Would you like to get rid of the anxiety or anger you feel much of the time?

Because many emotions are caused by beliefs, getting rid of the beliefs can frequently eradicate negative emotions. For example, the belief that “Dogs are dangerous” will result in an emotion of fear when confronting a dog. The belief “People can’t be trusted” will result in the feeling of suspicion around people. When the beliefs are eliminated, the emotions usually will be also. There are, however, emotions in adults that appear to be caused by something in addition to beliefs.  Getting rid of beliefs is not enough.

Let me explain the source of these negative emotions, such as fear and anger, and what you need to do to stop them from occurring.

During the first few years after I developed the Lefkoe Belief Process (LBP) to eliminate limiting beliefs, clients were able to make radical changes in their behavior by eradicating the beliefs that caused the behavior. Frequently, there also were meaningful emotional changes. We started noticing, however, that sometimes a client would continue to have a trace of a specific emotion such as anger or fear, even after eliminating all the beliefs we could find that seemed to be relevant. We usually assumed that there was another belief we hadn’t yet discovered, but eventually would.

Eventually we realized that, although some emotions are the direct result of beliefs, many are responses that appear to be the result of conditioning and unrelated to beliefs. When that is the case, the Lefkoe Belief Process is not sufficient to eliminate the conditioning. (You do, however, have to use the LBP to eliminate any relevant beliefs before de-conditioning can be effective in stopping the negative emotion. If you haven’t yet experienced eliminating a belief with the LBP, go to http://www.recreateyourlife.com to try it free.)

A few years ago we developed a process we call the Lefkoe Stimulus Process (LStP). It is specifically designed to eliminate the emotions that are caused by conditioned stimuli. It is simpler to use than the LBP and usually takes only five minutes to completely eliminate the stimuli for such emotions as fear, anxiety, anger and guilt.

How Associations Early In Life Cause Negative Emotions Later In Life

Very often we are plagued by repeated negative feelings in our life, such as fear, anger, guilt,anxiety, and sadness. We experience these feelings every time specific events or circumstances occur, such as anxiety whenever we make a mistake or someone gets angry at us, or guilt whenever we are asked to do something. In many cases the events that stimulate the feeling in us do not produce the same feeling in others, and vice versa. Why does an event that is not inherently fearful produce fear (or some other emotion) in some people and not in others?

Let me explain: The classic example of this situation was an experiment a physiologist named Pavlov conducted with dogs. When presented with food, the dogs salivated. Then a bell was rung just prior to presenting the dogs with food. After numerous presentations of the food with the bell, the bell was rung and no food was delivered. The dogs salivated anyway, because they had associated the bell with the food. In other words, a stimulus that normally would not produce a response does so because it gets associated with a stimulus that does produce a response. In other words, the stimulus gets conditioned.

Here’s an example I use with my clients that will make this very clear.  Imagine that I handed you an ice cream cone with one hand and made a fist with my other hand and drew it back as if to hit you.  What would you probably feel? … Some level of anxiety if you thought you might get hit.  Now imagine that the next few times someone handed you an ice cream cone, the same thing happened and you felt anxious each time.

What do you think you would feel the next time you were handed an ice cream cone, even if there was no menacing fist? … Probably anxious.  And yet it’s clear that ice cream cones are not inherently scary.  If this next time there was no fist, only ice cream, why would you feel anxious?  Because the ice cream cone got conditioned to produce fear when it became associated with the fist.  Something was scaring you (the fist) and ice cream just happened to be there every time you got scared by the fist.

The principle is that anything that occurs repeatedly (or even once if the incident is traumatic enough) at the same time that something else is causing an emotion will itself get conditioned to produce the same emotion.

That’s how making mistakes, being criticized, not meeting expectations, being rejected, and a host of other non-scary situations get conditioned to produce anxiety (or some other emotion, such as anger).

Here is a real life example: Consider one of my clients who experienced fear whenever he was asked to do something. When did he first experience fear associated with being asked to do something? His father usually got angry and yelled at him whenever he didn’t do what his father demanded of him as a child. When my client reviewed the original cause of the feeling of fear, he discovered that the fear was not inherent in merely being asked to do something.

