Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Hello, my friend, and welcome to Imagine the Possibilities. I'm Skip Pogue, and I'm glad you're here today.
[00:00:22] I want to start with a big question.
[00:00:25] What do you believe?
[00:00:27] I'm not talking about religion or politics. I know those are part of what you believe. But I'm talking about, deep down, beliefs that we carry with us every single day.
[00:00:39] The ones that shape the way we see the world and the way we see each other.
[00:00:46] What we believe about life, about people, and about who we are and what we're capable of has a lot more impact and influence on our life than we most likely realize.
[00:01:02] Sometimes those beliefs lift us up.
[00:01:05] Other times they hold us back.
[00:01:08] But no matter what, they're powerful.
[00:01:12] So today we're going to take a deeper look at human beliefs.
[00:01:18] What they are, where they come from, and how we can become more aware of the ones that might not serve us anymore.
[00:01:30] Before we really get down into that, I think we need to start with a simple question.
[00:01:36] What are beliefs?
[00:01:39] What do we mean by beliefs?
[00:01:42] I looked it up. According to the Webster's Dictionary, a belief is a state or habit of mind which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.
[00:01:54] Or it's something that is accepted, considered to be true or held as an opinion.
[00:02:02] And lastly, it can be a conviction based on examination of evidence.
[00:02:08] Like beliefs in scientific principle are something we've experienced ourselves.
[00:02:13] Let's break it down even further. A belief is something we accept as true even if we don't know why.
[00:02:21] And once we believe something, our mind starts looking for evidence to support it is true. That's how beliefs get stronger. They become filters for everything that we view.
[00:02:35] But here's the thing.
[00:02:38] Not all beliefs are based on facts.
[00:02:41] Some are handed to us. Others are shaped by pain or experience or fear or love.
[00:02:47] But once they're rooted, they can be hard to shape.
[00:02:52] There's some beliefs that are universal.
[00:02:56] Ideas that most of us hold in some form or another.
[00:03:02] That life has meaning, that people deserve respect, that kindness matters, that hard work should be rewarded.
[00:03:14] Love has risk.
[00:03:16] Forgiveness heals.
[00:03:18] Failure isn't final.
[00:03:20] We are more than others say about us.
[00:03:24] Growth is always possible.
[00:03:27] And tomorrow brings new possibilities.
[00:03:32] Those are the kind of beliefs that shape our character and influence our choices.
[00:03:38] But not all beliefs are positive.
[00:03:42] Some of us carry beliefs that were never true to begin with.
[00:03:47] I'm not good enough.
[00:03:49] I always mess up.
[00:03:52] People can't be trusted.
[00:03:55] That brings me to a story.
[00:03:57] We've all heard stories that make us think about what we believe, especially about ourselves.
[00:04:07] This Story is about Thomas Edison.
[00:04:10] He only spent a few months in formal school.
[00:04:15] His teacher thought he was slow.
[00:04:18] The word she used was addle, meaning confused or mentally deficient.
[00:04:24] Think back to your childhood.
[00:04:27] Could you imagine that someone described you that way and what it would do to you as a child?
[00:04:35] Nancy Edison, his mom, didn't believe any of that.
[00:04:40] So she took him out of school that day and decided she was going to homeschool him.
[00:04:47] She let him be curious about stuff.
[00:04:51] She gave him permission to explore what was going on, what he saw, how it fit into his life.
[00:04:58] And the most important thing was she believed in him. Fiercely believed in him.
[00:05:06] Years later, Edison said, my mother was the making of me.
[00:05:12] She was so true, so sure of me.
[00:05:16] And I felt I had someone to live for, someone I didn't want to disappoint.
[00:05:23] I mean, if you look at it, his teacher had a belief and his mother had a belief, and only one of them truly saw who he could become.
[00:05:35] That's the power of belief.
[00:05:37] Not just the ones we carry, but ones that someone else placed on us.
[00:05:43] In this case, Edison's teacher.
[00:05:47] Now, belief has weights.
[00:05:50] They can crush us or they can lift us.
[00:05:53] So ask yourself, what beliefs am I carrying right now?
[00:05:59] And who handed them to me?
[00:06:02] I want to talk about beliefs that don't serve us, but yet they live quietly in the background. But they influence our lives.
[00:06:12] I guess some people call them limiting beliefs, and some people call them invisible barriers. And we've probably all experienced both.
[00:06:22] Limiting beliefs are assumptions.
[00:06:27] I'm not smart enough.
[00:06:30] I'm too old.
[00:06:32] I don't have what it takes.
[00:06:36] People like me never get ahead.
[00:06:39] I'm not lovable.
[00:06:43] Those sound familiar? Because most of us, and I include myself in this, most of us have at least at some point, believed at least one of those and maybe two, or maybe, maybe even more.
[00:06:59] What makes them so dangerous is how believable they are, how believable they feel.
[00:07:05] Oftentimes they sneak in in moments that we would consider our failures or we've been rejected.
[00:07:13] And once we get them in our head, we kind of stop questioning whether they're true. We know they're true.
[00:07:21] The worst part of it is there's been times that people have built their lives around those type beliefs. I've seen it. You probably have, too. People stop trying.
[00:07:34] They won't take risk anymore.
[00:07:37] They literally quit growing.
[00:07:39] Here's the good thing.
[00:07:42] Just like beliefs can be rebuilt, they can also be replaced.
[00:07:48] But all of that starts with awareness.
[00:07:52] Again, I know I've done this in My life, I've caught myself saying I can't, or I never, or I always mess this up.
[00:08:05] When you catch yourself doing that, ask yourself, where did that come from?
[00:08:11] Who told me that?
[00:08:13] Is it really true?
[00:08:16] And even. Even if it was once true, is it still true?
