What is belief? How is it the same as or different from knowledge? If I believe I am capable of something, how does that affect the likelihood of accomplishing that thing? If I believe in a religious or ideological idea, how does that affect my life? Belief is powerful, and yet barely understood.
Let me start by defining belief as conviction that something is true or valid. Belief is raw certainty, at a very low level in the brain. Belief is like the alphabet of thoughts, like the basic rule ‘1+1=2′ of mathematics. Belief is the individual brick from which we build the houses of our understanding of the world.
Where do beliefs come from? For the most part, they come from experience. If we touch enough stones, we eventually believe all stones are hard. If we see enough ants carry food into holes in the ground, we eventually believe that ants live underground. If we fall to the ground enough times, we eventually believe that we can only fall down and not up. By repeatedly observing an event, from any combination of senses, we eventually ‘know’ the truth of that experience. We believe it.
Belief doesn’t come from analysis, but rather from repeated experience. This means we can shape our beliefs, by choosing which experiences we have. If we subject ourselves to a consistent and predictable environment, that environment will shape our beliefs. The less room there is to question or to analyze that environment, the more quickly the beliefs are formed. This shaping can be used against us, in the form of brainwashing. Or it can be used for us.
What we believe about the world influences our interpretation of it. Once we’ve had an experience enough times to form a belief, when we see a similar circumstance we will incorporate our belief into our understanding of that new event. And the mind is a very creative, flexible tool. Our interpretation of an event is influenced by our beliefs, but it also feeds and reinforces those beliefs. Believing in a higher power leads us to interpret the sunset or a blade of grass or an emotion in a way that reinforces the belief in that higher power.
On a simpler scale, believing you are able to run a mile or write a story or speak in front of strangers affects your very ability to do those things. If you believe you can, you interpret the results more favorably than if you don’t, and you strengthen that belief by doing that thing. If you believe you can’t, you criticize yourself more thoroughly, and you strengthen the belief that you can’t.
Putting this all together, we get a powerful tool: we can choose what we take part in, what environment we experience. This in turn leads to a set of beliefs that is consistent with the environment. These beliefs create reinforcing patterns in our mind that convince us more thoroughly of the truth of the beliefs with each new experience. What we fundamentally believe can be shaped by our conscious choices of where we go and what we do.
So what do you want to believe? What is a belief you hold about yourself that limits your success? What is a belief that makes you feel bad, that if it were gone would allow you to feel good? What is a belief you carry that holds you back in any way?
To overcome these limiting beliefs, all you have to do is pick a new environment, new influences. Maybe it means reading different books, watching different movies, or listening to different music. It might mean moving to a place where you feel more at home. Maybe it means finding new friends or new social groups. How much you are willing to move out of your current comfort zone is how much change you will be able to see in your results.
What do you believe about yourself that you’ve always wanted to change? Imagine yourself being different… how would you want to be? Now go find someone who has the trait or the ability you want and learn from them: learn how they got to where they are and what they do that makes them successful. Learn that it is possible and conceivable, experience what that’s like, and next thing you know, you’ll start having more and more success in that realm.
The only thing holding you back from any joy you want in life are your limiting beliefs. And you can change those. You just have to make the choice.
Other news
- And tastier, too: Tea ‘healthier’ drink than water
- Just more evidence that we’ve evolved to eat a high-carb, low-protein diet: Mediterranean Diet Cuts Death From Chronic Diseases
- Well, then, I guess they’re not so “super”: “Super” Lice, Simply Treated
Quote for the week
I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. - Bertrand Russell
From the editor
Once again, I’d like to ask for ideas for future posts. What do you want to know more about? What do you want to see changed in the world or in your life? Email me (using the feedback form on the website) or leave a comment to this article and I’ll look into it for you.
Healthy thoughts,
Jeff
