A couple of days ago I stumbled upon a post that spoke of the Zone of Genius which Gay Hendricks wrote about in his book "The Big Leap". I had read this book years earlier and I remember being intrigued and changed by the chapters on the Zone of Genius. So I felt this was an important sign to re-read it.
Now rather than jump straight to those chapters I decided to start from the beginning just in case it yielded more than I anticipated.
Well I'm glad I did start from the beginning because it introduced me to The Upper Limit Problem which is a barrier we individually hit when we rise above the level we feel we deserve. This level could be related to expanding to our full potential, success, wealth, happiness or love.
"I am fundamentally flawed"
As I began to read about the 4 barriers I immediately locked onto the first one "I am fundamentally flawed." As I read this statement my mind replayed a memory of me in my formative years having two older sisters who criticised and teased me constantly. Being younger than my female siblings my mental and communication faculties weren't as developed as theirs so they could talk rings around me and masterfully trigger my anger with just a look.
As I read about the addictions we humans have for worry, criticism and blame the author challenges the reader to contemplate what our criticism is REALLY about. What is the message that is trying to break through?
My Common Criticism
The most common criticism I have about my flatmates (mentally or to other people) is their poor attention to detail when cleaning. Within a moment of contemplation of what that was REALLY about, it was clear that I yearned to feel SUPERIOR. Tracing that back to my childhood "two sisters" situation of always being made to feel inferior and it's not hard to see why.
Long Term Effects
The barrier and belief of "I am fundamentally flawed" was ingrained due to the statements of criticism I endured during my formative years. My sisters often shutdown any form of creativity and self-expression I attempted and so I grew up believing that I wasn't enough and not worthy of expanding to my full potential. I remember at the age of 10 seriously wondering if I was adopted because I felt so alienated by my sisters.
So as an adult when I finally discovered the way out of my misery was to do the inner work to replace my limiting beliefs, let's just say my sisters starred in a few Theta Healing sessions!
After Thought
Recently I contemplated an ongoing struggle of mine to accept that my spirit is equally worthy and powerful as the spirits that incarnated as Jesus, the Buddha's, great presidents and world leading innovators. On the logic level it made sense that we are all one. But on the emotional level I could feel there was a powerful belief pushing in the opposite direction to what I desired to believe.
Changing the Beliefs
So I pulled out my Theta Healing manuals and proceeded to replace the unwanted beliefs of "I am fundamentally flawed" and "I am inferior" with phrases far more kind and empowering.