What caused the fear was the meaning he unconsciously attributed to his father’s threatening behavior that usually occurred when he was asked to do something: The person he depended on for his very survival seemed to be withdrawing his love. No love, no care; no care, no survival. That perception—that his survival was at stake—is what caused the fear. Being told to do things just happened to occur at the same time as something else that constantly caused fear.

Whatever is going on when you experience fear due to your parents’ anger (because their anger is an implied threat to your survival) gets conditioned to produce the same fear. The stimulus today—making mistakes, being criticized, not living up to expectations, etc.—is  not, itself, scary.

How The Lefkoe Stimulus Process Works

The Lefkoe Stimulus Process works by assisting the client to make a distinction between the original real cause of the emotion and the events that just happened to be occurring at the time.  Once that distinction is made, the conditioning is extinguished.  It’s as if you could say to Pavlov’s dogs: “Hey dogs, you can’t eat the bell.  It just happened to be ringing whenever you got food.”  If the dogs could understand that distinction they would no longer salivate at the sound of the bell.  But while dogs can’t make that distinction, humans can. And when they do, de-conditioning occurs.  You really can get rid of the anxiety, anger, and other negative emotions that plague us.

If you haven’t yet enjoyed the experience of eliminating at least one of your limiting self-esteem beliefs using The Lefkoe Method, go to htp://www.recreateyourlife.com/free where you can eliminate one crippling belief free.

Thanks for reading my blog. Comments and questions are welcomed.

Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mortylefkoe and join our fan page on Facebook (The Lefkoe Institute) to get our latest insights on the role of beliefs in our lives.

35 Comments

  1. EYahbhi December 4, 2013 at 11:56 pm - Reply

    I have always struggle with the emotion of anger and sudden fear whenever I am asked to do something even though I am good at doing that thing. Thanks for sharing this with me. Shalom.

  2. JOAO February 5, 2012 at 4:34 am - Reply

    AND SO.. THE FEARS CONTINUE, TO KNOW THE CAUSE DON´T MAKE IT FINISH VANISH, JUST MAKE MORE FRUSTATION, I RECGNIZE MY LIMITIS AND BE SUFFERING CAUSE DON´T HAVE COURAGE TO GO TO M AKE TO DO AND BECOME MORE AND MORE INADEQUATE ,NOW WITH A REASON WITH A KNOWLEDGE, JUST THIS

  3. Michael B. Reed December 11, 2011 at 12:54 am - Reply

    Morty,

    I tried your free eliminate a belief program online for “I am not good enough”. I thought it was very good, but upon further thinking about my life, and reading about other powerful beliefs I am convinced I have a lot of work to do under the hood. My biggest challenge in my life right now is SELF SABOTAGE. I am not sure what beliefs I have that support this behavior but I am sure there are many. I am convinced of this for many reasons, but most notably when ever I am on the verge of a “breakthrough” sort to speak in my life, I just quit. The biggest issues being my academic career for nursing programs, as well as many jobs. I quit before I can achieve any success in my life, even though things are on the right track and/or I am doing well. I know deep down I want these things in my life. I also have a LOT of social phobia and social anxiety. I think your methods would create a miracle in my life if only I knew what to do to end this self sabotage and anxiety. I look forward to any input you might have. Thank you so much.

    • Morty Lefkoe December 11, 2011 at 12:27 pm - Reply

      Hi Michael,

      If you now see the power of eliminating beleifs, I would suggest that you get our Natural Confidence program that helps you eliminate 23 of the most common beliefs and conditionings. That will go a long way to reducing your social anxiety and tendency for self-sabotage. Check it out at http://recreateyourlife.com/naturalconfidence

      If that doesn’t totally solve the problem, I suggest a few phone or Skype sessions with one of our Certified Lefkoe Method facilitators. You can get more information about those sessions by calling us at (415) 506-4472.

      If you have any additional questions, please let me now.

      Love,Morty

      • Michael B. Reed December 11, 2011 at 3:14 pm - Reply

        Morty,

        Thank you for your quick reply, I will look into the program first as you mentioned. Is there a money back guarantee with the natural confidence program? Can you explain any guarantees you offer? Also, I see one of your daughters attends Washington University in St. Louis? Thats fantastic as I am also in St. Louis. Thank you again Morty for your time and consideration with my questions.

