DO YOU HAVE A THOUSAND THINGS DEMANDING YOUR ATTENTION BUT YOU LACK ENERGY AND MOTIVATION? RACHEL ANASTASI QUESTIONS WHAT LIMITING BELIEFS MIGHT BE HOLDING YOU BACK.

Lack of energy is a very clever strategy your unconscious mind may use to sabotage, resist, to keep you safe or to gather evidence for limiting beliefs that you already hold about yourself. To move unconscious behaviour into conscious awareness is a very effective way of being more at cause in your life and creating your results through choice and response rather than automatically reacting. If lack of energy is an unconscious strategy that your brain is activating as a reaction to current events there must be beliefs or fears driving that response.

Illicit your strategy by asking yourself, How do I ‘do' lack of energy? When is it a good time to ‘do' lack of energy? What triggers ‘doing' lack of energy?

How our beliefs make a difference
The imprint period is the stage in a human's life when we are aged 0-7. During this time we make many decisions about what we can and cannot do, who we are, our values and beliefs about ourselves and life. Events that occur during this time will have a major impact on the beliefs that are established. Something will happen; a young person will add meaning to that event or create a story around it and then carry that forward as a belief about themself.

When I was two years old, I lost my favourite teddy, Whitey, at the shopping centre. I was devastated and I thought that meant I was incapable of looking after things, that it is scary to love something too much and that life is very unpredictable and unfair. These beliefs were carried forward, and my life was spent gathering evidence for those beliefs and finding ways to compensate for the lack which I saw within myself at the time.

Mostly these beliefs exist on an unconscious level, forming our identity and creating boundaries. Once these beliefs are established you are unlikely to operate outside of these beliefs through fear of not belonging, not being loved or not being good enough. Your unconscious mind activates strategies, gathering evidence for these beliefs or compensates for these beliefs in order to keep you safe.

What are compensating characteristics?
Compensating characteristics are ways of being that you use in times where you feel unprotected, out of control or there is uncertainty. If you have had the belief since imprint period that you are stupid then a compensating characteristic you may have created out of your fear of not being loved because of that lack, may be to try really hard academically. This compensating characteristic seems to work really well. It keeps you safe, you get to prove yourself and nobody knows the truth about who you really are underneath. However, it is very unresourceful.

Every time you do the compensating characteristic it just seems to reiterate the initial feeling of lack. So, even though trying really hard academically feels good for a while, you fear deep down that if you didn't run yourself into the ground trying to prove yourself, you would fail, people would be disappointed and that reiterates the feeling of not being good enough, which the compensating characteristic was born from in the first place. Lack of energy can mean you do not get done what you think you should have, and therefore leaves you feeling like a failure yet again.

How can beliefs and compensating characteristics affect my results?
Consider whether your current workload is linked to your purpose or are you being a ‘human doing' and ‘do do do doing' to rescue others, to prove yourself or to be the martyr? Ask yourself what is driving you to take on these tasks? Have you piled things on yourself to prove to yourself that you cannot do this? Is taking on all of these things your way of having others need and like you? Are these things necessary in achieving your goal and your lack of energy is a way of resisting moving forward because of fear?

By considering your motivators and beliefs which are behind strategies, actions and decisions that you make you can start to make things work for you. Sit down with a pen and paper and start to explore your beliefs about yourself. Ask yourself these questions and write down the answers:

* What am I making it mean about me when I have loss of energy?
* What am I scared will happen if I do not manage to get everything done?
* What is the impact on me of having created such a heavy workload?
* For what purpose have I created this workload? What does it give me?
* What do I get to say to myself when I get all of this done?
* What do I get to say to myself if I cannot get it all done?
* What do I believe about time?
* What unresourceful behaviour do you need to let go of right now?
* Who are you really and what way of being would you like to start embracing?

What can I do to create change right now?
Pretending to be busy is a trap that some people fall into. Cut out any tasks which won't have a direct impact on the result that you are committed to achieving right now. Focus on what you want and take actions toward it. Look at your time management and ask yourself if you are giving time to the areas of life that are most important to you.

This is also a great time to think about your health. Are you eating foods which support a good energy flow? Are you drinking an amount of water each day that will nourish you and sustain the day's activities. The brain is like any other muscle, it needs protein every three hours. Just as a car cannot run without fuel, you need to feed your body. How are your sleep patterns? Are you honouring yourself by incorporating some alone time, maybe some meditation into your weekly routine?

Through a healthy mind, body, spirit connection, you can achieve great energy levels. What is your body currently telling you through lethargy? Maybe you are resisting something, scared of moving forward or trying to be some way, which is innately incongruent with who you really are? Speak your truth, if only to yourself and let go of what is not working. Your life is your greatest gift, what would you like to experience today? Live it! Accept yourself, free yourself of your limiting beliefs and your compensating characteristics will become redundant. Now, enjoy just being!!

Rachel Anastasi is an empowerment coach, speaker and mentor. For more information or to contact her visit www.freetobemecoaching.com.au