SINGLE POST

 

HOW TO RESET YOUR BELIEF SYSTEM

 

We are prisoners of our belief system.

What is a Belief System?

This is the lump sum of ideas that you hold to be true, even if unproven or irrational.

“A belief system is like a bank account, the only difference is that it can be opened and funded with or without your authorization”

A belief system is like a bank account that can be funded, serviced and maintained. You cannot control your belief system but can only fund it. Your belief system controls you. In the human anatomy, we have different systems ranging from the digestive system to the circulatory system, respiratory system etc. All of them start from the cell which is the smallest unit of life. These cells come together to form tissues, which come together to form organs and organs come together to form systems.

Any time you hear the word system, always remember it is a set-up that controls itself. If you have to fix a system, you need to go back to the cells that make it up. So also with the human mind, you cannot effect change without first altering the combination of ideas that form the belief system. This will take a process. You also need to understand the factors responsible for a belief system. Beliefs are basically assumptions that we make about the world and our values stem from them. Our values are things that we deem important and can include concepts (4Es of belief system) like:

 

Environment

Everyone is born blank; however the environment one is born into will go a long way in influencing one’s belief system. Environment is an invisible hand that shapes human behaviour. Culture is a way of life of the people. Where one is born can shape one’s attitude and paradigm for life. A blank mind does not know what is right and wrong. The mind takes up what is being celebrated.

A story was told about a man that did not believe In innate talents but hard work. He claimed that with deliberate practice and the development of habits, a child could become a genius in any field, his mantra was A GENIUS IS NOT BORN, BUT EDUCATED AND TRAINED. He tested this belief by writing to a teacher to marry him. The man decided chess would be a suitable field for the experiment and laid out a plan to raise his children to become chess prodigies. The kids were home schooled and the house was filled with chess books and pictures of famous chess players. They played against one another and competed in all tournaments within. The first daughter started playing from year 4 defeating adults while the second child did even better. By 14, she was already a world champion and a grandmaster. Even the third child was a world record breaker by age 15. Those Polgar sisters were interviewed and they made it clear that they loved the chess game. They had grown up in a culture that prioritized chess above all else, praised them for it and rewarded them for it. In their world, an obsession with chess is normal. Whatever habits are normal in your culture are among the most attractive behaviours you will celebrate and cherish.

An environment can set you up for greatness if it’s designed to help you focus and pursue excellence. It can also serve as a bedrock of struggle if the wrong seeds are planted at a tender age. The seed of habit takes years to be rooted and breaking it without the right process can damage other relevant habits.

 

Education

Education is a systematic way of infusing character and habits into an individual. The education we receive from home is mostly unstructured. Structured education helps unlearn and relearn. Education is more intentional than cultural. At the growing stage of a child, values are taught. A child does things not because he is a robot or machine but because his mind is engaged to process thoughts. At every stage of development, these thoughts must be guided to birth discipline in the child before they even know it. Teaching must be both practical and verbal. The curriculum must be designed to produce certain beliefs. Unfortunately, the present day curriculum inhibits us from maximizing our true potentials. Wrong teaching can be worse than ignorance.

Exposure

One exposure can have a longer impression on our mind than lots of theory. Awakening to reality is a different ball game. You can be in a mental prison all your life until you encounter some people or some places. It takes an uncovering of your dark side for you to awaken to reality. The worst thing you can do is to pretend that you are not a novice in certain things when you actually are. This attitude can limit your growth. Can you remember the first time you had the privilege of eating any food of your choice at a 5 star hotel? Can you remember meeting someone that dwarfed your intelligence?  

 

Experience

This is the summation of events that have happened over time. The collection of environment, exposure and education add up to become an experience. An event may happen now and afterwards birth an experience. The take home of an event is an experience. When someone acts, they filter their experience in one event.

3Bs  Responsible for  your Outcome

Believe

Check your beliefs and ensure that there are no limiting beliefs. Most limiting beliefs shift the blame outside instead of inwards and accepting responsibility. If value stems from belief, it means that the course of your life is already set if your belief system is set. If someone believes that they are inferior or don’t deserve the best, that self-image forms an opinion about them and the things they consider important. They will value begging over giving. Even if they have all the money in the world, the money would have them. What is important to you is what you value and what you value is from what you believe about yourself. I have seen people with a healthy self- image that believe they should contribute and would go out of their way to find something to give. It is the totality of the image you have of yourself that determines your behaviour.

Behave

Show me your action and I will tell you what you believe. Our behaviour betrays our belief. Belief cannot be seen but can be sensed through actions. Behaviour stems from what we believe. There must be a corresponding action to attest to your belief otherwise it is fake. You can’t say you believe in exercise and not do exercise. This is where the real pain is. Words of mouth cannot be enough as action speaks louder than voice every time. You can act yourself into a belief pattern but you must start to logically access the strength in your pain for a changed life. Example: WHAT YOU GIVE IS WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE. To believe this will require an understanding of what it means otherwise you won’t be able to do it or you will do it out of struggle. You can’t believe in giving and not give. You are already giving something but the challenge is your understanding about giving. The broad sense of giving encompasses anything that goes out from you to make someone, something or some place better. It can be your time, creativity, support or good will. The narrow sense of it is giving money which is just a little fragment of the whole.

Become

This level happens automatically once your belief and behaviour are in alignment and consistent. When you set a goal of the person you want to become, looking at the end goal should give you strength to stick to the process. The good thing about life is that you can become anything you want to be if you stick to the process. Generally, knowledge that can lead you into deep hunger for change is knowing that you deserve the best life can offer. I came to make a difference. If you have a belief system that limits your possibility then there is a need to change.

The first step is to examine your belief system to identify damaging beliefs.

Questions

• Why have you not been so successful?

This question will reveal your real state if you ask with an open mind. At my age, why am I still dependent? Get the answer!!!

• What experiences have slowed you down?

You may need to have new experiences and rebuild your mental image. The idea you hold to be true in your mind over time becomes reality.

• What interpretation is limiting you?

The view you have of life is very important. Never interpret life in a way that disempowers you.

• If you had a chance to start again, what would you do differently?
• Who have you been listening to?

To reset your belief system, you need to create a healthy environment by choice. The first environment is by default but subject to change dependent on you. Your information source or base is also very crucial. When life happens, we refer to our information source which is like a reference material or the authority we consult in order to make decisions and take actions. At this point, whatever you have been looking at or listening to will betray itself.

If we can script our environment, education, exposure and experience to believe in the latent unlimited potentials in us and behave in accordance, we can become anything.