        • Michael B. Reed December 11, 2011 at 3:15 pm - Reply

          p.s. ……Forgot to ask. Is it possible to work with you Morty? Do you still work with the public? Thank you.

          • Morty Lefkoe December 11, 2011 at 4:14 pm

            Hi Michel,

            Shelly has been working with 20+ clients a week for over 20 years. She will be your facilitator.

            Love, Morty

        • Morty Lefkoe December 11, 2011 at 4:06 pm - Reply

          Hi Michael,

          Yes there is a lifetime guarantee.

          Love,Morty

  4. Lax October 4, 2011 at 12:37 pm - Reply

    Great article. I have started reading your blog only recently. I think I first came here through a link on Steve Pavlina’s site.

  5. admin February 24, 2010 at 4:28 pm - Reply

    Hi Lira,

    Glad to hear the program has been so good for you. Would you be willing to send us a testimonial describing the value you’ve gotten since taking our program.

    If so, please send it to Morty@lefkoeinstitute.com

    Regards, Morty
    P.S. Thanks for the link.

  6. admin February 24, 2010 at 4:22 pm - Reply

    You can now get each of the 23 beliefs and conditionings separately. You asked for it and you got it. Check them out at http://recreateyourlife.com/store.

    Regards, Morty

  7. Astrid February 24, 2010 at 2:41 pm - Reply

    To James: Yes there IS ONE QUESTION (with a few outbranchings –as it were) that is Universal and almost universally NOT recognized as the VERY BASE on which ALL ELSE RESTS!…. and that is: do we as a God’s Creation want to remain Claypeople : always through brake down of Matter –or we willing to understand that we can (and “Should”) reclaim our Divine Birthright which is to be what Jesus called My Father’s Son//s/Daughters =Divine Light Beings with a body more of Light than Clay and in that state living ABOVE & BEYOND DESTRUCTION of Matter through decay/DEATH !….ALL else will follow one way or the other this very UNDERSTANDING: ” …to live Life Everlasting…” (Jesus literally meant it and meant it literally! ) … handing us the INFO/INSTRUCTION PLAN … if only we can see the forest for the trees.ALL Religions are HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY, in todays form –perverted as they’ve been by the cowards…; our so called (s. c.) leaders– most are twisted by the Career Crooks (also known as the “Elit” ) not to work for us ) to keep us away from seeing /recognizing /feeling our own true Divine Self /Me ( “I’m just Me” …you heard that one!…haven’t you…you might have said it yourself a few times!….SAY IT AGAIN and KNOW IT IS TRUE!)

  8. Shahrzad July 7, 2009 at 9:00 pm - Reply

    Hi Morty,
    Amazing, your blog always come when I most needed.
    And the wonder is that you talk about the subjekt that I think about at the moment I got your blog.
    Your program helped me to over come my fear, see possibility in life insted of limitation.
    And now I`m sure that I choose the right path in my life.
    Many thanks
    Better and better
    /Shahrzad

  9. David July 5, 2009 at 10:22 am - Reply

    note to Robert Litjens: asking James to give Morty’s program away for free is soliciting copyright theft. Morty has the right to decide how, to whom, and for how much, the work HE developed gets created….and Robert: what contribution are YOU committed to at the same level that I’m committed to touching people’s hearts with my songs?

  10. admin May 17, 2009 at 10:04 am - Reply

    Hi Leila,

    Most people form their basic beliefs about themselves,life and people by the time they are six, before they ever get to school. But it certainly is possible for people to form beliefs about how smart they are, their ability to learn, taking chances, etc. in school. Our current educational system is toxic.

    Thanks for your interest in our work, Morty

  11. Leila May 17, 2009 at 4:38 am - Reply

    Thanks Morty, you gave such a clear explanation. Are you actually a psychologist? (Just interested). I was interested to read about the most common beliefs – procrastination, fear of rejection, criticising voice in mind etc.. Do you think they are linked in any way to our education system? Sure, parents use these methods of controlling children but so does schooling. Which environment is more likely to produce the beliefs or do you think they somehow feed into each other.

