“Man’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimension” —
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, American jurist (1841-1935)
What a joy to be part of a great generation today. We have everything we need to give the one life we have our best shot.
There is no need to look outside of ourselves to find happiness. There is no need to look outside of ourselves to find love. There is no need to look outside of ourselves to find peace or solve our problems — problems like poverty, stress, relationships, disease, lack of motivation … and the list goes on. All these are controlled by the most powerful tool we have — the subconscious mind.
To experience this life, a paradigm shift is needed.
A paradigm is a multitude of habits or patterns of behaviour and thinking that we have inherited from our environment that are stored in our subconscious mind.
Paradigm is culture. Culture is group habit. Group habit is influenced by a paradigm.
No matter where our people migrate to in the world, their results in life will always reflect the culture they originate from.
So if we don’t like the results we are getting in life, we need to shift our paradigm so we can start to get the results we want. This is what I did in my life, and now help others do the same.
A paradigm shift, to put it simply, is when someone changes from one pattern of thinking (negative or positive) to another. Their personality, habits and behaviour and conditioning change because a transformation has taken place in their subconscious mind. Something shifted. The transformation causes them to perceive self, events, other people, environment, God or higher power, as well as life itself, differently.
It can happen in an instant, on an individual, national or international level, and can have a dramatic effect on the way we live our lives in the present and in the future.
The word transformation originates from the Greek word metamorphoo which we know as metamorphosis in English. Metamorphoo means to change in form or transfigure. So when someone experiences a positive paradigm shift, they begin to tap into the rich resources they already have stored in their subconscious.
This is where all your genius ideas are stored, and your ability to earn as much money as you want by solving a problem your generation is facing today. As a result of the transformation, you become a totally different person because now, you are connected to people through unconditional love — without judgement.
You evolve into a better version of yourself, deepening your character. Your old self is replaced by a new version. Hence the scripture, “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.
Nothing changes until your mind changes. You can change your job but still have the old mind, giving you results you don’t want. You can change your partner but still have the old mind. You can change your location but still have the old mind.
Now here is a big one, a language very familiar to Fijians — you can be a “born-again Christian” but still have the old mind! I struggled with this for a long time until I made a decision to shift my paradigm. Then and only then, did my life start to catapult forward. Your behaviour, habits and results in life is directly proportionate to what is going on in your mind.
The old way of thinking will not help you. It has beliefs that are keeping you stuck. Beliefs that are false, and ones that are destroying you.
Here’s an example of some false beliefs around money that continue to keep our people in the cycle of poverty, “Money is the root of all evil”, or “Rich people are evil”, or “Money is hard to come by”, or “If you want to earn a lot of money you need to be smart”.
Having come from a background of poverty myself — a mindset of lack — and know that it is a struggle most of our people continue to experience, I include a session called Money Mindset when I am facilitating workshops in Fiji, to shift people’s thinking so they can start to get the results they want in this area.
False beliefs such as the above will continue to control your life and make your life a misery. How often have you heard a small voice in your head pop up and say something like, “Who is going to listen to you?” or “You are too shy” or “You are too fat”, when you want to move forward in life? They are old beliefs — an old way of thinking — and lies coming to trick you into believing you don’t deserve a better life.
The wonderful news is everyone has the ability to transform their life in an instant, everybody born into this world. Each of us has the same opportunity. When we change our paradigm, our life changes.
With every new thought a new pathway is formed in our brain (where the electrical activity of the mind takes place).
This means when we shift our paradigm, our brain which is like plastic changes shape and function to accommodate the new changes taking place. The old thinking pathway loses its strength and your “new brain” does not go back to the original dimension. This function that our brain has is what neuroscientists call neuroplasticity.
It’s simple, really. When we change the “program” that is running our life stored in our subconscious mind, our whole world changes. What you believed to be impossible becomes possible.
Can you for a moment, imagine what our nation could be like if we taught more of our people — adults and children alike — how to change their world? Imagine the possibility!
* Kelera Kotobalavu is a Life coach living in Sydney, Australia. The views are hers and not of this newspaper.
