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What Do You Believe and Why Does It Matter?

Do you know what you believe? Do you not know what you believe?

If you can’t answer both of those questions 'yes'… then I BELIEVE you are wrong. Our beliefs are the primal engine that drives or diminishes every thing we do, everything we think.

Everything.

They not only affect each of us and how we react to life’s “opportunities,” they also affect how others treat us.

How Others See Us

Even beliefs others have about us can affect us. In a study of a group of children who tested to have average intelligence, the group was randomly divided in half. One half went to a teacher who had been told that the children were gifted. The other group went to a teacher who had been told that the children were slow learners.

A year later the two groups were retested for intelligence. Not surprisingly, the majority of the group that was labeled “gifted” scored higher than they had previously, while the majority of the group that was labeled “slow learners” scored lower. The teacher’s beliefs about the students affected their actual scores!

Why did my parents get divorced? Why do I get to have things that others don’t? Why do I stay in this relationship when most would leave?

There is this intricate web, this maze, this multi-dimensional continuum that is stirring the cauldron of our behavior, our environment and our capabilities. They comprise the hidden “whys” of our life. Why did my parents get divorced? Why do I get to have things that others don’t? Why do I stay in this relationship when most would leave?

Then we respond by “acting out” according to our belief systems. Mostly we are not even consciously aware of their existence.

How Many Levels of Belief Are There?

Did you like my description, “intricate web, maze, multi-dimensional continuum?” The reason for this way of describing it is that the number is exponential, and happens at many different levels. Like most things in life there are many different types of beliefs. There are beliefs we once had but don’t have anymore. Remember when we were little kids we would play “Peek-a-boo?” We thought if we covered our eyes nobody could see us. Can I presuppose that if you used to believe this, the belief is different today?

Here is a summary of our different levels of beliefs:

Hall of Fame Beliefs are ones that are set aside. Nothing can sway someone’s Hall of Fame belief – it is “set in stone”. For me it would be my belief in Jesus Christ. I don’t need to read any other books. That is not a slap to any other religion, it is just I know the truth. That is a Hall of Fame belief for me. Nothing is going to change it. Just like the love of a parent to a child… locked and loaded! I love the title to the song, “A promise is a promise, and a fact is a fact!”

Then there are your Core Beliefs. A Core belief is a very basic belief that will influence everything that comes after it. Like a belief of, “I don’t belong here!” Think about this – if I don’t belong here, who cares how smart I am? If I don’t belong here, why would I care about what I look, or sound like?

There are deep beliefs that are called Imprints. They are usually created with trauma or some other intense state. An imprint is a significant experience or sequence of experiences from the past in which a person formed a single belief or a collection of beliefs. These usually are deep and painful; they leave a scare on most peoples’ life. There are positive imprints as well… maybe not enough, but they do exist.

We also have Metaphors and analogies and other stories and such. They associate things in a way that we can see a picture, or get an understanding that creates a series of beliefs and activities. Do you know what your metaphors for life are? That is a powerful self programming tool.

If this were football, Life would get a Fifteen yard penalty for unnecessary roughness! Ever had one of those days?

For example, do you see what actions, behaviors, capabilities and environments that the belief, “Empower U is my baby!” might influence? I would do whatever it takes for my baby… how about you? I love the metaphor I use for a “bad” couple of days, “If this were football, Life would get a Fifteen yard penalty for unnecessary roughness!” Ever had one of those days?

And here is the clincher… whatever you believe has a tendency to actualize itself through that focus and/or belief system. So the deeper you believe something the more “data” you will find to support your belief. That will then increase the possibility of it happening. Download the first of 2 handouts for the article The Power of Belief on Your Capabilities.

The Six Neurological Levels and How Your Beliefs Affect Them

When you add all that up every one of these beliefs also fall into one of the neurological levels. Each of the 6 levels have all these beliefs associated to it. In other words, all those forms of beliefs I listed above exist on the levels of Environment, Behavior, Capabilities, Values, Identity and Spirit (Spirit in this instance means your connection to the bigger picture. This is about your deeper understanding of the meaning of existence. For most of us that would be God, for some it is something else). Download a handout showing the 6 neurological levels that our beliefs affect.

What You Believe is What You Get...

Why is all this important? It is important because everything you do is a by product of what you believe. Multiple studies confirm the fact that our beliefs create our experience… they can even affect our physical being. If you are not getting the results you want… you might want to take a look at the underlying belief systems that guide your life. What is holding you back from accomplishing your dreams?

Did you miss it? That was the secret question that will get you to the blockage, it will get you to identify the BS that is holding you back or keeping your from accomplishing what you say you want to accomplish. By BS, I don’t mean the stuff littering the Texas prairies… I mean Belief Systems.

The key question is, “What is keeping you from doing that, or getting that”? Most people don’t even realize what is going on. It is your own conflicting beliefs at the unconscious level that keeps you from being your dreams. I have met the enemy and he is living in my shorts!

Wheeeeehhhhhhhhhh. I think that is enough for today. In the next newsletter we will go into how to identify what your beliefs are and to see how they are working for you.

Until then Remember, When you Live Your Life Like it Matters…It Does!

With Passion-Under Construction

Scott V. Black
The Empower U Leadership Team
September 1, 2006

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