Paradigms and Shifts or There must be more to life than this

 

According to Google, a paradigm is a typical example or pattern of something. It’s the way something has always been done or perceived. We work under paradigms all the time, from the way you get dressed in the morning to how you feel about money. Most of these are unconscious. We coast happily or unhappily through our lives and think, this is the way it is. To question these paradigms would require us to look at our very foundations and that can be a bit daunting. To ask the question, “Why do I do this?”; is somewhat like saying, “There must be something more to life than this.” These are the big questions and you have every right to ask them.

You’re stuck in a job that eating you up inside. You’re a 40 something parent of grown children who is looking for more than a nine to five, just to pay the bills job. You’re asking, “Is this all there is? What about passion?”

What if I were to say, Yes, there is more, but you must first find your passion and shift your paradigm.

A paradigm shift is a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions. American physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn was noted to define it as a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline. …

…and it often was characterized with a revolution, meaning things are going to get interesting. Shifting a paradigm which says I can be or do anything I want is a daunting task, but if you can ask the question, you have it within you to shift. People don’t typically change how they think overnight but it does happen. You can shift.

The first thing to do is to entertain the notion that a new belief is possible. Spend time with the new belief. Begin to act as though it were true. Start using it in your language. “I think I could live a more passionately engaged life.” Ask yourself what if you began living your passion? What am I passionate about? Your mind is a font of knowledge. It already knows the answer.

Oh sure, you’re thinking. I can imagine all I want, but how do get there? Remember the paradigm shift? The first shift is believing its possible. The second is actually shifting. Tell yourself everyday the new belief is possible in your life. Whatever it is. Tell yourself everyday until you believe it. You’ll know you’ve actually shifted when your mind starts coming up with ideas how to make it happen.