What are beliefs? This is a question I am asked again and again. No wonder, because beliefs (you can also say convictions or beliefs instead) determine our thought patterns, our Decision-making strategies and in particular our specific behavior every single second of our lives. And unconsciously on autopilot mode. This naturally has a huge impact on our Achievements at work and the general quality of life.
You wouldn't believe how many people there are who really Success who want nothing more than to have a career, or who would like nothing more than to be wealthy. But no matter what they tackle, try or attempt, whenever they take one step forward, they immediately take two steps back. The result is a self-reinforcing spiral of Self-sabotage, failures and setbacks. But why is that, when these people want so much to be, do or have something?
Here comes the answer, which originates in the subconscious: It simply doesn't matter what someone wishes for, sets out to do or what plans they announce. The only thing that counts is what you do. It depends on your behavior. And that is a direct reflection of your most important beliefs. They think and do what they are deeply and firmly convinced of.
But enough of the preamble. Let's get straight into it. I hope you enjoy reading this ultimate guide to beliefs. And if you are still missing any specific information or have any questions, I look forward to your comments.
Definition of beliefs: What they are and how they work
Even though I have already mentioned what beliefs are and how they work in the first paragraph, I would still like to add an official definition to these thoughts at this point:
“Beliefs are views deeply rooted in our subconscious that we develop in the course of our lives and of which we are deeply and firmly convinced. These beliefs serve as the basis for our thoughts, actions and decisions. Beliefs come from various sources, such as our experiences, upbringing, culture, media or the social environment in which we grew up. They form the filters through which we view the world, influence our perception and interpretation of situations and thus the results of our behavior.”
The difference between beliefs and belief systems
Beliefs are the things in life that you deeply and firmly believe to be true. They lie deep in your subconscious and influence your actions and therefore your results in life. This influence is naturally stronger the more firmly and longer a belief is anchored in you.
Imagine for a moment a table that only has three legs. That would be a pretty wobbly affair, wouldn't it? Would you put your best china on it? Probably not, right? But if this table were to stand on lots of legs, especially thick ones, then you could place just about any object on it, simply because you know about the stability and strength of the piece of furniture. Every set of beliefs is like such a table. At first it is a little wobbly, but soon the first table legs are added and begin to make the table more stable and powerful. In real life, these are (emotional) reference experiences that confirm and thus reinforce your beliefs.
Let me give you an example. If you believe that it is healthy to live as a vegetarian, then you will encounter „evidence“ of this conviction everywhere in your life. On television, on the internet, in conversations with friends and colleagues. And each of these „proofs“ will then reinforce your belief, whereupon you will find even more proof that your belief is correct. It is a self-reinforcing spiral. The philosopher Robert Anton Wilson summarized this in his book „The new Prometheus - The evolution of our intelligence“ in one apt sentence: „What the thinker thinks, the evidencer will prove.“
The thinker and the evidencer
Wilson uses an ingenious metaphor to make his point. Imagine that your brain consists of two parts. One that is responsible for thinking and another part whose sole task is to prove the thinker's thoughts. So if you were suddenly convinced that being a vegetarian was absolutely dangerous to your health, you would also find plenty of references and evidence for this thesis.
The following anecdote illustrates the metaphor of the thinker and the evidencer: one day a man came to a psychiatrist because he urgently needed help. He firmly believed that he was a corpse (yes, there is nothing that does not exist). The doctor thought for a moment and then tried to outwit his new patient with logic. He asked him a question:
„Tell me, a corpse is already dead, isn't it?“
„Yes, of course,“ came the immediate reply.
The psychiatrist went on to ask: „And if you cut into the skin of a corpse, that means no blood can come out, right?“
„Yes, exactly, there's no way a corpse can bleed“.
„Then I have an idea,« said the doctor, „would you allow me to make a very light incision in your arm with a sharp knife to see exactly what will happen?“
The patient immediately agreed: „Sure thing, doc. No problem at all“.
