YOU ARE WHAT YOU BELIEVE (AND 10 QUESTIONS TO TEST THIS)

 You Are What You Believe (and 10 questions to test this)

Great article by Taymour Qabazard

I have the following observations ...

The line ..we also tend to take on board other people's beliefs.. is interesting because we form ourselves in response to others. This starts from birth and continues throughout life. Where is and what is the boundary between my self and your self and to what extent is there no boundary at all but just a merge of thoughts, feelings and identity.

The line ...The truth has almost become veiled in layers of opinion... is also very interesting. Truth has changed with science, time. legislation and understanding. What was 'true' 1000 or 100 or even 10 years ago may not be true now. Moreover since our truth is based on imperfect perception, understanding, experience, judgement you and I can experience the same event and have very different throughs, feelings, judgements and memories of it leading to different truths. This is a point made by Qabazard...There never really is one reality...

Given the above I would challenge line ...Most of the time, our greatest fear is failure... I suspect it is not so much failure as judgement. What if we failed at something and nobody knows, sees or cares? But if our self-concept is based on how others judge, embrace or accept us, then clearly failure will have a very personalised impact.

I believe purpose and fulfilment  can be found where Qabazard suggests... visualize what exactly it is they want and maintain strong focus on their goal as they jump every hurdle along the way.. The point here is the goal and the attitude towards that goal rather than other people's judgement of it or you.

There is a real risk that in an effort to be normal or liked there is a race to the lowest common denominator which undermines the uniqueness of each individual, and the opportunities, challenges and growth that each can offer each other through dialogue, debate and striving. To what extend should we pursue happiness or contentment, if it is at the expense of discovery or growth? We can all sit in a cave and complain about the weather.

Qabazard acknowledges this...Confucius once said: "Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall" and further when he says we must take a ...conscious decision to change, we override the programming we have done for years..

For me the challenge is not limiting yourself by worrying what others think, but being robust and honest about what you think.  Really stripping that down to find something that is pure, passionate and purposeful and then pursuing that purpose.  Arguably that will bring far more social acceptance and self actualisation than the anonymity of other people's opinions.

Read the full article You Are What You Believe

http://www.positivehealth.com/article/mind-matters/you-are-what-you-believe

Qabazards 10 questions

• What's stopping me from achieving this goal?
• Where did this belief come from?
• Who gave you this belief?
• How do you feel about that person? Do you regard them highly and respect them?
• What does this belief do for you?
• What is this belief costing you?
• How will your life be different if you were to let go of this limiting belief?
• What concrete evidence do you have to back this belief?
• What is the positive intention behind keeping this limiting belief?
• How else can you satisfy this positive intention without relying on this limiting belief?

If anyone is interested in this topic email me tim@adaptconsultingcompany.com I am happy to share ideas and guides on process and change for people, teams, projects and organisations.

Tim Rogers

MBA (Management Consultancy) & Change Practitioner 

ICF Trained Coach IoD Business Mentor

https://www.adaptconsultingcompany.com/coaching-and-mentoring/