How Our Relationships Reveal Our Beliefs

by Jonathan on April 14, 2010

Relationships-and-Beliefs

What do you see when you look at the world around you? What do you see when you look at the people around you? We all see things that we are attracted to, and things we don’t want anything to do with, isn’t that true?

How objective do you think your perspective really is? If we could all be totally objective then we would all see things the same way, wouldn’t we? But we don’t! We see things differently because we are all different. Much of what we see in the people around us, and the world in general, is actually a reflection of our beliefs about ourselves.

Life is a mirror of sorts

When you’re around a person that leaves you feeling annoyed, nervous, troubled, suspicious, edgy, or in any way uncomfortable, where does that come from? Very often, some part of what you are seeing is a reflection of a hidden belief you have about yourself, one that you are not very comfortable with. If you’re harboring hidden fears and insecurities, and what someone else is saying or doing is reinforcing those, you’re going to feel uncomfortable around them. That will be an uncomfortable relationship.

Likewise, when you’re around people who encourage you to feel loved and appreciated, part of what you are feeling is a reflection of your own belief that you deserve to be loved and appreciated. In this case, the people around you are reinforcing an empowering belief that you have about yourself. So, you are naturally attracted to those people and want to have a closer relationship with them.  

What are you attracting into your life?

This kind of attraction works both ways. Other people will be drawn to you if you tend to reflect their own empowering beliefs about themselves. However, if something about you reminds them of their own fears and insecurities, they won’t want to be around you.

There’s a lot we can learn from this. By studying our response to our relationships, and other people’s response to us, we can gain insight into possible limiting beliefs that we need to work on. Once we become aware of the fact that what we believe about ourselves is being revealed by the quality of our relationships, it puts us in an excellent position to address any belief that we are not especially pleased with.

Honesty is required!

Of course, this all sounds good in theory, but being brutally honest with ourselves, especially concerning some hidden limiting belief, can be somewhat uncomfortable. Our ego wants to resist the fact that anything unpleasant is actually a reflection of a negative belief on our part. It’s much easier to give credit for our discomfort to someone else. This is where resistance comes in.

After all, who of us wants to think that that annoying person we just met is somehow a reflection of an inner insecurity? Who of us wants to think that we are somehow responsible for the friction that exists in our relationships? Really, who of us wants to think anything negative about ourselves?

To be honest, we need to be balanced

Balance means that we need to be able to discern which signals being reflected back to us in our relationships are revealing limiting beliefs, and which ones have nothing to do with us. If we treat our mate with love and compassion, and we see someone else being abusive, we are not going to like it.

That doesn’t mean that we have a hidden abusive streak in us. To the contrary, it probably means that we believe that everyone deserves to be treated with a measure of respect. So, not everything that feels negative is a reflection of some hidden limiting belief. To think that it was would be completely unbalanced. Let’s face it, some things are just bad regardless of what you believe.

Do you like what you see in your relationships?

This can be a hard concept to come to grips with because it means that we need to accept responsibility for our own perception of reality. We need to be open to the idea that our beliefs determine our perception, and that our relationships reveal those beliefs.

Let’s look at some specific, hidden beliefs that our relationships might be revealing. None of this is designed to hurt anyone’s feelings. Actually, it is designed to do the exact opposite. If we are harboring negative or limiting beliefs about ourselves, chances are pretty good that we are already in pain because of it. We can’t work on a problem until we are aware that there is a problem. Awareness is the first step.

3 relationship scenarios that reveal limiting beliefs

1) Many people are consistently attracted to people who reinforce their limiting beliefs. If you believe that you don’t deserve to be loved, then you will be attracted to people who are incapable of loving you. They will also be attracted to you. No matter how hard you try, that relationship will never be deeply satisfying. This will only serve to reinforce your limiting belief that you don’t deserve to be loved.

2) Low self esteem carries with it a sense of unworthiness. If we feel unworthy of a mutually respectful relationship, we will be attracted to people who lack the ability to show respect. They will also be attracted to us. It may not be real obvious at first, but our radar can sense the signs and draw us in. In this case, familiarity will probably breed contempt and our belief that we are unworthy of respect will be reinforced.

3) If we believe that people are basically unkind, how will that influence our relationship choices? We will probably find someone we are attracted to on another level and then make excuses for their lack of kindness. Eventually, when their unkindness is directed at us, our limiting belief will be reinforced and we will have the hurt feelings to prove it.

Awareness is the path to freedom

All three of the relationship scenarios are painful. None of us wants that to be our reality. So, how do we avoid playing into these traps? Once we become consciously aware that it is our beliefs that are creating an unpleasant relationship experience, we have taken the first step toward freedom. Then we can take decisive steps to dismantle those limiting beliefs.

