Look Daddy, I can fly!

As a young child we believe we can do and be anything we want, we literally believe we can fly. We live in the moment and struggle to differentiate between reality and make believe. This beautiful period is called the Imprint Period and lasts until the age of about 7-8. Throughout this period we are absorbing information around us like a sponge and storing it at an unconscious level where it later influences our beliefs and values. We also develop what is termed a critical faculty. The critical faculty separates the conscious and unconscious minds and acts as a reality checker based on the information we have absorbed during the Imprint Period (explaining why children tend to stop having imaginary friends around age 7 or 8).

Our senses are constantly bombarded with approximately 2 million bits of information, such as sights, noise, tastes and background noise. If we took notice of all this information, we would go insane. Our brain therefore sorts through this information based on our experiences, values, beliefs etc to provide us with our own perception of the world. Have you ever bought a new car and then suddenly seen the same make or colour of car on EVERY street corner after that? Your unconscious is sorting for it!

As the Imprint Period influences our values and beliefs and then our critical faculty uses these as a point of reference for future decisions and beliefs, as adults we can be held back be our beliefs and decisions made as a young child.

For example, a mother tells a young child "you will never be a Doctor as we can't afford the University fees" the child may store this information unconsciously, as "you will never be a doctor." Over time this could develop to be "you will never have what you want in life." and influence future decisions and behaviours. The mother in this example was not meaning to be malicious and made the remark quite flippantly.

Are you making decisions based on long standing beliefs from childhood? Just think of what you can achieve if you blast through these limiting beliefs and decisions, change your focus and open yourself up to new possibilities and opportunities.

Unlock your true potential.