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Do you remember that scene from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, where Indiana Jones has to take a leap of faith?
He needs to cross a great chasm in order to save his father’s life, and it looks as though – if he steps off a ledge and out into the abyss – he will surely fall to his death.
He takes the step anyway, because he has to cross the chasm to save his father (the reward), and his trusty book of clues (his inner guidance system) is telling him it’ll be okay…
… so he takes a deep breath, and steps out…
… and finds that instead of falling into the abyss, he steps straight onto a cleverly concealed bridge.
Phew! Turns out his leap of faith was justified.
Well. Yes. If only it was always that clear in real life!
Right?
Sometimes we’re called to take a leap of faith. And we don’t know what we’re going to find on the other side.
Often, we’re following our own inner guidance system that’s nudging us forward to a future full of both potential risks and potential rewards… and that can be very scary!
We also might not be sure if our inner guidance system is really giving us the right signals…
Which can lead to crippling anxiety, doubt, and ultimately choosing “the devil we know” instead of a brighter, shinier, future.
Can you relate?
Every choice comes with risks and rewards, of course. The trickiest leaps of faith to make are the ones where we are very well aware of the nature of the risks… but the nature of the rewards is not as clear because they’re beyond our current frame of reference.
If you’ve never actually experienced the reward before, then how can you know how good it could be? And if you don’t know how good something can be, how can you know if it’s worth the risk?
It’s a paradox. One that can stymie even the most brave-hearted.
In some ways, it’s easier to be brave when you don’t know how badly things can go wrong.
Young people often have this kind of bravery: a sense of being invincible, that is born out of the naivete of never really having come unstuck. But if you have come unstuck before, if you’ve made some big leaps in the past and – as the British say – “come a cropper” … it can be really hard to gather the courage and faith you need in order to make another big leap into the unknown.
If that’s you (and even if it’s not) there are two things that can really help you decide whether to take that leap or not.
Until you’ve experienced the positive reward that you’re going for, you can’t accurately weigh it against the risk.
This is the paradox I mentioned above. But just simply acknowledging the fact that the outcome could be better than you can imagine, better than anything you’ve ever experienced, can help you gather the courage to take the leap in the first place.
For example, if you’ve been hurt in relationships before… and you’ve never experienced what a strong, healthy, mutually supportive relationship is really like… then it takes a lot of bravery to keep putting yourself out there.
When things go wrong in a relationship, you might know exactly how hard and heart-breaking that can be! But if they go right… how can you know how amazing that is, if you’ve never experienced it?
In this case, your fear is not naive. It’s rooted in experience. And, it can still hold you back from accessing a better reality.
You’ll need to follow your inner guidance system, and have some faith in the quality of the signals it’s giving you, in order to be able to overcome your fear.
So this brings us to the next crucial point: how can you build more faith in your inner guidance system if you suspect that your inner guidance system is actually the problem?
I mean, what if you’ve been someone who keeps on choosing the wrong kind of partner for them? Without knowing exactly why?
How can you change the unhealthy patterns that’ve been causing you grief?
2. Work on Upgrading Your Guidance System
If your pattern of past experience has been the same thing, over and over, just in a different guise… and you feel stuck in a cycle of pain and frustration…
Then it is time to take a good hard look at your inner guidance system.
Specifically, it’s time to look under the hood at the subconscious belief code that has been driving your choices in life.
Because, once you develop an inner guidance system of subconscious beliefs that you can TRUST… one that you know will always guide you towards greater abundance, success, freedom and happiness in your life… you’ll find those scary leaps of faith a LOT easier to make.
For a deeper exploration of how to address your subconscious limiting belief blocks (particularly with respect to abundance) check out this podcast interview I did a couple of years ago on James Wedmore’s Mind Your Business Podcast.
The interview starts at about 8 minutes into the episode, and goes for about another 40 minutes after that. It’s one of the most comprehensive interviews on subconscious belief change that I’ve ever given, and James is a brilliant conversation partner on this topic.
I think you’ll find it helpful. It’s full of tips and tricks to upgrade your own inner guidance system so that you can start making truly inspired choices in life… choices that lead you towards greater abundance, financial freedom, physical health and more loving relationships.
To YOUR Abundance,
Julie Ann Cairns
