Beliefs
The stories you tell yourself about the facts in your life.
As odd as it may sound, you are what you believe.
And what you believe is a choice.
Are people essentially good or bad? You could find evidence for either one—so which one is True-with-a-capital-T? Neither one, really. And if you can find evidence for either belief, then what you believe is a choice, and an important one because the answer you choose affects the way you interact with other people.
Are you creative or not creative? If we played back the video of your life, we’d probably find times you were creative, and times you weren’t. So which one is true? Again, it’s not about whether you are or aren’t creative. It’s about what you choose to believe about yourself. If you believe you’re creative, you’re likely to think and behave differently than if you believe you aren’t.
Now please be clear: we are not talking about facts being true or false—facts are facts. We’re talking about the stories you tell yourself about the facts in your life. If you have brown eyes, then you have brown eyes, and that’s a fact. But if you think of yourself as having pretty eyes, that’s a story—a belief.
We’re also not saying that all beliefs are created equal. Some of your beliefs are making you better: more resilient, more confident, more patient, and so on. Some of your beliefs are holding you back, encouraging you to be more fearful, tentative, defensive and so forth.
Putting all the pieces together, if your beliefs are stories (not facts), if some of those stories help and some hurt, and if you can choose your beliefs, then why wouldn’t you choose beliefs that help and eliminate (or at least minimize) beliefs that hurt?
You owe it to yourself to choose beliefs that help you become the person you want to be.