When limiting beliefs are replaced with empowering beliefs, it changes the kind of people we are attracted to, and the kind of people who are attracted to us. It changes the whole dynamic of our relationships. We begin to build relationships with people who reinforce our positive beliefs about ourselves. This will completely change what we take into a relationship, and that, in turn, will change the way we experience our relationships.

Take the next step and amaze yourself

Our reality is the manifestation of our beliefs. If we don’t like our current reality all we need to do is change our beliefs and we will get a new reality. If you want to do this, the easiest way is to get my book 7 Simple Steps. I’ll walk you through it step-by-step and you will get results, guaranteed.

Bottom line, you deserve to be loved and treated with kindness. You are worthy of respect and consideration. And you can build satisfying relationships with people who want to reinforce your empowering beliefs. What you believe you can achieve!

Do you find it easy or difficult to face limiting beliefs?
Do you feel this provides any insight into your relationships?
Do you think it’s easier to take responsibility or assign blame?
The lines are open!

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{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }

ZuzannaM April 14, 2010 at 2:02 pm

Hello Jonathan,

This is one of my favorite subjects when comes to relationship. You have gathered the most important issues that can influence people in a positive or a negative way, and how the relationship will shape later in life. Thank you for the outstanding article.

Much enjoyed reading,
Zuzanna

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 14, 2010 at 2:47 pm

Hi Zuzanna, thanks so much for your continued support. So often, people don’t have a clue why their relationships aren’t working out. The hardest thing can be to admit that we may be the source of the problem.

We are all like magnets attracting according to our beliefs. In the case of hidden, limiting beliefs, we may be attracting the exact opposite of what we really want.

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Steven Aitchison April 14, 2010 at 8:30 pm

Jonathan, this really is great stuff.

My wife works with abused women as a counsellor, and she was explaining why abused women seem to attract multiple partners who abuse them. She said it’s not the women who find these types of men it’s the abusive men who are attracted to these vulnerable women because of their low self esteem.
Steven Aitchison´s last amazing blog post ..The Irrational Fear of Public Speaking and 10 Ways to Overcome It My ComLuv Profile

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 14, 2010 at 9:32 pm

Hi Steve, I am no expert in her field, and your wife makes an excellent point, predators are always looking for pray. Still, low self-esteem does change a persons beliefs about what kind of relationship they do or don’t deserve. Those beliefs send a nonverbal signal that say “here I am” to the predator. It’s like the wild animal who is attracted to the smell of fear.

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Jeremy Johnsson April 14, 2010 at 9:43 pm

You: “Many people are consistently attracted to people who reinforce their limiting beliefs”

Now that’s an interesting point there. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I’ve never really sat down and dissected my limiting beliefs, but now is as good a time as any. Thankfully I have a wife who loves unconditionally and is very compassionate. I’ve seen many who consistently attract a partner that pays little attention to them. I think you’ve hit this right on, thanks for the eye opener.
Jeremy Johnsson´s last amazing blog post ..Approach Motivation and Avoidance Motivation My ComLuv Profile

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Hi Jeremy, having the kind of wife you do is probably a good clue about what kind of beliefs you have. That’s a good thing.

Before we can dissect our limiting beliefs, we need to discover them. That can be a tricky process for several reasons. For one thing, they have likely been with us for as long as we can remember. And because they are emotionally based, they are rarely susceptible to logic.

Those are just two of the reasons why people continue with beliefs that don’t serve them.

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Mike King April 14, 2010 at 10:38 pm

Fantastic assessment and guidance here Jonathan. I see the gap with following limiting beliefs a result of fear to change from the known or comfortable. We don’t even realize it, but a limiting belief is comfortable so until we can be willing to take the risk and make some change, we will always follow relationships like those we believe we have always had. A great topic here, obviously one very dear to me on relationships and its advice like yours and your focus on how beliefs become the principles that raises that awareness you mention to realize how it impacts our relationships so that we can change. Great stuff!
Mike King´s last amazing blog post ..70 Reminders to Help You Break Any Barrier My ComLuv Profile

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 15, 2010 at 12:07 pm

Hi Mike, that’s a very important point about being comfortable with our beliefs, even those that don’t serve us. And you are also right about not realizing what’s happening. To us our beliefs represent reality. We accept them as fact and rarely question their validity. So, talking about riding ourselves of limiting beliefs is simple, actually doing it is a bit more complex.

