This week’s spotlight is really in answer to a question from one of my listeners. The query was put to me this way, “Why do you close all of your radio shows with ‘Believing in yourself always matters’?”
I suppose the long and short answer to that could be something as simple as, “Because it always matters!” That said, let me flesh this out some and unpack just how important what you believe can be to literally ever aspect of your life ranging from health and longevity to prosperity in relationships or wealth.
Belief Creates the Actual Fact
The scientist philosopher William James once stated, “Belief creates the actual fact.” As with the general body of his work, James was both correct in his observation and ahead of his time. So for a moment, just imagine what you might do if you learned that faith the size of a mustard seed could move mountains. Just assume for a moment that somehow you discovered this old statement to be based on your belief—your belief in yourself—and that simply believing you could be successful at your goal, whatever it might be, would somehow make that goal attainable. What would you do to cultivate the power of self-belief?
What would you say if I told you that belief influences almost everything in your life, from your DNA to the operation of your endocrine and immune systems, from your emotional well-being to the stability of your moods and attitudes, from your relationships with others to your relationship with yourself—and more. Let me explore that question and in the process share some facts with you. Thinking, or belief, directly influences the human body. The physical effects of placebos are just one piece of evidence for this claim. It’s well known that placebos have healed such incurable health conditions as terminal cancer. In one case, orange-size tumors that filled a man’s upper body disappeared when he was given a so-called cure. In a matter of three days, this patient went from gasping for every breath to bouncing around his hospital room, teasing the nursing staff. There are many documented reports of miraculous recoveries at the hands of faith healers. Are they further examples of the power of the mind/belief/consciousness? 1
Web of Beliefs
Our life beliefs are like a giant spiderweb. There is no such thing as a stand-alone belief. They are all intricately interlaced and wound into one another in ways that are amazing even to the professional analyst. Even our dissonant beliefs are connected at some level, despite the fact that they are mutually exclusive in nature. We may well believe, for instance, that prosperity will bring us happiness and at the same time hold a deep-seated belief that the love of money is the root of evil. We need not look far in our society to find living proof of this precise example. Take, for instance, the number of individuals who seek to penalize the new millionaire by taking a large portion of his success in taxes, and at the same time aspire to become millionaires themselves. I have led many seminars in which I’ve asked, “How many of you would like to make a million dollars this year? ” and without exception every hand in the house is raised. I have also asked many of these very same people how they would like to pay 50 percent or more of their income in taxes—federal, state, gas, highway, sin taxes on such things as butter and alcohol, and the like? Again, they are unanimous in their response: “No—that’s unfair! ” Yet this is exactly what this same group of people finds fair when framing the question about raising taxes to balance our national budget and meet our social needs.
Beliefs weave together in ways that often blind us. We have beliefs about what a singer should look like, so when Susan Boyle of Britain’s Got Talent appeared in her disheveled best, the room filled with laughter and even a jeer or two. Judges looked at one another and rolled their eyes, and yet when the woman opened her mouth and began to sing, the most mellifluous of sounds came forth. Stop and ask yourself, why is it we think a singer should look a certain way? What is this belief, and how does it betray us? Our life beliefs can dictate everything from our relative successes to the way in which we interact with the physical world.
I remember well the Sir Roger Bannister story. Bannister declared that he was going to break the unbreakable four-minute mile. He was told by all the experts, including physiologists, that his goal was not only unreachable but physically impossible. Indeed, there are stories of how the Greeks chased runners with wild animals in their attempt to run a mile in a faster time, and all to no avail. Not possible—and yet, “On May 6, 1954, he was a 6-foot-1, 25-year-old medical student at Oxford, running on the university’s track at Iffley Road before a meager crowd of 1,000, most of them students. ” By the end of the day, the four-minute-mile barrier had been smashed. The newly broken psychological barrier led to numerous runners breaking the same record in the next couple of years. Indeed, John Landy ran the mile 46 days later in Finland, setting a new record with a time of 3:57.9. 2
They Limped In and Danced Out
The bottom line is this: If you think you’ll fail, you will. If you think you know it all, then you are incapable of learning. If you think that 40 or 50 is old, then when you reach that age, your belief will predispose your reality. When I think of this, I am reminded of something a friend told me once. I believe he was in his 30s at the time, doing some moonlighting as a disc jockey at parties. One evening he prepared music for a school reunion—a 50th high school reunion. Without thinking much about those who would attend, he did as he usually did and found music from the era of their senior year. Everything was cued and ready to go; the attendees began to arrive; and then my friend realized that they were for the most part limping, hobbling, and dragging along in slow motion as though it hurt to move. The thought flashed through his head, How many hip or knee replacements are there out there—what kind of music do you play them? His music had all been planned for dancing! At this juncture, there was nothing else for him to do but proceed with his playlist. He told me, “Eldon, they limped in and danced out! ” The memory of our younger days is often enough to vitalize a hidden energy, and the next thing we know, we are feeling and acting younger in every way. Our beliefs—our thoughts about aging—have been suspended in favor of our memories attached to music so when you think of your life beliefs, don’t take them too lightly. They may well hold your future in more ways than one.
Before closing, there’s something else that should be said. Not long ago I attended a continuing-education course sponsored by the Institute for Brain Potential, and there were two take away points emphasized in concluding remarks by the presenter, Dr. Kateri McRae. Those two points are worth repeating over and over again. The first, you absolutely can change. It turns out that you can change your personality, your IQ, your habits, and even physical aspects of your brain. You can increase gray matter and more. Second, and of utmost importance, you can only change what you believe you can change! Let me say that again: neuroscience, not some mumbo-jumbo lingo, but hard science based on actual observation, says that you can change only what you believe you can change! Remember that the next time you tell yourself something is impossible. To learn more about your beliefs, read my book, Choices and Illusions.
As always, thanks for the read and I appreciate your feedback.
Eldon Taylor
Provocative Enlightenment
NY Time Bestselling Author of Choices and Illusions
www.eldontaylor.com
Sources:
1 Taylor, E. 2007. Choices and Illusions. Carlsbad, Calif.: Hay House
2 Ibid