Where do our BELIEFS come from & how do they impact our lives?

Where do our BELIEFS come from & how do they impact our lives?

BELIEFS are things that we hold to be true &, subsequently, act in accordance with. They affect how we think, what we do & how we do it. But, unfortunately, they aren't always true or resourceful & can limit our personal & professional development. And many of our beliefs are subconscious, so we never even question whether they're true or not.

The human mind has a tendency (sometimes mild, sometimes to a more alarming degree) toward confabulation - creation of false memories - & the results of this 'creativity' within our minds will serve to either reinforce or create our beliefs. Our mind also generalises, distorts & deletes information that it receives via all of the senses. Generalising can be a beneficial learning tool but if we don't notice distinctions, we limit our knowledge. For example, if we're bitten by a dog as a child we may generalise that all dogs are dangerous & become fearful of them. This belief would never allow us to experience the distinction that most dogs are kind & loving. And we distort information by misrepresenting it in our minds. Have you ever had what would be judged by others as a minor disagreement with someone that has become a major incident or event in your life? And, let's be honest, we've all done this at times. Well, we've distorted what happened & blown it out of proportion. It's also very common for us to delete information or experiences from our mind & memory & this can be really detrimental because it totally ignores what could potentially be beneficial information. Have you ever had a friend tell you that they're just not a confident person? They've deleted the myriad of things that they are confident doing! They may be a fabulous cook, horse rider, parent or writer but they've deleted all of that by believing that they're not a confident person.

Our beliefs are merely an interpretation of events. Something happens; we interpret it through our filter of confabulations, generalisations, distortions & deletions; our pre- existing biases come into play; cognitive dissonance (our perception of contradictory information) raises its head & voices its opinion; & then our belief is established. What a mucky process fraught with potential for error!!

Beliefs are impacted by our physical environment (where we live & how we live within that space); our family & upbringing; our culture; past & present relationships; our faith or spirituality; the type of education we've received; everything in our history; our current & previous economic situation; amongst other things.

But, no matter how they were formed they are still mere interpretations ... so they can be reviewed, reassessed & updated! We just need to disrupt ourselves for a moment & allow space for a different perspective. Allow ourselves to consider that our beliefs have been formed as a result of 'A' truth & not necessarily 'THE' truth. Hypnosis & NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) are extremely successful in disrupting our beliefs & creating new perspectives & possibilities.

When people reveal their pasts to you it can be understandable why they've formed the beliefs, about themselves & others, that they have. But in many situations if they had interpreted particular events differently, they would have formed different beliefs & experienced a completely different life. If they'd been able to engage a different perspective, or perspectives, they could have understood that their interpretation was not 'THE' truth, it was merely 'A' truth.

Our beliefs can be extremely empowering (look at how many people rise from humble beginnings to achieve amazing levels of happiness, satisfaction & success) or limiting (equally, look at how many people appear to have it all, yet achieve absolutely nothing & are miserable). We have enough obstacles thrown in our way during our lives, we don't need to create obstacles for ourselves within our own minds!

What we choose to believe is powerful & can alter the course of our lives. And what we believe is also flexible .. if we allow it to be!

So, I wonder whether it will be while you're reading this, or some time afterwards .. that you will question your beliefs .. & notice how a different perspective can change everything .. for you .. now ..

And as it does, you can just enjoy the possibilities ...


Kim Harrison
www.mindmakeover.com.au


Location: Paradise Point QLD 4216, Australia

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