So the psychiatrist took his scalpel and carefully scratched the man's left arm, which immediately began to bleed. Safe in the knowledge that he had convinced his patient with this evidence that he could not possibly be a corpse, he asked the final question: „So, what exactly does this result tell us?“
The patient looked slightly confused as he replied: „That's really weird. Corpses do bleed!“
Beliefs reinforce themselves into belief systems
This is the power of beliefs. And if you have a whole series of similar beliefs in one area of your life, they become a whole cluster of beliefs, i.e. a belief system, which then has an even stronger effect than a single belief. However, there are two types of beliefs: on the one hand, there are solution-oriented and activating beliefs. These bring you closer to your goals and dreams and make you believe in your success.
Unfortunately, there are just as many limiting and restrictive beliefs that hold you back from your goals and make you believe that you are not good enough or do not deserve success. And for most people, these negative beliefs prevail - with the corresponding results, of course. But what do you think if we look at a few specific examples?
Examples of limiting beliefs
Negative beliefs appear in many different areas of life and influence our thoughts and actions. Here are some classic examples of limiting beliefs that prevent us from achieving the success we want.
“I'm not good enough.”
“I don't deserve happiness.”
“I am not worthy of being loved.”
“Money is hard to earn.”
“I can never change.”
„Change must be difficult.“
„Money corrupts character.“
„Rich people are evil.“
„If I don't do it myself, it won't work.“
„You don't talk about money.“
Examples of beneficial beliefs
Unlike their limiting siblings, positive beliefs can help us realize our full potential and lead a fulfilling life. Here are some examples of positive beliefs:
“I have the ability to achieve anything I set my mind to.”
“I am worthy of love and success.”
“I am unique and valuable.”
“I am financially successful and have enough for my needs.”
“I have the power to change and grow myself.”
„I attract money like a magnet“.
„Commitment, hard work and perseverance always pay off in the end.“
„If I give a lot and gladly, I get back twice and three times as much in the long run.“
„If I regularly make courageous decisions, life will give me rich gifts.“
„A positive Mindset will open all the doors in my life.“
I have consciously chosen these beneficial beliefs and made them the basis of my daily work. And they now unconsciously help me to achieve my goals and live my dreams.
Beliefs an overview
In addition to the two top 10 lists, how about an overview chart? Here you will find a summary of beliefs that have helped me in my work as a Change Coach and Keynote Speaker encounter again and again.
The list is of course not exhaustive, and if I had not been limited by space, I could have added many more examples.
Types of beliefs
Regardless of whether they are positive or limiting, beliefs can be roughly divided into four different categories, all of which have one thing in common: They are emotionally charged.
Self-esteem and self-imageThese beliefs concern our convictions about who we are and what we are worth. Positive self-esteem beliefs strengthen our self-confidence and self-esteem, while negative self-esteem beliefs can make us feel inferior or unworthy.
Success and performanceThese beliefs relate to what we think about our abilities and potential. Positive success beliefs encourage us to work hard and overcome challenges, while negative beliefs can convince us that we are not good enough or that success is unattainable for us.
Interpersonal relationshipsThese beliefs concern our convictions about other people and the nature of interpersonal relationships. Positive interpersonal beliefs promote trust, compassion and harmony, while negative beliefs can lead to mistrust, conflict and isolation.
Money and prosperityThese beliefs influence our attitude towards money and financial success. Positive money beliefs support the belief in abundance and financial freedom, while negative beliefs can lead to scarcity, fear of money or financial dependence.
Properties of beliefs
Let us now go one step further and look together at seven fundamental characteristics that all beliefs have in common.
- Beliefs always come from outside: No baby is born a racist, cynic or optimist. People only develop all beliefs in the course of childhood and adolescence, especially from important caregivers such as parents, relatives, teachers or people with whom they have an emotional relationship.
- Beliefs work unconsciously: Our beliefs are deeply anchored in our subconscious and serve us faithfully on autopilot mode. Regardless of what we consciously decide to do.
- Beliefs determine our behavior: Beliefs act as a perception filter and therefore determine both our thinking and, above all, our decisions. You behave differently depending on how you see the world.
- Beliefs become stronger over time: The more convinced you are of something, the more evidence you will find of it in everyday life. And the more evidence you find that your conviction is correct, the more it will become entrenched.