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Lana - {Daring Clarity} April 14, 2010 at 11:32 pm

Jonathan this is a brilliant post! Thank you for writing it. I absolutely agree that people we attract into our lives are in one way or another mirror images of us. And your explanation about limiting beliefs is so powerful. Thank you!
Lana – {Daring Clarity}´s last amazing blog post ..Sex and Money – Two Of The Most Powerful Tools For Conscious Growth …Are They? My ComLuv Profile

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 15, 2010 at 12:10 pm

Hi Lana, glad you liked it. Most people don’t understand the lengths we will go to in a subconscious effort to prove that our beliefs are true. That’s because we see them as true and or sense of security feels threatened when our beliefs come under scrutiny.

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Xuan April 15, 2010 at 2:16 am

Thank you for this article, it helps me to understand why I am constantly attracting unsuitable men, and I realize there were limiting beliefs that I never really confronted and uprooted.

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 15, 2010 at 12:12 pm

Hi Xuan, that’s excellent that you made that connection. Remember, awareness is the first step toward freedom.

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Greg Blencoe April 15, 2010 at 10:39 am

Hi Jonathan,

I keep coming across the idea of the relationships in our lives as mirrors. And it was great to read your take on the subject.

In my life, I have found that my outer world indeed reflects my inner world. Relationships with the same people can be completely different when your inner world shifts.

As you mentioned, it can be VERY difficult to be honest with ourselves, but this honesty is the path to freedom.

The good part is that we are in control of ourselves, so we have the ability to change who we are for the better.

It’s almost funny how you can’t trick the universe. If you are sending out a negative vibration (even if nobody else can tell), you will bring more of this into your life.

Therefore, I’ve tried to focus on what I can do to send out a positive vibration as much as possible. One of the things that has really helped me is daily meditation.
Greg Blencoe´s last amazing blog post ..How to get your ideal boyfriend/girlfriend My ComLuv Profile

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 15, 2010 at 2:46 pm

So true Greg, much of what we receive is according to what we give. It’s amazing how many people go through life not fully grasping that. They want to blame external sources for the situation that they have created. There is absolutely no power in that mindset.

Of course, my readers are way smarter than that. Seriously, we’ve got some very wise people interacting here and I appreciate you all very much.

Welcome to Advanced Life Skills Greg, great to have you here.

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Liz April 15, 2010 at 12:15 pm

Interesting post — love reading about relationships and how to improve them. I especially like the part about what happens if we believe people, essentially, are unkind and what do we expect of people. Take a look at Loving in the Moment by Gina Lake — so much good information and tips there. She stresses taking responsibility for your feelings, don’t make what your desires, preferences and how you think things should be done more important than love; quit trying to change the other person, forgive and forget, love the one you’re with — FOCUS on what you’re grateful for and not what you think is missing (what a concept, I know!) and make your self happy. Other people aren’t hear to fulfill your needs and make you happy — you need to learn to be happy with however life is showing up. Great, great points, I think!
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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 15, 2010 at 2:57 pm

Hi Liz, relationships can be our biggest blessing, or our worst nightmare. A lot of people struggle in this area and I am always open to hearing about helpful resources. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, it’s nice to have you here.

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Brad Davis April 15, 2010 at 2:24 pm

This is very interesting – I haven’t thought of my friends before as reflections of my beliefs and I look forward to thinking this through and observing what it says about me! The correlation is very obvious in the negative examples you mention which brings one to conclude that the positive effect must be quite powerful as well.
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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 15, 2010 at 3:01 pm

Hey Brad, yes the positive side of this is very empowering. If we are attracted to positive people, and they are attracted to us, it speaks volumes about our beliefs. Having positive people around us also creates an empowering relationship dynamic that can greatly facilitate our personal growth and development.

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J.D. Meier April 15, 2010 at 5:37 pm

I think “life is a mirror” is one of those pithy gems that reminds us to look for growth from the inside out.
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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 16, 2010 at 8:07 am

Hey J.D., you know how we take away certain phrases from articles we’ve enjoyed? Those little “catch phrases” or “quote worthy” combos of words that just feel right to us for some reason. I liked “pithy gems.” Thanks!

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Stephen - Rat Race Trap April 15, 2010 at 6:56 pm

Hi Jonathan, I know the thing about you not liking in others what you don’t like in yourself. I’m sure it is true to some extent as you say, but on the other hand I have a difficult really internalizing it.

I do completely accept the part about when you change your beliefs about yourself you will attract different relationships. Changing your beliefs changes you and when you change you will naturally attract and be attracted to different kinds of people.
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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 16, 2010 at 8:20 am

Hi Stephen, I’m not all that connected to “not liking in others what you don’t like in yourself” either. My thing is that that whole analogy is based on how we subconsciously compare other people with our hidden beliefs about ourselves. I think that is what triggers the like or don’t like response a good part of the time.

