Why I believe that nothing is impossible
I went for a night walk to Walmart in Mexico one day, and because the walk is long, I put an audio book on my phone to pass the time. I was listening to it but after a while, I had to stop.
Why?
Because the speaker told me to. The instructions were clear: take pen & paper and think about your beliefs. Identify the ones that are disempowering and choose to believe a different, empowering belief. Simple, but not easy.
I got back to my room at the hostel, grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down my beliefs. When I could not think of any new ones, I took a look at the paper and examined every one of those beliefs. Sure enough, there were negative ones. I furrowed my brow.
Why would I believe something negative? Limiting?
Beliefs, by default, are something that is subjective. Belief is usually not something based on hard evidence. When we hold a particular belief, we tend to justify it, no matter how much evidence there is against it. Why not try to change the bad beliefs to good ones? I thought and started with a big one.
I am the product of my environment.
There are laws: action produces reaction, cause leads to an effect. I am the sum of the actions and reactions happening around me. That belief is rational. And negative. What if I forsake rationality in favor of practicality for a second? What if I chose to believe the opposite?
I decide who I am.
This is a more pleasant belief, though it comes with responsibility. It can be justified too. I have free will, therefore no matter what happens, I choose to react to it, or let it go. I am responsible for how I act, and I am in control of who I become. I am no longer a rag doll in a hurricane of circumstances.
Over time, I grew to embrace the new belief. The couple minutes I spent thinking about my core beliefs was worth it. I feel a greater sense of control, which is satisfying. Try the exercise, it is pragmatic. Think about this: if you don’t believe that you can achieve a goal, you will not take action to do it. If you believe in what you’re doing, nothing is impossible. Our beliefs can be severely limiting, the key is realizing that we can choose to change them.
