You Believe It To Be True

Your beliefs are the very fiber of your decision making process. You can do all you can to change your behavior and unless your beliefs are in line with your efforts, you will ultimately fail. Your beliefs drive your passions, which inspire your thoughts, that lead to feelings, which is what most people utilize to make decisions.

Want to know what someone believes? Challenge a decision they have made, and their belief system will surface in the form of their defense.

All the positive thinking in the world can not win against an unchallenged belief. When beliefs remain unchallenged they lie silently in the background, influencing our desires and passions.

Take the unhappily married woman, for example. If you ask her she will tell you how hard she has tried to make her marriage work. She will be able to point to several things she struggles daily to do to make her husband happy, but he is never satisfied. The are unhappy, and if not for the children, would be divorced.

If you ask her about her beliefs in marriage, she might quote you scripture or an author she just read. Challenge a negative behavior she just exhibited and her true beliefs will surface. Things like, “We are too different; it’s not going to work,” or “We never should have gotten married; we were too young.” It is unchallenged beliefs like these that will keep her unhappy and performing minimum tasks so she can say she “tried.” So her unchallenged beliefs will keep her unhappy.

The same is true for the man who wants to make more money. He has worked hard, and he has watched less capable individuals move on to greater things. Unfortunately, he continually says to himself, “I’d never find another job in this economy,” or “I’m just lucky to have a job.” The man’s unchallenged beliefs will keep him from chasing his dreams, and he will remain where he is, unhappy and poorer because of his beliefs.

Tired of the same ‘old, same ‘old? Identify what you are tired of and examine your beliefs about that subject. Other people aren’t holding you back, but your beliefs just might be!