Birds in Their Proper Place by Leslie Nipps
Money and work go to the heart of our experience of being fully human.
Purpose, value, an authentic sense of “prosperity,” sharing who we are, exchanges of energy: these are all necessary and proper for a balanced and meaningful human life. When we feel these elements present in our lives, we feel like we are contributing something that matters and we are part of the cycle of giving and taking that is essential to all life. We can have a sense of security that isn’t merely an accumulation of “stuff” or a refusal to engage life vulnerably.
Perhaps the current vogue term “sustainable” is one of the best recent concepts for the kind of life we all long for and which is our earth-based birthright. It provides for a rich engagement with the world, purposeful living, appreciation for limitation, and an instinctual reckoning toward place, purpose and balance.
If it’s all so proper, then, why for some of us, does it all seem to get so blocked? Why for some people does it all flow so naturally and simply, and for others it’s an ongoing struggle?
Success with money and work is not just about one thing. It’s a lovely balance of a variety of basic human capacities. Here are some things absolutely necessary to a thriving vocational life:
- An equal capacity to both give and take.
- A willingness to be visible, seen, and responded to.
- A commitment to the idea that there is no failure, only valuable feedback, and a willingness to accept all kinds of feedback.
- A sense that there is “enough” and that we are “enough.”
- An awareness that we are inherently valuable and worthy.
- A capacity to belong, fit, and have our place in the world.
- A sense of proper boundaries—what is our responsibility and taking that up, and what is not our responsibility and leaving that be.
- A capacity to honor and celebrate that our roles are not the same, so that we can enjoy our own and others’ individuation, while imagining our capacity for interdependent and creative collaboration as the only way to “getting the job done.”
Most of us would immediately assent to the propriety of all of these concepts. But the insight of NLP and many other models of consciousness is that functional belief actually works unconsciously, behind the scenes, shaping our experience regardless of our “common sense.”
If there’s a block to any of these beliefs at an unconscious level, vocational and financial thriving becomes nearly impossible. Some of us, for instance, have a difficult time allowing ourselves to be really seen and visible in the world. Or we are unconsciously trying to take responsibility for things that are not ours to address. Or at some level, the idea of failure is so intolerable that we will not allow real risk and exploration on the way to vocational thriving.
It is possible to change these unconscious beliefs, however. If modern neuroscience has taught us anything, we now know the immense capacity of the human brain for fantastic adult learning and change. Some of us have made these changes by applying intense willpower and gradually re-habituating our unconscious to new beliefs through affirmations, ritual practices, intense trainings, etc.
NLP offers a quicker path by directly engaging the unconscious, and asking what is so very valuable and meaningful about the older sets of beliefs and meanings. When we’ve adequately appreciated the intention of the old beliefs, we can offer our unconscious “updates” through exercises that communicate directly with our unconscious, allowing it to say “okay” easily to the new belief.
Want to see how it works? Contact me for a free phone “Unconscious Beliefs” Consultation today!
Leave a Reply