What Are The Four Energy Blocks And How Are They Holding You Back
The goal of an IPEC (Institute of Professional Excellence) coach is to have a complete understanding of what a client wants, what is blocking them and why. This article is going to focus on what those blocks are and how to break through these barriers.
A block is simply anything that hinders you, and it comes from the external (economy) or internal. An internal block could be your beliefs and your attitudes about the world. Ironically, 95% of our blocks are internal. Have you ever heard the saying “Your external appearances are a manifestation of what’s going on inside”? Simply put, what’s going on inside will reflect your results.
Let me give you a simple example. Have you ever noticed someone who is always late for his appointments and is living in constant chaos? This is just a reflection of what he is processing internally. On the other hand, a person who never has an excuse, is always present and attacks any challenge is one who has very few internal blocks.
Let me list the four blocks and discuss how to conquer these blocks:
- Limiting Beliefs
- Interpretations
- Assumptions
- Gremlin
A coach uses the acronym GAIL to refer to the blocks. Gremlins are the most powerful blocks, and limiting beliefs are the least restrictive. The goal is to understand each of these blocks, remove these blocks and create a new reality. Let’ begin with limiting beliefs:
Limiting belief:
This block is responsible for holding someone back from achieving success. It is something that you accept in life that limits you. If you believe that you will not be able to accomplish a goal, then you are more than likely not to put forth the effort to achieve the goal. I compare this to a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you convince yourself you can’t, then you won’t. Most of us accept limiting beliefs as true because we have “learned” it from someone else. Turn on the TV and all you hear is “That’s not possible!”
Listen to the Audio version of this blog (narrated by Gino Barbaro):
The ability to run a four-minute mile is the classic example of a limiting belief. At the time, everyone thought it was impossible to run a mile in under four minutes. Along comes Roger Bannister, and his time of 3.59 minutes shattered that limiting belief. Around two months later, another runner eclipsed the four-minute mark. The floodgates were now open all because Roger shattered the prevailing limiting belief of the day.
So how do we remove limiting beliefs from our lives? One way is to become Roger Bannister and disprove the limiting belief. Another way is to ask questions, such as “Where did you get that idea from” or “How true is that belief”? A coach is there to identify your limiting beliefs and work to remove them.
Interpretations:
An interpretation is an opinion that you create about an event, situation or experience in your life. For instance, if you send your friend an email and you get no response, you may interpret it as your friend has no desire to talk to you. In reality, your friend may not have received the email or is too busy to respond at the moment. If you can find other ways to interpret a situation, it will begin to decrease the negative effects of the interpretation. Instead of blowing off your friend, you decide to pick up the phone to see if everything is okay.
I always like to ask the question “What’s another way to look at that?” This allows the individual to focus on other possibilities. The ability to pay close attention to your interpretation will make you realize how you react to certain interpretations.
Assumption:
To assume is to believe that if something happened in the past, it will occur again. This energy block can render an individual powerless because they will conclude it will always be the case. I credit the assumption as one of the main culprits to real estate investors who give up too soon. Their first investment has lost them money, and they conclude that will become the norm going forward. A person who realizes that this thinking is faulty will employ a different tactic and continue investing. This persistent action separates success from failure, and the assumption leads us to failure.
Discover how apartments are the best investment vehicle to create wealth and generate passive income:
How do you combat the assumption? You have to challenge an assumption because they are much stronger than limiting beliefs. They are usually based in personal experience, whereas limiting beliefs are either learned or told to you. Ask the question “Just because that happened in the past, why does it have to happen again”?
Gremlin:
I call this the grand-daddy of energy blocks. The gremlin is your inner critic, the voice you hear in your head that you are not good enough, not smart enough, too ugly. You get the picture. The gremlin receives its power from fear, and can immobilize us. The first step is to acknowledge your fears, then take control of them instead of allowing them to take control of you.
We all have our own personal gremlins. At IPEC, we are taught to give our gremlin a name, bring the gremlin out into the open to lessen its power and discuss why the gremlin has such control over our lives.
When I was working at my restaurant in the kitchen, my gremlin of not being smart enough would pop up from time to time. I thought being in the kitchen and not working in corporate America made me a lesser person. When I realized this energy block, I went to work on banishing this block and taking action towards creating another business. If I allowed the gremlin to paralyze me, the chances of taking positive action would be very low. I would probably still be stuck in the kitchen. I used my gremlin to motivate me into action.
Task:
Learn all four energy blocks. Find out which energy blocks you exhibit throughout the day. Begin to make a list of all of these blocks. The next step would be to contact a life coach and work together to eliminate these debilitating energy blocks. Once you do this, passion and excitement will flow back into your life.
Also listen to our podcast about the ‘Seven Levels of Energy’: