What beliefs do you hold about yourself? The dictionary defines belief as “A principle accepted as a truth or real without proof, an opinion, a conviction”
Your beliefs are at the core of who you are … or more accurately who you think you are. Beliefs guide your decisions and behaviour in all areas of life and can have a significant impact on you or your business. They determine what you think is or is not possible. More often than not they prove to be self-fulfilling prophecies. An illustration of this can be found in the number of studies carried out in educational circles, where teachers have been led, falsely, to believe that a group of students are significantly more able than the rest of the class. The results consistently proved that both pupil and teacher expectations were raised and the supposedly ‘more able’ students enjoyed increased self-esteem and achieved higher grades than their equally able counterparts. The belief of the teachers and students in each study had turned an erroneous ‘fact’ into a reality.
In the world of sport, it is well known that the mind game is vitally important for success. Often two opponents are equally matched in terms of physical fitness, skill and experience. The factor that makes the difference is the mental attitude of each player.
In the early half of the 20th century the world believed it was impossible to run a mile in under 4 minutes. In May 1954 Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. Everyone was in awe, then a curious development took place, within the following years many other runners ran the mile in under 4 minutes, it was as if a spell had been broken. What was the turning point? What was the deciding factor? How did Bannister achieve the impossible? He made a conscious effort to ignore accepted belief and carefully prepared himself mentally to run in under 4 minutes that day. He was aware of the power of positive mental attitude and the dangers of falling prey to doubt and procrastination. Once he had demonstrated that it was indeed possible, others began to believe, so that they matched or exceeded his performance.
Any negative beliefs can be challenged and changed if you confront them with truth. The first step is to become aware of them.
I have a task for you, make two lists. In the first, list all the positive beliefs you have about yourself, in the second list all the negative beliefs you have about yourself.. Look at the list of positive beliefs, remember the positive things that led you to hold those beliefs, write them down. Now look at the negative beliefs , in each case ask yourself in your heart and mind do you truly, honestly believe this, if the answer is no, let go of that belief right now.
If you do believe it, why? Where did this belief come from? Who or what influenced you?
Did you form it based on only one or two experiences?
How do you feel about the person who gave you this belief? Do you respect them? Are/were they always right?
What facts back up this belief?
What is this belief costing you on a daily basis? What will holding on to this belief mean for you in the long term?
If this belief is hurting you, holding you back, and challenged by the facts are you ready to let go of this self-limiting belief? Turn the negative belief into a positive statement, write it down.
To help motivate you... if you could eliminate this belief, what could be the substantial benefits to you?
One way to stop believing that you cannot do something is to just try doing it. Once a belief has been proven wrong it loses its power, as was evident when Roger Bannister ran the mile in under 4 minutes.
Anita
Cacchioli
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