[00:08:22] You and I have the power to update our beliefs, kind of like we update our computers.
[00:08:34] I think our minds deserve the same thing. But unlike a software upgrade, these upgrades change our lives.
[00:08:45] When we look at beliefs, where do they come from?
[00:08:50] They come from all over. Our childhood, our culture, our faith, our family, our education, trauma, success and failure.
[00:09:01] Words spoken in passing, moments we can't forget.
[00:09:08] Has somebody ever said something to you that my wife refers. And I think she's correct, that I do this or I have done this.
[00:09:17] Somebody says something to me, and I internalize it.
[00:09:23] And then if I'm not careful, I just let it lay there.
[00:09:30] And then the same thing, different people, different day, but the same thing happens again.
[00:09:36] And since I've already got this thing internalized, my response is both out of character and stronger than it should be.
[00:09:49] And when I realize that's happened, only then do I get. I get it out of my system. I understand it. I work to remove that belief because I don't know where it came from in some cases. But it's important we do that. We get rid of it. Because if it's in our system, that's probably the way most everybody would respond.
[00:10:13] So we have to be cautious. If we recognize a bad belief, an untrue belief about us, we need to get it out. We need to get over it and move on.
[00:10:27] Sometimes an emotion, a crisis, will bring that belief to the surface.
[00:10:34] Other times, and I've had this happen more than once other times, we're just simply having a conversation with somebody and we react. They say something and we get triggered and we react.
[00:10:49] We have a different way of thinking, and all of a sudden, there's this possibility of believing something new, something that's pure, positive and powerful.
[00:11:01] Some beliefs are inherited.
[00:11:03] Some we choose, and some we just absorb. We don't even know it. And a lot of the times, we don't even realize we're carrying them around until something challenges us to stop and reflect on those beliefs.
[00:11:22] Sometimes it's a moment of crisis that brings one of them to the surface.
[00:11:28] Other times, it can be as simple as a conversation or reading something in a book or even listening to a podcast or music or whatever. But something brings it to the forefront.
[00:11:40] And in that moment, we get a glimpse of a Different way to think.
[00:11:45] And suddenly we see the possibility of believing something new.
[00:11:53] Now, there's good news in that.
[00:11:56] Given the fact that beliefs aren't set in stone, beliefs evolve.
[00:12:02] Beliefs can be challenged.
[00:12:04] Beliefs can even be rewritten.
[00:12:07] You can look at a belief that you've had your entire life, and all of a sudden you say, that doesn't fit me anymore. That's not something I want to worry about or work on or grow from. It's just not something I need to do.
[00:12:24] The fact is, you can just let it go, or you can choose a new belief to replace it.
[00:12:29] If you do that, that new belief needs to be one that is pure, positive and powerful. You feel empowered from it.
[00:12:39] You don't feel restricted. It needs to be about possibilities, not about fear.
[00:12:46] When it comes to beliefs, we can decide that the story that we've been told about ourselves isn't a story we want to keep.
[00:12:56] Here's a question. What belief would I need to have in order to become the version of myself I want to be?
[00:13:05] What belief would I need to have in order to grow, to be better?
[00:13:10] Figure it out and then start practicing that belief. Speak it, write it down. Surround yourself with people who support that belief in you.
[00:13:21] Create an environment that nurtures that belief.
[00:13:25] Do it the same way Nancy Edison did with her son. You might be surprised how quickly a new belief gains traction and it begins to feel like the truth to you.
[00:13:40] Because like a lot of things, if we repeat and reinforce that belief, especially if it deals with love or intention, it gets roots quickly, it starts setting itself in place, and it's ready to help us move forward.
[00:13:57] Here's the thing. If we can learn fear, we can also learn courage.
[00:14:02] If we can learn self doubt, we can learn self worth.
[00:14:08] And if we can learn to shrink, we can most certainly learn to rise. Beliefs are powerful, but we're more powerful than those beliefs.
[00:14:19] We can change it.
[00:14:21] We can change it to help us grow, to help us get better and remove those obstacles from our path.
[00:14:30] Before I wrap everything up, I want to leave you with a challenge. A personal challenge.
[00:14:37] Take five minutes. Sometimes. Today, just five minutes. Sit in a quiet space, maybe with a notebook, and ask yourself this.
[00:14:48] What do I believe about myself?
[00:14:51] And is it helping me or hurting me?
[00:14:55] If you got a notebook, write down all the things you believe about yourself. And then look at them and decide, does that belief help me or does that belief hurt me? Is it making me grow or keeping me from growing?
[00:15:08] Is it making me better or making me worse? But just think about it.
[00:15:13] Five minutes.
[00:15:14] I think you might be surprised what comes up and on that list you make. If there's beliefs that you realize are not helping you in any way, picture yourself letting them go, getting rid of them, just releasing it. Not in a fight, not in anger, but just letting it go.
[00:15:36] Sometimes, even though it's time to let go of that belief, it helped us get to where we are today.
[00:15:43] So all you really need to do is replace it with something better, something more appropriate for where you are in life.
[00:15:50] Choose to believe in your strengths, in your worth, in your potential, because all that's already inside of you and more.
[00:16:02] I believe everyone can accomplish remarkable things because that's inside all of us.
[00:16:09] Allow yourself to believe in the future and that that future is brighter than your past. Because it is. It will be more than that. Believe yourself fully capable of creating that future.
[00:16:25] You can. I know you can.
[00:16:28] So go ahead, update your beliefs and then go live like it's already true.
[00:16:35] Until next time, I wish you much success.
[00:16:40] Remember that your future belongs to you.
[00:16:43] Stay humble, be kind, love unconditionally, and laugh often.
[00:16:50] I hope you have a super day and I pray that God blesses you in a super way.
[00:16:57] Thanks again and God bless.
[00:17:00] Sa.
