Achieve What You Can’t With This Reframe

Do you ever not achieve what you have set out to do? Have you ever said to yourself “I CAN’T do this”?

Or should the question be more like :- When was the last time you said to yourself “I CAN’T do this”?

This single statement stops more people achieve their goals / tasks / desires / dreams than any other. As soon as those four words are resonating in your mind, it literally shuts down any opportunity of discovering how to do it.

The good news is that there is a very simple exercise that can eliminate the power this statement has over you, and by the end of this post you will undertake an exercise that will eliminate the power this statement has over you – FOREVER!

Before we begin, make sure you have a blank sheet of paper and a pen. Don’t read on until you have this available. Just reading the process will not provide the ‘light bulb’ moment like actually undertaking the steps.

So when you’re ready – LET’S GO!

Reframe to Achieve

1. Think of something that has been holding you back – something that you believe you simply can’t do. Maybe it’s speaking with someone that can help move a project forward. Maybe it’s that fear of driving. Ensure to come up with something that is most definitely stopping you from moving forward.
2. Write it down in big capital letters taking about 1/3 of the page… for example, if your belief is that you can’t drive, write it in the format –
   I CAN’T DRIVE
3. Look at what you’ve written, and ask yourself “Is this belief what is stopping me from moving forward?” As soon as you ask yourself that question, you’ll get a feeling of “absolutely” or “nah, it’s more like ….”. If there is something else that comes up that you can’t do, write that down instead.
4. Read what you’ve written and say it in your mind two more times and recognise how your brain is responding to this, because this is what happens every time you say this to yourself. You’ll feel a negative response, and depending on how strong the belief is, you may even feel overwhelmed with the enormity of how not being able to do this action is actually affecting your life.
5. OK, here’s the fun bit. Contractions are powerful and hide untold power, so underneath what you’ve written, rewrite your statement extending the can’t contraction to ‘can’ and ‘not’ with ‘not’ being on a second line all by itself. For instance…
   I CAN
   NOT
   DRIVE
6. Once you have written the statement out, read it firstly in your head, and then again, but this time out loud.
7. Notice how that feels for you now. It may even be the belief was so ingrained that when you say it for the first few times it doesn’t even make sense!

One thing this little exercise does achieve, is a very quick “reframe” from out of nowhere. Fold the piece of paper over backwards now so you can only see the de-contracted statement. The most common response I get from people I work this exercise with is that it feels all of a sudden that they can do it, but choose not to.

This may be your experience, or you may have a different internal representation entirely. Either way, I’m guessing that particular belief now feels very different. Almost to the point of needing to be re-evaluated! If so, CONGRATULATIONS!

This is the power of a technique known as “re-framing”, and boy can they be powerful. I have seen normal, everyday people with normal, everyday fears achieve amazing things after we re-frame a belief that had them convinced they would never be able to achieve something because they just could not do a step along the way.

I’d love to hear how this little technique has affected you in a positive way. Feel free to comment below, or even share this post with friends and family via Facebook or Twitter using the buttons below.

Read your new statement again now. Recognise how it feels and how it’s changed, and know that this change can help you to…

Live Your Ultimate Life.