  12. Alice May 9, 2009 at 10:08 am - Reply

    Hi Robert,
    8 billion copys? I read that there are at the moment only 6.78… billion people living on this planet. Whom else you include? In my next live I will become the …, able to print money, and then I will love it to fullfill your wish.
    Up to now, lets not quarrel. The worth of Mortys programm goes far beyond financial calculations. And refering to the price, it touches already the range of a humanitarian offer to the world.

  13. Robert Litjens May 7, 2009 at 4:15 pm - Reply

    sorry taylor

    not enough info

    but working on MIND READ.

    Maybe help me uncover limited belief conditioning around that.

  14. Taylore Halsden May 7, 2009 at 2:19 pm - Reply

    Sorry folks…..tooo much information!

    • admin May 7, 2009 at 2:35 pm - Reply

      Hi Taylore,

      Thanks for your blog post. A quick question.

      Is it that you aren’t at all interested in finding out why you have the negative emotions you do and how to get rid of them? Or,
      Did I take too many words to provide the explanation.

      Sorry my post didn’t work for you, for whatever reasons.

      Regards, Morty

  15. Jéssica May 7, 2009 at 5:13 am - Reply

    Hi Morty
    Thanks for sharing this. Simple examples like the one you gave about the experiment with dogs makes things much easier to understand.
    This post has a lot to do with the atage I’m currently at. I’m aware of everything I have to do, I’m aware of my blocking beliefs and rationally I don’t have those beliefs anymore but some emotions keep getting in the way. And that is the most important part, achieving and attracting what we want isn’t so much about what we think but about how we feel.
    I just realised that I’m addicted to some bad thoughts, like rejection and fear of trusting people. I compare it to smokers who are trying to quit. Although I’ve never smoked in my life, I guess this is how they feel when they’re quitting.
    They know that’s bad for them, and they don’t want to do that anymore. But sometimes there’s an incontrollable will just to taste a cigarrette for a few seconds and they do it and instantly afterwards they feel bad about doing it but now they are a little bit relieved and think that next time that will comes they have to say no to it.
    That’s been happening to me. The emotions are bad and I don’t like feeling them, but for some reason it’s like I need them, and after experiencing just a little bit of that bad emotion I feel kind of relieved.
    I’m working hard on quitting. Many times I can push the will to have that emotion away and I feel a little weird. But it’s been getting better. Everytime the will comes I get to push it away faster and feel it for less time.
    When I realised what happens to me I remembered the movie “What the bleep”, it explains very well how in our brains we are addicted to some bad feelings. It’s so strange, the feel bad but at the same time it’s like we need it. Very creepy…

  16. Robert Litjens May 6, 2009 at 4:05 pm - Reply

    OOPS I REREAD MY POST… I HOPE it gave the INTENDED IDEA

    WHAT I MEANT WAS that JAMES BUYS!! EVERY SINGLE COPY (8 BILLION COPIES x $199 less Mortys Bulk dicount) THEN JAMES GIVES it away out requiring no money… AND BECOMES the greatest humanitarian ever lived… PLUS KNOW he MAINTAINED HIS OWN goal…

    Just wanted to be CLEAR.

    =====================
    NOT ENOUGH
    =====================
    You are in a very fortunate place right now.. that makes “not enough” not a problem… Morty has a FREE site that can help you become enough… to START on your “greatest humanitarian ever”

    James
    DO IT!!

    ASSISTANCE IS already THERE
    mission

  17. Morty Lefkoe May 6, 2009 at 3:33 pm - Reply

    We have a training scheduled to start soon. We sent you a separate email with details.

    Regards, Morty

  18. Morty Lefkoe May 6, 2009 at 3:31 pm - Reply

    Hi Vinay,

    Actually we have had many clients with all 23 beliefs and many more. I had most of them myself plus well over a hundred more.

    We will be offering individual beliefs and separate packages, by the end of the month if the technical aspects can be worked out.

    Regards, Morty

  19. Lira May 6, 2009 at 9:38 am - Reply

    Morty,

    I like the detail in the article, and I really like your program. The videos seem simple at first, but the more beliefs I got rid of, the easier and faster it became to get rid of any limiting belief. However, even more powerful was the third part of the program… removing the conditioning. These exercises really opened up my life and I’m excited to be moving forward with my goals with less than half the fear & anxiety I had before.

