Beliefs
By: David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer

Have you ever reflected on the power of your beliefs? Perhaps the first step is to define belief. A belief is the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the case, with or without there being empirical evidence to prove that something is the case with factual certainty.

We choose our beliefs. I know that sounds harsh, but in reality, we choose to believe things about ourselves, about others and the world around us. The most frightening thing is that we believe things to be true without evidence and proof and these beliefs often become limiting factors in our life. Since we choose to believe them, they can very easily become Self-limiting, and they keep us from achieving our potential.

As we approach the New Year, please allow me to share with you a Self-limiting Belief that I battle almost daily: My entire life I have told myself and others that I am not creative; that I do not have a creative bone in my body. My brother is extremely creative–he can take a block of wood and carve beautiful birds that are almost lifelike. So real that after they are painted you almost need to touch them to see if they are real. My sister can paint pictures that are simply amazing. My dad writes poetry and me… well, I am just not creative, or so I have always believed.

Michael Hyatt, one of my mentors, frequently reminds me that you battle Self-limiting Beliefs with Liberating Truths. I had to realize that my belief about my creativity was limiting my ability to reach my potential. It was, in fact, a Self-limiting Belief that I held to be true without any empirical evidence. So how can I battle such a long-standing belief? I needed to search for the truth that would liberate me from the self-limiting chains of my past.

I found this liberating truth by examining the belief and reflecting on my actual abilities. What I found was that my creativity is displayed when I’m giving a keynote address or when I am in front of a class training. The reality I discovered is that I am creative in areas where I have a skill or in my gifted area. This realization allows me to look at areas where I enthusiastically want to be creative. I now know that if I learn the skills and practice, I can be creative. What a liberating feeling!

The past is now closed. The future is a blank canvas waiting for your next brush stroke. Will you challenge your Self-limiting Beliefs and find your Liberating Truths? Once you do, you will accelerate your growth and reach your full potential.