed to get what I wanted.

Yet whenever I would start to succeed, that's when I would feel the most afraid -- and begin to sabotage myself yet again.

I had more subconscious why not to's of success than conscious why to's. The human mind is like an iceberg, with about 10% of our thoughts happening on a conscious level and nearly 90% of our thoughts happening below the surface, without our conscious awareness.

That means you and I can be as motivated and positive as can be on a conscious level, but if we have more subconscious *negative* associations with success than conscious *positive* associations with success, we'll be much more than likely to stop ourselves from succeeding, even when we have all the tools, motivation and intelligence to do so.

What are YOUR why-to's and why-not-to's of success?

Category: Work-Life, Balance
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