Why is the sky blue?
Why does no word rhyme with orange?
Why does it smell so fresh after it rains?
Why do dandelions turn white and fluffy?
Notice how each question makes you curious. Questions capture the imagination and make us want to know the answers. This is why our belief process is designed with questions in mind. And there’s no step in which this is more important than the Alternative Interpretations step. Using questions we help our clients become highly engaged as they come up with new ways to interpret the events that led to their beliefs.
But what exactly are alternative interpretations?
They are other ways of looking at events that gave rise to a belief. For example, a very common belief is “I’m not good enough”. This belief can come from the way many parents criticize their children when they misbehave. To help our clients see that this belief is not the one true way to interpret these events we’ll come up with other ways to look at those events.
- Maybe mom and dad gave that criticism because they didn’t like my behavior, not because I’m not good enough
- Maybe my behavior wasn’t good enough but not me as a person
- Maybe I wasn’t “good enough” according to their standards but not necessarily the standards of all people
- Maybe back then I wasn’t good enough, but that doesn’t mean I’d never be
Each of these ideas is an alternative interpretation. It’s another way of interpreting the events that gave rise to a belief. And they help the client get one step closer to eliminating their belief.
What questions do we use to help us create alternative interpretations?
Who
When
Where
Just these three questions can help us create many different ways to interpret a series of events.
For example, Andrew has the belief “I’m not important.” As he was growing up he would excitedly show his parents drawings he made or stories he’d write and they seemed uninterested and would often say “Not now” or “Stop bothering me.”
Here’s how we guide Andrew into finding alternative interpretations
F: Who was speaking to you as you were forming this belief?
A: My parents.
F: So what would explain why your parents might have responded that way?
A: Maybe my parents did not respond to me because they were preoccupied not because I wasn’t important
F: That makes sense. So we can say they responded as they did because they didn’t think it would have much effect on you, not because you were not important.
A: Right.
F: When was all this happening?
A: When I was growing up as a kid.
F: Right. So this leads to an idea that is not a very positive one but still potentially useful which is that maybe somehow as a little kid you weren’t that important then … but that doesn’t mean you would never be important.
A: Chuckles. Yeah, I guess so.
F: And that’s not the truth either, of course. But does it seem like one possible interpretation?
A: Definitely.
F: Where were these events taking place?
A: At home.
F: So one possibility is that at home you were not considered important but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be important any place else.
A: True. And I actually did feel important in my sports and with my teachers who often praised me.
F: Great.
As you can see, the question words Who, When, and Where don’t provide an answer but they are a useful jumping-off point for creating new ways of looking at past events.
You must look inside to answer the three questions, Who, When, and Where. That causes you to stay engaged as you go through the process of eliminating a belief or helping another person to do so. As far as the questions I posed at the start, you can find detailed answers on Google but here are some short answers below this brief announcement.
Upcoming Training: How to Eliminate A Limiting Belief In 30 Minutes
On January 19th, 2022 (next week), registration for the Lefkoe Method Training 1 (LMT 1) will open up again. By the end of the course, you’ll eliminate a belief in 20-30 minutes. If you’re a coach, therapist, or in a profession that allows you to coach or counsel others, this training is ideal as you’ll be able to help your clients make big changes in their lives. Some people even join the course for self-help.
To be eligible for this training, you must be on the waiting list first. Here’s the link to join the waiting list:
https://www.mortylefkoe.com/lmt1/lmt1-waiting-list/
While you are on the list, you will also get a few goodies about how to eliminate beliefs.
The answers to the questions posed at the start of this article.
Why is the sky blue?
-Light is scattered by the molecules of the air. Light with shorter wavelengths gets scattered more. Blue has a shorter wavelength than the other colors and so it is scattered the most creating the appearance of a blue sky.
Why does no word rhyme with orange?
-The word orange is imported from the Persian language. As such no other English words have the same pattern of sounds.
Why does it smell so fresh after it rains?
-The smell is called petrichor. It is caused by water from the rain along with compounds such as ozone, geosmin, and plant oils.
Why do dandelions turn white and fluffy?
-They get fluffy to spread their seeds.
