“If you don’t get your act together and stop speaking to yourself like that, you’re never going to find all the success you can achieve.” - Network Marketing 'Edutainer'

As we enter a new year, I am sure God has placed a vision on your heart to increase your sales, grow your business, make a more significant impact by serving more people, spend more time with your friends and family, and so many other incredible goals. God places these goals in our hearts and minds for a reason, and we can have the best strategy in the world, but there is something that can stop us.

WHAT IS STOPPING YOU?

It can be a hard truth, but often what stops you (or me) is our own limiting beliefs.

We keep telling ourselves

• I am not smart or talented enough.

• I don't have enough time or resources to pursue my passion.

• I have to grind to be successful; it's hard work, and I am not strong enough.

• I have to do all this alone, or it doesn't count.

• I don't know how to run a business; I keep making mistakes, and I'll never figure it out.

• I have not succeeded before; why would this time be any different?

• I don't deserve success.

Meet Your Inner Dream Stealer

Our limiting beliefs come from a voice that whispers (or even sometimes screams at us) terrible lies about ourselves and our situation to get us to give up on our goals and dreams - our Inner Dream Stealer.

The truth about this voice is that it is not you, sister; it’s Satan. He is attacking you so much because he knows you are striving to build up God’s kingdom through your business. So as frustrating and as exhausting as this voice can be, it’s a good sign because it means you are on the right path to accomplishing God’s purposes for you!

I remember the first time I came up close and personal with my Inner Dream Stealer. I didn’t understand until a few years ago that it’s actually possible to control your thoughts and emotions. I realized this while watching a performer at a network marketing company event.

The 'Edutainer' was acting out vignettes - short plays to teach lessons on sales and business. One of these little plays consisted primarily of him facing himself in the mirror and saying horrible things like,

“You’re never going to make it!

You’re going to fail, just like you did the last time

and over and over in the past.”

The skit ended with a version of himself ten years into the future saying, “If you don’t get your act together and stop speaking to yourself like that, you’re never going to find all the success you can achieve.”

My husband looked around at the audience having fun and laughing at the skit, then looked at me because I was just losing it - ugly crying and the whole bit. You see, it was a defining moment for me. I realized that I would never speak to a friend the way I was talking to myself in my head. Yet because it’s all in your head, you can say whatever you want to yourself, and there are no consequences, right?

That day I learned that there are massive consequences to the things you tell yourself, and the Inner Dream Stealer was born. I decided at that moment that Satan had too much power over me, and from then on, I’ve refused to let my Inner Dream Stealer steal my dreams! Sister,

Stop letting your Inner Dream Stealer
hold you back from the TRUTH
and from achieving your goals!

A House Divided

And if a house be divided against itself,
that house cannot stand. (Mark 3:25)

Your Inner Dream Stealer is full of limiting beliefs. These beliefs are often false assumptions without proof or concrete evidence. Often we don't even realize how our beliefs are negatively affecting us. Limiting beliefs are the lies we tell ourselves that the enemy wants us to believe, so we will not fulfill God's purpose. You are filled with God’s potential, but your Inner Dream Stealer keeps telling you otherwise. A house divided against itself cannot stand - we have to learn to let God’s voice lead us, not that of Satan.

The 4C's To Overcoming
Your Inner Dream Stealer

C1 - Check-In

Often we aren’t aware of our disempowering thoughts and the lies that the adversary is trying to convince us of. Satan thrives in darkness, so as painful as it might be, bring those negative thoughts and feelings into the light where your Inner Dream Stealer can’t hide.

Have a plan to Check-In with yourself at least once daily. Ask yourself:

• How am I feeling right now?

• What disempowering thoughts am I having?

• What are those thoughts saying about me?

As you check-in with yourself, you may feel like a failure because you haven’t accomplished the goals you’ve been striving towards. As you go deeper, you may find that a core thought contributing to that feeling is, “I am not good enough.” Well, no wonder - you would feel like a failure and frustrated and hopeless if that’s what Satan is trying to convince you of.

Bringing thoughts like these into the light and letting God rephrase them will squash your Inner Dream Stealer.

Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. (Lamentations 3:40)

C2 - Challenge

Did you know that not everything read on the internet is true?!?!? I heard it on the internet, so it must be true, 😂.

The truth is that not everything you think or believe is true either, especially when it comes to disempowering feelings or thoughts. Just because you think you are a failure doesn’t make it true, sister. That's how Satan wins - we don’t Challenge that thought, and our brain just accepts it and starts creating pathways to reinforce it in our mind.

A couple of great questions to ask yourself when challenging that disempowering thought you just identified are:

• How true is that for me, really?

• What’s another way to look at this?

• What’s the Truth here?

So, ask yourself, “how true is it that I am a failure”? As you take this question to the Lord, you will find that it’s not true and that God never wants you to feel that way. You start gaining power back over your Inner Dream Stealer when you challenge Satan's lies.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
(John 16:13)

C3 - Choose

God has given us one of the greatest gifts we could have ever received - the gift of choice. You don’t have to go through life or running your business being tossed about by every wind of emotion or negative thought. You can Choose how you want to feel and what you want to think.

Ask yourself:

• How do I want to feel in this situation?

• What are empowering thoughts that could support me in this feeling?

• How does God want me to feel about myself?

Instead of feeling like a failure, you may want to turn it around and feel successful. I encourage you to make it larger than life, feel those emotions and believe them more strongly. So, let’s try on: “I am wildly successful in all I do!” That feels better.

Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. (Proverbs 3:31)

C4 - Change

It’s time to Change your feeling and thought. It sounds simple, but how do you do it? There are several tools and techniques out there, here is one of my favorites:

Replace Disempowering Lies with Empowering Truths

Think of it this way:

Pretend that you and your Inner Dream Stealer are in court, and he’s got this long list of all the ways that you are a failure (or whatever your disempowering thoughts/lies might be), and he has this list shoved up to your face so that it’s all you can see.

You have the same power too. You get to choose to push that list to the side and seek what you want to find. So instead of focusing on his list, make your own of how you are wildly successful (or the truth you identified and chose in C3), then start seeking proof of that truth. Count it all - your little victories and the big ones too.

Ask yourself, “What proof do I have of this new belief/thought?”

It typically takes two good thoughts to overcome a negative one. When your Inner Dream Stealer starts to whisper (or even scream) those lies to you, take a moment to counter with two specific pieces of proof of the opposite more empowering thoughts. God will help you to see the truth about you, His incredible daughter!

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7)

An Ongoing Battle You Can WIN!

Now, as much as I hate to admit it, you will never eliminate your Inner Dream Stealer. As you reach new levels, you will find new devils or new ways that he attacks you.

NEW LEVEL ▶ NEW DEVIL

The Good News is that we have the volume lever, and we can turn down his voice and those lies whenever we want by following the 4Cs and stepping into the truth of who we are as daughters of God. His power will enable us to do anything, for we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13)

If you desiring to make a more significant impact with your business in but find yourself struggling with limiting beliefs that are keeping you from reaching your full potential? The Faith Strategy Business Planner can help you partner with God and overcome your Inner Dream Stealer.

By implementing the 4C's and the tools like Daily Daddy Daughter Time and Business Meetings with God you find in the planner, you can learn to control your thoughts, turn down the volume on the lies of the enemy, and step into the truth of who you are as a daughter of God.

Don't let your Inner Dream Stealer hold you back any longer - get The Faith Strategy Business Planner today!

The Faith Strategy Business Planner, Jesus's Parables Edition is an undated (so you can start anytime) resource for you to study the Bible and Partner with God in your business all in one place so you can stay focused on building with the Lord every day.