Elephant Tethers and Abundance

Are you an Elephant?

I wish I could hear everyone’s self talk when they read this line… No, I’m not offending you but I would be curious if you thought that, and why… “The Elephant” mentality is a reality with almost everyone that I work with in my practice and I’m not immune to it either. We all need to be constantly identifying these thoughts and eliminating them from our hard drive!!! I’ll explain.

This analogy goes back many years to when I was an exotic animal trainer at the Zoo. (Yes, I was a camel trainer among other things…) I worked closely with the elephant trainers because I was always fascinated with these enormous creatures.

One day I asked one of the trainers that was a good friend of mine; why do use such a small rope around the elephant’s ankle when you secure it? The answer literally blew me away! Let me explain.

Did you know that trained elephants will stay where they are by tying a rope around one of their massive legs and attaching it to a peg in the ground? Can the peg and rope really hold back an elephant? Absolutely not!

Then why does it work? Because elephants grow up believing it will. They start the process when the elephant is very young and at times  use chains so the young elephant learns that it cannot break away. After the young elephant tries enough times and perhaps even hurts it leg in the process, it stops trying. And after some time, most elephants will never try again! This outcome is multiplied if the young animal was ever hurt in the process! Do you hear where I am going with this???

During the course of my life and career I have run into many people (and no doubt will run into many more) who are holding themselves captive with their own “elephant tether.” It’s amazing how many limiting beliefs we carry around in our subconscious mind that are simply things that we were told when we were younger by the adults around us. Many times these comments were meant to protect us, although  other times these comments were just someone’s perception of reality that they were sharing, as though it were fact… When we consciously agreed to the statement, we, with our limited mind, told ourselves that it was a fact of life and filed it away in our subconscious mind. If we were hurt in the process then these agreements became much stronger… Often times, we continued to believe these “facts” without ever questioning them, even today.

You must understand that nothing means anything until you give it meaning!!!

When we decide to believe something (and call it fact) we also make an agreement with ourselves that we will continue to evaluate life based upon this (usually very limiting) agreement with ourselves! We think of it as fact, when it is only a belief…

Often times we hold ourselves back from great abundance and happiness simply because we have these limiting beliefs about ourselves ingrained in our subconscious minds. We must remember that they are only beliefs and not necessarily facts about life. We can change these agreements at any time and break free of the trap of any limiting belief.

The power of “elephant tethers” to restrain you is only in your imagination. YOU have the power to free yourself from it and enjoy life and achieve your goals with the same vigor and right as anyone else on this planet.

Take a moment to evaluate some of the “reasons” that you use to hold yourself back from accomplishing your goals. You will find that most of these “reasons” are either excuses or old, outdated, belief systems that need to be changed! They are only perceptions that you have agreed to and you can change them at any time!!!

Examine your life for self-imposed “rules” you are following that are holding you back. When you find them, test them, change them and  break free of them! Create better rules to live by and see your progress and joy grow immensely as you explore your newly expanded world!