This is a trait that seems much more apparent in people with hidden insecurities. If we feel secure in our own identity as a person, then we don’t necessarily do the whole comparison thing in the same way. Our beliefs are still influencing what we see, but a sense of inner peace and security paints the people around us in a much more positive light, which isn’t as noticeable.

That’s probably why you don’t resonate with this tendency. You probably recognize it in other people when you see it expressed in a negative way, but don’t really experience it like that first hand. Isn’t that great?

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Phil - Less Ordinary Living April 16, 2010 at 7:28 am

Jonathan -

It is amazing how much we impose our own beliefs on the world around us. We live so much of our lives in our own heads that everything we perceive comes through that filter. This is certainly true for relationships and when we project, we can certainly learn more about ourselves as a result. Typically when we find fault in a partner this is a reflection of our feelings about ourself in reality. Thanks for a thought provoking post.

Phil
Phil – Less Ordinary Living´s last amazing blog post ..How to stop holding yourself back and make it happen My ComLuv Profile

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 16, 2010 at 8:31 am

Hey Phil, as you said “we impose our own beliefs on the world around us and everything we perceive comes through that filter.” The degree we do this is probably not fully appreciated most of the time.

Beliefs and filtered perception are what create our reality. We a never completely objective because we can’t escape the influence of this process. That’s what gives us the ability to create any reality we want.

So, used correctly our beliefs and filters can be very empowering. For the vast majority however, this process is never acknowledged and it seems like life just happens. That’s why it all comes back to managing our beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. This is how we exercise our power to create.

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Nea| Self Improvement Saga April 17, 2010 at 2:04 pm

I definitely agree that much of what we experience with people is related to what we’re attracting via our thoughts and beliefs. But it’s hard for many people to accept this.

It is so so so much easier to just say the world is filled with people who are mean, stupid, dishonest, unfair, hateful, or some other negative trait than it is to look within.

If I run into one person that’s a problem for me, I just move along. But if there’s a pattern, I stop to check myself.
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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 17, 2010 at 7:23 pm

Hi Nea, I really like your balanced approach here. When you see a pattern developing you investigate by doing some self-evaluation. That is excellent. Thanks for sharing it.

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Sibyl - alternaview April 17, 2010 at 6:16 pm

Jonathan: This was a great post. I have always believed that our relationships are really a mirror and what we see lacking in other people is in most instances something we think is lacking in ourselves. However, I really had never thought how that same insight could be used to identify our own limiting beliefs and fears as you suggested. That really is so true though and it makes total sense that we could really identify our limiting beliefs by just examining our relationships. Thanks for sharing that insight…very helpful

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 17, 2010 at 7:30 pm

Hi Sible and welcome to Advanced Life Skills. It’s really nice to have you here. Many people feel that the people in our lives are somehow reflecting back some aspect of ourselves, but they rarely understand the dynamic involved. Once we see the role of beliefs in the process it really opens things up so we can learn from it.

By the way, everything works the same for empowering beliefs. We will always create the reality that supports our beliefs.

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Amit Sodha - The Power Of Choice April 19, 2010 at 2:26 am

Hey Jonathan,

Very well said and it’s amazing how much of this concept is missed.

I was at a dinner party a while back and I met this woman there who was adamant that soon one day my positivity would be ‘slapped’ out of me at some point in the future. Little did she know what I’ve been through and despite all that has I’ve chosen my beliefs and how I respond to those even. She, on the other hand, was closed off, cold and above all a hater of life and could see why she was now attracting those kinds of perceptions, beliefs and people.

I’ve been through my fair share of crap over the last two years, I’m sure we all have, but time and time again people have come through for me. I’ve been blessed.

Thanks for a great perspective on relationships Jonathan. Maybe the follow up could be on how to break that particular cycle.
Amit Sodha – The Power Of Choice´s last amazing blog post ..69 Simple Tips To Increase Your Profile My ComLuv Profile

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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills April 19, 2010 at 11:46 am

Hey Amit, thanks for sharing your personal experience. It’s no big deal to be positive when everything is wonderful, even a grump can do that. Seeing the positive aspect of trials and challenges is something altogether different though. It’s called personal development.

When we choose the positive over the negative we empower ourselves and those around us. What your negative lady friend failed to recognize is, we also raise the quality of our life experience. A positive person will always have more to feel positive about because that is where their focus is.

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Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com April 25, 2010 at 12:40 am

I totally agree with the life is a mirror analogy. I think that all the time. When I’m angry people around me tend to appear angry. It’s not just once it happens, its every time recently so I know this to be true.

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