- Beliefs can be beneficial: Positive beliefs have an activating effect, direct your focus towards opportunities in life and ensure that you are able to develop your full potential.
- Beliefs can be limiting: Negative beliefs have a limiting effect, focus on problems in life and (unconsciously) ensure that you sabotage yourself and do not achieve the success that you (consciously) want so much.
- Beliefs can be changed: This is perhaps the most important quality of all. Because even if beliefs always work unconsciously, they can still be changed.
How do beliefs arise?
Now that we know what exactly beliefs are and what properties they have, let's look at how they come about in the first place. It should come as no surprise by now that this does not happen by chance. Instead, beliefs are the direct result of a wide variety of influences from your environment. They develop from the influences you are constantly exposed to. The information you consume, the people you surround yourself with, the places you move around in and the way you talk to yourself.
ExperienceEarly experiences, especially in childhood, significantly shape our belief systems. Positive experiences can lead to positive beliefs, while negative experiences can lead to limiting beliefs.
Education and environmentThe people around us, such as parents, teachers, friends and colleagues, as well as social norms and values, strongly influence our beliefs. What we learn from others about ourselves and the world shapes our beliefs and assumptions.
SoliloquiesOur inner dialogs and thought patterns play an important role in the formulation of our beliefs. By saying certain things to ourselves over and over again, we reinforce certain beliefs and consolidate them in our subconscious.
To put it simply, you can imagine it like this: You take on a belief in the form of an opinion, an idea or a prejudice and adopt it uncritically. And off you go. Suddenly you find the aforementioned „evidence“ everywhere in your everyday life that confirms your new conviction. And the more „evidence“ you find, the deeper the belief becomes embedded in your subconscious.
Our core beliefs are formed primarily in childhood and adolescence, but even in adulthood this process follows exactly the same pattern. And before you know it, you believe deeply and firmly that success is hard, money corrupts your character and other people are just waiting to rip you off. The firmer your conviction, the more you will notice these things in everyday life. And as a result, the conviction becomes stronger again. A classic spiral that can either bring you closer to your goals or ensure that you permanently sabotage yourself. Because beliefs multiply and strengthen over time.
Mind viruses - how beliefs multiply
This is where the name Richard Brodie comes into play. What, you've never heard of him? First of all, you should be more or less grateful to him. In his former life, Brodie was a software programmer at Microsoft and, in this capacity, the developer of the Word writing program. At some point, however, he decided to follow his calling and became a speaker and author (funny, that sounds kind of familiar). In his new role, he devoted himself to studying how external programming influences internal beliefs.
As a result of his research, he wrote a book that I can warmly recommend to you. It bears the exciting title „Virus of the Mind - The New Science of the Meme„. Based on research into the „selfish gene“ by Richard Dawkins, Brodie describes how ideas implant themselves in the brain and spread there in the same way as a flu virus does, for example.
Two factors determine how strongly the information he calls „mind viruses“ become established in the brain. The first is regular repetition. Of course, the more often you have an idea in your head, the more familiar and real it becomes at some point. Then there is the emotional intensity. If an idea is presented in connection with love, sex, fear, children or food, the effect of the suggestion is multiplied many times over.
Ideas multiply like viruses in the brain
To check this out, all you have to do is go to the nearest newsstand and buy the latest issue of Bild. It is full of examples of both of the above phenomena. The combination of intensity and repetition then ensures that a thought virus spreads just as quickly as a typical flu epidemic does. The worst thing about it is that most ideas and opinions are now adopted and passed on without a single spark of personal thought. Newspapers copy each other. Friends tell each other about the latest discovery that came on TV, and modern chain letters are shared and spread indiscriminately on WhatsApp. And once an opinion or prejudice is in our heads, it doesn't want to get out any time soon.
It has therefore never been more important to critical thinker to become. Otherwise you are helplessly at the mercy of the external programming of advertising experts, television producers and radio presenters. You are not always programmed directly. Often it is simply stereotypical but highly emotional images. Imagine you open the newspaper and see a harmless-looking cartoon in which a poor woman is being ripped off by a fat, greedy captain of industry. What message is unconsciously conveyed there? Right, the rich are fat, greedy and exploit poor (and of course honest) people at every opportunity.
