Today my client asked, “Is it really necessary to heal stuff from your past to move forward in your wealth?” The answer is yes, just as it is also the case when we wish to move forward in any aspect of our life. The ‘stuff’ from our past forms the basis of our mindset and beliefs. In turn this leads to the habits we develop and then allow to guide the choices we make through our life.
This ‘stuff’ may have to do with relationships, health, career, money, self-care, self-image, family, weight or any other area of our life.
The Origins of Our Mindset
‘Stuff’ arises from the beliefs we formed in our childhood. Our mindset, or beliefs and stories, is the result of both our experiences and what we were told by society; parents, teachers, peers and the church. These ideas that we took on as our own were actually the beliefs held by others who were important to us during our formative years.
While these beliefs may have been something specific such as ‘you can’t trust strangers”, they were more often implicit ideas and beliefs.
For instance, if we overheard our parents frequently fighting about money we may grow up with a subconscious belief that money is bad. As a small child we have no real concept of money. But we come to associate money with unhappiness because whenever our parents fought about it, we felt fearful and unhappy.
This belief about money may also ripple out to affect how we spend our money. We may be reluctant to part with our money, we may splurge, spend money we don’t have and get into heavy debt or subconsciously sabotage wealth-creation. This could then reinforce our subconscious belief that ‘money is bad’ or that money causes trouble.
This underlying emotion and the subconscious belief that money is a bad thing may result in a ‘poverty mentality’. Or it may lead to a distrust of anyone who is either quite wealthy or quite poor financially.
Are Your Beliefs Holding You Back?
Just as the beliefs we hold direct our habits, they also direct how ready and willing we are to step outside our comfort zone to take a chance on something new. If they relate to something specific about our role and the actions we take, our beliefs can certainly hold us back.
Wealth
If we subconsciously believe that money is a bad thing, we are unlikely to attempt a new challenge that promises to generate lots of money, particularly if it carries any hint of risk. We may subconsciously believe that if we have lots of that ‘bad thing’, money, it will make us a bad person by association.
Relationships
If our mindset directs how we relate to others it could become a block to our finding a deep and meaningful relationship with a life partner. Relationships may be difficult to form or maintain if you constantly heard someone significant to you ridiculing either men or women. Or if, as a child, you constantly witnessed parents fighting. Children lack the filters to separate themselves from the influence of those in authority.
Self Care
In a similar way you also form beliefs that influence how you treat yourself. If you were always frowned upon or told “don’t be greedy” when you asked for anything as a child, you may find it difficult to attend to your self-care needs as an adult. Your mindset may be that to ask for anything for yourself means you are a selfish and greedy person.
Limiting Beliefs Hinder Growth
Long-held beliefs lodge in our subconscious so we may not even be aware of them. However, they run constantly regardless of our awareness, influencing what we do and how we behave.
When we operate from subconscious beliefs, we are not able to make rational, considered decisions. We are simply not in the control seat so we react rather than act consciously. And we may not even be aware we’re doing this.
If we’ve never questioned our habits or uncovered the underlying beliefs, we remain oblivious to the fact that we’re operating under the influence of someone else’s fears or toxic experience. In this state we’re not able to shift the limiting mindset to make room for the beliefs we actually DO have, or we wish to develop.
We stay held back by patterns and beliefs that cause us to avoid challenges and deter us from taking risks. The fear of failure that accompanies this mindset quickly leads to us self-sabotage success.
Break Apart Your Conditioned Limiting Mindset
A limited mindset leaves us running on autopilot guided by negative self-talk that limits opportunities for personal growth. Just like an overload of apps on a smartphone this collection of subconscious, limiting beliefs constantly run in the background leaving us self-critical, indecisive, unfulfilled and unhappy overall.
However, the fear-based thinking, limiting beliefs and negative self-talk that form this fixed mindset are not set in steel, even if they have been there since childhood. The brain is quite capable of rewiring itself. The mental blocks that hinder growth can be broken apart and reshaped to allow for self-growth, greater insight and advancement.
Practice Mindful Awareness
To start training your awareness muscle the first thing you need to do is simply to NOTICE. Whenever you find yourself hesitating to take action, especially if it’s something completely new, pause.
Stop and notice what you’re reluctant to do. Feel into exactly what aspect of this makes you uncomfortable. It’s likely the underlying limiting belief is connected with this aspect.
You don’t need to work everything out yet. At this stage it’s simply a matter of noticing an underlying belief exists. You’re simply being asked to notice that self-limitation appears whenever you’re challenged with being outside your comfort zone.
Recognise Your Limiting Beliefs
You’ll quickly notice that your reluctance to move forward always relates to a specific fear, such as not being liked, or appearing selfish, or frivolous, unkind, lazy, or any other of the many fears we can hold around being judged by others.
As you start to notice this more, you’ll find the belief begins to unravel bit by bit.
It’s an ongoing process. But even just becoming aware of the beliefs that hold us back without getting sucked into the associated emotions starts the process. It will continue to unfold over time as long as you stay aware and observant.
Going Deeper
The mindset blocks are all connected even when they’re focused on a particular area of our life or psyche. For example, when a money belief locks down our capacity to generate wealth, our health will also be poor, our relationships hollow, career unfulfilling. We experience poverty in all areas of our life.
Beliefs and habits that originally came from outside the self can keep us stuck in a cycle dictated by fear. Within this cycle all aspects of our life are affected.
Break the Mindset Chains
When we shift any of the stuff from our past (that is, the stuff that creates beliefs and habits) everything else shifts as well. So, shifting relationship stuff from the past supports us to move forward in our relationship, our health, our business and in all other parts of our life.
Don’t wait until you’ve reached a point where you’re desperate for change. Step out of the emotion now and observe what’s really going on. Your blocks will begin to shift. And as you continue to use this process you will also continue to release more blocks.
No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
~ Albert Einstein
Shift Your Core Beliefs
Self-awareness, reframing thoughts, using affirmations are all somewhat helpful when dealing with fixed mindsets. However, these and many other practices are all conducted using only the conscious mind. While useful, this is a limited way to break subconscious patterns.
The key to effectively releasing limiting blocks and patterns is to adopt practices that engage with all levels of mind – the superconscious, subconscious as well as the conscious. Ritual is an excellent way to achieve this because it involves all levels of consciousness.
Most conscious ritual practices significantly engage all the senses simultaneously and therefore take your awareness into all three levels of mind, instead of just the conscious level.
Healing the Subconscious Mindset
Working with all three levels of consciousness rather than just the conscious mind is more effective because limiting blocks and patterns aren’t conscious. They are a subconscious program which means they can hide, completely hidden from our awareness. Therefore, they are really difficult to shift completely if we try to do it from the conscious mind through things like affirmations or ‘vibrating high’.
By engaging in certain types of ritual, we are able to access and utilise the three levels of mind simultaneously. Guided by the wisdom of the superconscious we can draw the power of intention from the conscious mind to break apart what’s held in the subconscious.
Creating and enacting ritual is powerful because it doesn’t rely on what someone else does for you. It allows you to step up, own your power and take control of your life. It opens the door for you to become a Self-determined Being.
DISCLAIMER
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Do not use this article to diagnose a health condition. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested anywhere on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2026. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from the author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard, Alchemy of Wellness and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
