Negative Hallucinations.

You can only see what you believe.

Everyone is familiar with hallucination: seeing something that is not there... yet.

And all its variations: illusion, dream, fantasy… 

Say you have a dream job in mind. 

It's tempting to think about all the scenarios around it while avoiding taking action. 

Lalaland is an easy place to get stuck. 

Taking action is how we manifest our "hallucinations". 

Now let's reverse that and talk about a less obvious form of hallucinations: 

Negative ones!

Negative hallucinations are our inability to see or hear what is in front of us. 

It reminds me of Michael heizer's negative sculptures at the Dia Beacon, where he focuses on the absence of material. 

In his fascinating book, Monsters and Magical Sticks, Steven Heller says that negative hallucinations result from not seeing or "hearing" information that conflicts with what one believes. In effect, a person's belief systems create an inner map, and that person will select from the world the signs that validate and match that inner map. 

I coached a client who believed 250K was the maximum someone without a degree could earn. 

His belief system had created a glass ceiling for him. 

In retrospect, I burned out because I deeply believed I could figure things out myself and ignored obvious signs.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. 

It could be that we don't see what's in front of us. 

Heller goes even further and says that most of us don't react to reality but rather operate or respond to a world based on our internal belief systems. 

Hmmm

I invite you to read that sentence again 

Let it sink in. 

If something feels stuck in your career, it might not be because of a fact but an old belief that keeps you from thinking differently. 

You know when you try to push the door until you read the sign that says PULL. 

Now what? 

Well, now you know that your unexamined beliefs make up your reality. 

Let's take work; your beliefs about your skills or the job market will influence your reality. 

Thoughts like:

"Work is scarce. I am invisible, too old, too young, etc"

will construct your reality

Uncovering the beliefs you don't know you have because they are so ingrained, taking them apart, and deciding what you would rather believe is how we "unlock potential."

The process is transformative. 

First, practice creating a vision for yourself, then define and learn to speak about who you are and what you offer with clarity and confidence. 

In no time and with little effort and commitment, you will go from caterpillar to butterfly.  

Be ready to fly 🦋

Warmest, 

Agathe