It is the power of belief that makes things happen in our lives – Zeenat Merchant Syal
Nothing has ever been achieved without belief. A belief can make us or break us. The power of belief is so powerful that it is responsible for the great monuments and social reforms but also many crimes and atrocities.
Belief is stronger than a thought. In fact, a belief is a thought that we continue to think about again and again. A belief is a thought that has been transferred from our conscious mind into the subconscious mind. It is said that about 95% of our choices, decisions and actions come from our subconscious mind, that is our set of beliefs – about ourselves and the world around us.
We may not realize it, but most of our subconscious beliefs are self-limiting. A belief that you can never get fit, or that you cannot earn more because you don’t have a certain degree etc… Most of our beliefs are formed during our childhood before we attain the age of seven. Some beliefs are formed even during adulthood. A belief like ‘I am not worthy of a loving relationship’ (after having a breakup or rejection). Our beliefs are formed by the things we feed our senses every day. The news that you watch, the songs that you listen to, the people that you associate with, but most importantly, the thoughts that we entertain in our minds.
Even intelligent people can also have limiting beliefs, which invariably keeps them being average or even failures in life. Whereas, people of average intelligence can have an unshakable belief in something and it eventually happens for them. Believing something is possible will literally create doors out of walls, or doors of possibilities for yourself. The size of those doors is the size of your beliefs. Now, whether you decide and walk through that door is another matter. However, if you believe that something is ‘impossible’, then, by your very belief, you have created walls for yourself. An average person who believes in possibility has more chances of succeeding than a genius who does not believe. When you believe, you can make plans.
An idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan – Warren Buffet
When you believe something, whether good or bad, your mind will try your best to find pieces of evidence of that belief. You will look around for validations and the best (and also the worst) part is that you will find it. Why did I say best? because if you believe in the good you will find the good, if you believe in the best you will find the best. And the reason I say the worst is because the same applies when you believe in the bad, the evil. When you believe that people and the world, in general, are bad or evil, you will find pieces of evidence of that also, at your own peril. Whatever you believe strongly about (good or bad) you will eventually bring it to reality.
The good news is, beliefs can be changed. It is not going to be easy, but it will definitely be worth it. Like I mentioned earlier, beliefs are formed by the repeated information that goes into our minds, through our senses, knowingly or unknowingly. According to Dr Joe Dispenza, author and neuroscientist, we have about 70,000 thoughts each day and 95 percent of those thoughts are habitual or unconscious.
To change your beliefs you need to be aware of what goes into your mind, every hour of the day. By reducing the amount of information that goes into your mind, you become more aware. By being close to nature, by reducing thoughts, by grounding, i.e., feeling through our senses at the moment that we are in, at any given time.
To suspend your current beliefs, you need to be still, to calm down. The best is to challenge them, find out if they are really true. Try and think if what you believe now was applicable in the past or will it be still valid in the future. Is it valid in other countries or other parts of the world? Is it true at all times? Does it hold true in all conceivable situations? If not, think of an alternative, something that will help you in your journey. After all, believe you can improve and you will.
Belief in what matters most holds the power to create legacies that matter most in the long run – Lee Wise