Our belief system plays a very important role in the way we perceive our environment and therefore are instrumental in forming our version of reality which in turn affects our decisions, responses and actions.
Many of us live our entire life with certain beliefs and therefore are never able to experience reality as it is. These beliefs also creates several mental blocks and limitations to our performance in life.
For example when I decided to quit my job and start my own business in consulting, quite a few people advised me against this saying that You better stick to your job. Gujarati, Sindhi Marwadi or Punjabi people are more suited for business. Job is a safer option for you.
Luckily I don’t haven’t that belief, so I took the plunge but all those who live with such beliefs would never even attempt to start their own venture even when an opportunity would come by.
You might be aware that large elephants are tied up with a small chain tied to their legs. They are actually powerful enough to break that chain and gain freedom but they don’t even try. This is because they have been tied that ways since their infancy and so have developed a belief that it is impossible for them to break the chain.
We too, like that elephant have probables developed hundreds of such beliefs over the years and quite possibly we aren’t even aware that these are simply beliefs and not reality.
In our childhood we start believing that we will catch a cold if we get drenched in the rain and then that’s how our reality gets shaped.
A few common life related beliefs that I have seen people have, are :
- Everybody cannot get everything in life.
- One has to struggle in life
- One cannot become successful without putting in too much effort.
- It’s not possible to become rich overnight.
- Formal education is a must to be successful in life.
- My 10th standard marks are bad so my career prospects are finished.
- Problems always appear at the last moment
- Certain things take long time to heal Etc etc etc..
Trust me, each of this belief becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Therefore, the sooner we break these beliefs, the better for us. People who believe that effort is required to succeed, often are not able to see the easier or effortless path to success since they are blinded by their wrong belief system. People who believe that they take time to heal will essentially take longer to heal.
Positive beliefs that I would choose to live with are:
- I am lucky
- Good things happen to be
- Miracles do happen
- It is possible to become very rich
- People are usually helpful
- I heal myself quickly
- life is smooth and effortless
- Every problem has a solution etc..etc.
I suggest that we must spend time regularly trying to assess our beliefs and check which of these are useful to us and which are counterproductive. We must then replace the bad ones with positive beliefs. This can have a tremendous impact on the way we create our future.
