“De-Dogging the Dog”…Stop Limiting Beliefs

Everyone who has ever welcomed a dog into their home has set out to make sure those dogs “check” unwanted instinctive behaviors at the door.  Dog lovers are wanting to “de-dog” their dog because they are not enthralled with the jumping, food stealing, destructive chewing, barking, and occasional potty incidents in their home. When folks hire me to help them with their puppies, interestingly, everything they list for me are behaviors that are instinctive to the dog. Subsequently, when we learn how to “de-dog” the dog,  the same principles can be applied in our own lives. If you are limiting your beliefs, just like with the dog, if we consistently implement all aspects of our strategy, it is easy for our dogs (and ourselves)  to understand what we want and start to offer new behaviors.  

“De-Dog” Yourself And Stop Limiting Your Beliefs

• Use a strategic approach to manage the environment
• Get clear on the desired outcomes
• Communicate effectively
• Reward correct behavior responses

Time To Make A Change

Most people, given time to reflect on the different areas of their life, will identify things they wish to change. Namely, the same things they have focused on in the past with some success (physical health/weight, relationship, finances, career). Consequently, they found that they either plateaued, regressed back to the original starting point, or things got worse.

For the most part, the desire to change something comes about because there is a feeling of discontentment or an outside motivator prompts immediate action (i.e high school reunion, wedding, etc.). Our motivation (the ability to get into action) is powered by one of two things. It’s either the delayed reward of how good we will feel at the event or in conversation with people about our lives or the pain of not showing up feeling our best. Initially, we have the drive and willpower to follow through on the required actions. Unfortunately, willpower will always lose to what you truly believe.

What Does Success Look Like?

Long term success to change begins when you look at the habits that lead you to the place you wish to change. Just like behaviors that are instinctive to dogs, much of human behavior is on autopilot and run by the subconscious mind. The information held in this space runs your personal operating system. Your internal beliefs are the result of your interpretation of your personal experiences.  Therefore, the habits you engage in daily are the direct output of your internal belief system.  Similarly to “de-dogging” the dog, we have to rid ourselves of the limiting beliefs which result in actions that self-sabotage or paralyze us from taking action altogether. 

The Magic Question Is “How Do We De-Dog Ourselves?

1. Look closely at an area of your life you wish to improve.  What decisions over time have led you to a point of discontent?  If you rated this particular area a 6 on a scale of 1-10, what would make it a 10?  What is your belief about the space between 6 and 10?  Consequently, list out everything you believe (positive or negative) about your thoughts on what it would take to get that area to a 10.
2. Above all, acknowledge the fact that you get to decide if this belief is YOUR BELIEF or a true fact.
3. Next, seek out examples that prove your belief is not a fact (people who are experiencing what you wish to experience). Identify what beliefs are in their personal operating system.
4. Moving forward, try on the new beliefs.  Support them by managing your environment, get clear on your desired outcomes, communicate with yourself effectively.  
5. Finally, reward yourself for moving forward in the right direction (just like you do with your dog)

If you are seeking guidance on attracting the life you want to live through anecdotal lessons learned from our dogs …come join our Fur Covered Wisdom FB community.