    Plus, I can now tell when I’m dealing with a limiting belief or a conditioned fear response and eliminate it on my own. Thanks!
    –Lira

    P.S. I have linked to your program for my readers in the Writers Cave .

  20. Vinay May 6, 2009 at 8:44 am - Reply

    Every word in this article makes lot of sense. I agree with you Morty. I think you should think of splitting 199 dollar into small packages. Not into each one, may be into a group of packages.

    I doubt if anyone can live with all the 23 beliefs you have identified. Few might have beliefs in some areas. In my opinion splitting into several areas or packages should be good for your clients(we) and your business.!

    Thanks for this wonderful article.

  21. Christine May 6, 2009 at 7:48 am - Reply

    Want a great article, I am always trying to complete myself with my life journey, such great joy I have found. Thank you for the wonderful article.

  22. Cila May 6, 2009 at 6:30 am - Reply

    Great! althogh I learned about conditioning, it is the first time I have realized why even positive stimuli cause me anxiety. The example with the ice-cream and the fist, explained clearly, has opened my eyes!
    This for the rationalization of my behavior. How do I learn to use it, requires further training. For the moment, I have food for thought. Thank you

  23. Eli May 6, 2009 at 3:49 am - Reply

    Hello Morty,

    Do you currently train new “Lefkoe Method” Practitioners?

    Regards,
    Eli

  24. Pamela Murawski May 5, 2009 at 7:19 pm - Reply

    I think this is negative to focus on not being good enough and your words are negative. I like to feed my brain with positive words and thoughts. I will pass on this! I think it is because doing the program just once helped so much. I am beyond that now. Thanks!

  25. Alice May 5, 2009 at 6:17 pm - Reply

    This, James, is such an astonishing and considerable idea: “Give that program away and you will be remembered as the greatest humanitarian that ever lived!!”
    What could this mean? The program would spread around the world within three months. There should be a “giving back”- adress, where people are asked to pay what and whatever they think they can afford, sooner or later within the next ten years. They must agree to give sometime something back, because a gift must be given back in some way, to preserve the worth of a relation. As love can survive only in a relation of equal exchange. The world would get a chance to change for better, and also Mortys world would change with all that global energy of so many gratefull people around. We are facing difficult and dangerous times – this could be the root for another mentality, based on resposibility and freedom of mind. The cathedral of money is going to break down into pieces because it has ruined its bases, and we are all looking with anxiety up to the scrunching roof.
    And I bet, that no less money would finally flow to the giver, because of the amount of poeple involved and the personal fame, that always pays back in some way. A revolutionary experiment, worth to be tried out at least for a certain period of time.
    But all this is up to admirable Morty.

  26. eti May 5, 2009 at 3:47 pm - Reply

    I’m not good enough!

  27. Robert Litjens May 5, 2009 at 3:22 pm - Reply

    =====>>>> being remembered as the greatest humanitarian that ever lived!!

    Hmmmm heres a thought James…

    that can make your wish to be remembered as the greatest humanitarian that ever lived come true..

    Why not buy the program and distribute it for free to anyone that asks. I will be happy to help you by sending people to you as that greatest humanitarian of all time.

    SHOW the world the benefit and advantage of YOUR powerful BELIEFS around MONEY.

    I love it.

    Hey don’t forget the guy that gave you the idea… be good to me james.. make me first on your list.

  28. admin May 5, 2009 at 2:13 pm - Reply

    Hi James,

    After working with thousands of people we’ve discovered there is no single belief that creates all the problems in our lives. Sorry!

    We actually do give away the most common belief that underlies almost every problem, I’m not good enough.

    The program we sell for only $199 has the 23 beliefs and conditionings that cause some of the most common problems, such as causing the critical little voice in our minds, fear of rejection, needing the approval of others, social anxiety, procrastination, perfectionism, lack of confidence, and others.

    Regards, Morty

  29. james May 5, 2009 at 12:48 pm - Reply

    What is the #1 belief which stops us living our life at the top? stops us with money, with relationships, with work we were meant to do. There has got to be a BASIC one that sabotages almost ALL individuals. Give that program away and you will remembered as the greatest humanitarian that ever lived!!

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