If you Think You Can, You Can: Your Powerful Mind

"The Ultimate Reality is that everything you think you need, you already have. It exists inside of you. Indeed, it is you. You are what you need - and therefore, you give yourself everything you need in any given moment." — Neale Donald Walsch

Let me tell you a story about how I started Hypnotherapy via High School Volleyball...

Everything about Volleyball fascinated me (except the part about winning–who cares? Shhhhh, don’t tell my old teammates, though.)

For anyone who’s played sports, you probably get me, although you may have cared more about winning. The teamwork. The support. The strategy of the game. The mindset. The inside jokes and weird group spirit-building rituals. And of course, there’s nothing like the butterflies you get on game day just before taking the court. You have to do this thing. In front of people. Where the rubber meets the road, and you could fail or succeed–but publicly.

Um, thrilling. And the best part? Win or lose, we never had to do it alone. We experienced ALL the feels as a community. We reveled in the triumphs and took on the challenges–together. There’s something radically comforting about that.

Volleyball was one of the experiences where I first learned about helping other people, and asking for help for myself as a teenager. And sometimes the help came when I most needed it but least expected it. (Isn't that always the way it happens?)

Like that ONE game. The one where I forgot everything I knew about the fundamentals. Who am I kidding?  I wasn’t a professional athlete, so this happened on a somewhat regular basis.  Every serve, pass, or hit was a huge fail–when I had been honing my skills to a fine point all season and my coaches and team were happy with me.

What was happening? Why couldn’t I make anything connect? I had let my team down and couldn’t fix it. UGH.

My coach pulled me over to the sideline before I completely self-destructed–and I knew a “pep-talk” was coming. (Note to the reader, these never feel as peppy as they sound. You know you messed up—and now there’s an intervention. In front of an audience. Not comfortable.)

The Inspiration I Needed

Here’s what she said: “If you think you can, you can.  And if you think you can’t, you can’t.” 

My coach saw what was getting me down–and I couldn’t. It wasn’t a lack of skill or knowledge.  I clearly needed a self-belief reset–and because I was neck-deep in failure feelings, I couldn’t clear the mental fog of defeat and get back to the facts of my hard-won ability.

She saw that I was getting in my own way and shared that simple but profound phrase. This was not the first and definitely not the last time I had this experience.

So many of our “failures” come from self-doubt. Even though most babies are born believing they are worthy of care and love, often there are events that take this belief away.  Self-belief is fragile. It only takes a couple of missteps to erase all of our successes in our minds.

I had demonstrated over and over I could do what I needed to, but those last few disastrous plays obliterated my confidence–my knowing. 

I don’t remember whether we won or lost. (I know, you were probably hoping for a champion story-book ending with visions of me riding around on top of my teammates’ shoulders.)  

We Have ALL the Answers we are Seeking

Although I didn’t know it at the time, what I took away from that two-sentence pep-talk guided my personal and professional steps for the rest of my life. I recognized this simple truth: We. Have. Everything. We. Need. Inside. Us. Occasionally, we forget and need to be reminded. Our beliefs are the lens through which we see the world and our experience. 

That tiny statement from my coach stayed with me for years–I never forgot it. And the idea that we are all equipped with everything we need lit me up and fueled my inner calling to help facilitate transformation.

I’d love to emphasize here–we are not broken and we do not need to be fixed, no matter how bad it appears. We. Have. Everything. We. Need. Inside. Us.

My Career was Ignited

Hypnotherapy is a very powerful reminder of what we can do with our big, beautiful brains. It allows us to get out of our heads and into our bodies and hearts.  It allows us to go deep below the surface of what our conscious, logical mind knows. 

Our minds are more powerful than most of us know. However, it would be easy to read that statement and think, “Yeah, right. Sure, I have everything I need inside me. Then why isn’t my life perfect right now? Is all that power only available to people with money, resources, connections, or those air-brushed folks I always see on Instagram who have it all together and appear happy all the damn time?”

The trick is to uncover your power and agency in a way you can actually believe. You must learn and embody the lessons that are offered to you as you evolve.  Because it happens in tiny steps that feel…REAL. 

One discovery at a time allows you to uncover all the ways your brain has convinced you otherwise and re-program those limiting messages. Insert the overused (for good reason) metaphor of personal growth is like peeling back the layers of an onion.

Here’s an example. It’s not that you say to yourself “Okay, I believe I can have a million dollars,” (if that’s what you truly want.) “So, why isn’t it showing up in a big bucket of bills?” 

No. It’s you saying that you believe you can have that thing you really want and know exactly WHY you want it, but then it’s days of practicing that new mindset, connecting with and cultivating the feeling of having what you want, taking consistent action to get closer to your goal, and enlisting the support you need and want to achieve the thing. You don’t have to do it alone, and none of us should, either.

Hypnotherapy for Transformation

Hypnotherapy is a tool to help you uncover those beliefs.  It can help you recognize the paradigm of how you see the world.  I would be honored to support you with a personalized session to guide you to see the answers that you have within.

If you are unsure if hypnotherapy is the right fit for you and your desired transformation at this time, consider a clarity coaching call.  In this 30-minute coaching call for new client, we can discuss where you are, where you'd like to be, and a strategy to bridge the gap.

It would be my honor to have the opportunity to support you.

Take care,

Sara Raymond