Limiting Belief: Social Class Determines My Position in Society

Tonight, I “became aware of” a limiting belief.  I realised I’ve really been aware of it all along.  It’s the belief my position in society is governed social class. 

Interestingly, my education in sociology, social science and counselling has reinforced this belief.  I’ve always thought of my experience at university as being positive and enlightening, but now I’m realising that it’s also had some negative results.

The thing is, as a counsellor and sociologist, you’re trained to address the client’s “social context”.  Meaning: someone coming from a deprived and marginalised background is (of course) comes to therapy with all of those issues. You're looking not just at the individual, but their entire social world.

I’m not saying that this idea should be discarded; not at all. The ramifications of child abuse, growing up in domestic violence, issues of gender, race and ethnicity do have an impact: there’s no doubt about that. 

However, when I talk to counsellors, I often hear them describing clients as victims and bemoaning their inability to extricate themselves from their circumstances.  I guess somewhere along the line, I’ve taken some of this on board.

Anyway, my belief that I’m a victim of the class system just seems like reality to me.  After all, I see evidence of it everywhere.  On the other hand, Seth explains that the organising nature of the psyche, coupled with the intense and very real electro-magnetic quality of a belief means I will accept information that agrees with my belief, and discard any information that disagrees with it.

When I think about it, there are plenty working class people who’ve risen above their circumstances to become wildly or even just moderately successful.  Heck, my grandfather was a millionaire who started out as a chauffeur! 

Changing the Belief

The task is to imagine what might happen if you turned this belief on its head, at the same time trying to evoke the emotions that would accompany the change.

I began by telling myself that so this is just a belief, and not reality.

I asked myself what would happen if the opposite were true.

Of course, I’d have more confidence in socials situations, if I saw myself on a level playing field.

I realised then I’d always imagined myself “looking up” at people I’d considered somehow superior, which was interesting, but then I had a real epiphany.

I’d always thought these people had a problem with me, when in fact, the problem was all me.  I was projecting my negative attitude onto them and they, of course, picked this up telepathically (substitute body language here, if you prefer), and responded by giving me exactly what I was expecting.

I was putting them in a box, which I realise is most unfair.  By changing my belief, I’ll be able to take people from different social classes as they are as unique individuals.  This will, I believe, open up new channels of information for me, help me get along with more people, and benefit them too. 

Everybody wins!

Earlier this evening, I did the visualisation exercise aimed at altering limiting beliefs.  I thought about how the consequences of this belief in my life: how I always literally feel small around wealthy successful people.

I realised that I’ve always projected my feelings onto them.  I felt inferior, and they obliged me by agreeing with the message I was broadcasting.  Really, it was all me.

Visualising what would happen if I felt confident around other people, I had an epiphany: I wasn’t seeing them as real people at all.  All I was seeing was my own projections.  How unfair of me!  And no wonder I’ve so often had negative experiences with people I thought of as “socially superior”. 

Of course, they were well aware of my point of view. 

My solution is to imagine them as real people; instead of putting them “in a box”.  It’s ironic, really: because I was afraid of being judged, I became judgemental.  I never realised this until today.

What is it that leads us to label people?  I do have plenty to say on this, but I want to keep posts relatively short, and I’d love to hear what others have to say, so please: feel free to comment.


Love Chanson.