The Cameron Method - Newsletter Archive

6 October, 1997 - What Paradigms Really Rule Your World?

Quote of the Week: "In the words of Thoreau, 'For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root.' We can only achieve quantum improvements in our lives as we quit hacking at the leaves of attitude and behavior and get to work on the root, the paradigms from which our attitudes and behaviors flow." (Stephen R. Covey, in his self-help masterpiece, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, p. 31.)

Comment. In teaching The Cameron Method, we like to stress that bringing about the changes you want in your life is really a very simple matter. There are only two things you need to change. Doesn't that sound simple enough? So what are the two things? Number One is your Beliefs. (This includes your unconscious paradigms of living and reacting.) And Number Two is your Habits. So! Simple indeed! But easy? Not exactly.

Our method for changing even the most basic beliefs and life-governing learned paradigms does happen to be almost shockingly easy---when properly carried out under the guidance of a trained facilitator. This we can do in our one-on-one sessions and even, to a lesser but significant degree, with the interactive software.

Sometimes changes in significant beliefs bring about habit changes. On the other hand, by and large, changing your habits is a job your conscious mind and will must be fully involved with to accomplish. Changing the beliefs that have generated, supported and/or rationalized your habits, we do for & with you; but when or even if you deal with your habits is your decision.

Remember: Beliefs & Habits are intimately interrelated! For instance, by force of will you can manage to quit smoking for a certain period, despite its discomfort. But if you retain the underlying belief that you are or should be able to be a smoker, guess what? You will inevitably recreate the habits that express and reflect this belief. And conversely. We can work with you and totally clean your inner mind of all smoking-directed emotion-driven beliefs. If you nevertheless continue to smoke, even a little, chances are that your inner mind will create or re-create beliefs that make your habit acceptable or desirable.

From the file of The Cameron Method: At 52, Roger was a very good commercial artist. But he had always had a problem with being persistent. He tended to drop out of something early on if it didn't go his way. This habit was costly in his professional and personal life. Where did it come from?

Our innermind research with him pointed to the Number One reason, long since consciously forgotten. At age 8, his mother took him to a movie he was burning to see. However, the theater was jammed full and he was in tears when she took him home without seeing it. Despite her assurances, they never did get to see that show. His eight-year old mind created a lifelong lesson: If you don't succeed at first, give up. It became a Master Program.

Clark urged him to find & view that film if possible, assuring him that he would remember the movie's title. The night after their uncovering & removal session, while visiting friends, Roger told the story. His friend went to his computer, did a search scrolling for movie titles in the early fifties, and Roger exclaimed: "There it is!"

It was So Dear to My Heart, a sentimental, inspirational tale for kids starring Burl Ives. Roger found it in a video library, and viewed it at home. The movie's theme happened to be the benefits of indomitable persistence. And it had indeed started playing at theraters when Roger was 8.

Another client, Shirley, had made a lifelong habit of struggling with money matters. Always in trouble, always in debt, no matter how hard she worked in her realty profession. How come this debilitating affliction?

The reason: starting at age 6, she had made a habit of punishing herself with financial lack because of her inability to help her parents get along better. She took on their unhappy marriage as her responsibility to fix, and when she couldn't, she punished herself with one money problem after another. Too bad Shirley had to wait till she was 54 to uncover and get rid of this miserable, misery-producing habit! But better late than never!

Please unearth and get rid of those negative paradigms before you pay any more crippling dues for beliefs that are unconsciously dragging you down.

Until next time, the best to you,
Clark and Sharon Cameron

The Cameron Group
Helping People Create Attitudes That Work For Them

(Email) Cameron@CompuMind.com - (Web) http://www.compumind.com/
"Attitude makes all the difference!"

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© Copyright 1997 The Cameron Group, All Rights Reserved.