The more often you accept such messages uncritically, the stronger their effect and the more they develop into core beliefs on which your view of the world and, above all, of yourself is based. These beliefs sit deep in your subconscious and spread there like the famous thought virus from the movie Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio, in which it is possible to infiltrate other people's dreams and place ideas there. What was once an external idea has become your internal reality.
The sum of your core beliefs then inevitably leads to your unconscious autopilot not being geared towards success and abundance, but towards lack and mediocrity. And then you can be convinced on a conscious level that you want to be successful. If your autopilot is programmed for the exact opposite, you will not achieve your goal. Einstein already knew that when the logical mind and the subconscious are in conflict, the subconscious mind always prevails. And please don't use this statement to do the same as the masses and completely abandon the mind. The ability to think critically, to make conscious decisions and to use the gigantic capacity of the brain is the greatest gift that nature has endowed you with.
Effects of beliefs
Beliefs have an enormous impact on our lives. They can motivate and inspire us or hold us back and restrict us. Some of the effects of beliefs are:
Behavior and actionsOur beliefs influence how we act and react. Positive beliefs can encourage us to take risks, take on new challenges and work hard towards our goals, while negative beliefs can cause us to withdraw, be insecure and miss opportunities.
Emotions and feelingsOur beliefs also influence our emotional reactions to different situations. Positive beliefs can promote a sense of joy, gratitude and fulfillment, while negative beliefs can lead to anxiety, frustration and depression.
RelationshipsOur beliefs about ourselves and other people also shape our interpersonal relationships. Positive beliefs promote trust, closeness and respect in relationships, while negative beliefs can lead to mistrust, conflict and separation.
Success and performanceOur beliefs about our abilities and potential significantly influence our success and performance. Positive beliefs can encourage us to work hard, overcome obstacles and achieve our goals, while negative beliefs can prevent us from reaching our full potential and realizing our dreams.
Beliefs in everyday life
The more critically you think and the more consciously you pay attention to your thought patterns, decision-making strategies and typical everyday behavior, the more often you will discover that a negative belief is sabotaging your success. Limiting beliefs lurk everywhere and are often reflected in the following patterns:
Excuses
Emotional reactions
Negative thoughts
Negative thought patterns
Assumptions
Doubts
Recurring patterns
Cultural myths
Urge for perfectionism
Justifications
Worries
Self-deception
Stereotypes
Self-optimization mania
Inner critic
All the stories we tell ourselves every day
Lurking in all these behaviors and patterns are deep-seated beliefs that, by filtering reality, decide what you actually do and how you react to certain things.
Changing beliefs
Now we come to perhaps the most important section of this article. It is dedicated to the question: „How can beliefs be changed?“ As beliefs operate at an unconscious level, they can only be changed there in the long term. These Shift begins with a clear and conscious decision and ends with the integration of an alternative belief, which can then do its automated duty in place of the former limiting belief. In order to be as specific as possible, I would like to describe this brief explanation in as much detail as possible by presenting the 7-step process for dissolving and changing limiting beliefs.
Changing limiting beliefs: The 7-step process
Identify a negative belief and ask yourself the following question: “How exactly do I know this?”
Analyze as consciously as possible how exactly the belief makes itself felt in your everyday life. When does it appear, what triggers it and what behaviors are typical consequences?
Ask yourself: “What would happen if I kept this belief?”
When analyzing persuasion, use the following idea as a guide: “Only argue for the limitations that you want to keep.”
Formulate a positive alternative to replace the negative belief.
Consciously and consistently integrate the new, positive belief into your everyday life.
Give yourself at least 66 days and make a Habit out of it.
These seven steps follow a recurring pattern of change: bring an unconscious behavior to the surface. Change it there. Apply it consciously until it becomes a new unconscious habit.
What are beliefs - A final thought
Phew, I admit that dealing with the question „What are beliefs?“ ended up being a really long article. However, I very much hope that you now feel fully informed and that all your unanswered questions about beliefs have been answered. If this is not the case, I look forward to your comments and will then gradually add to the article.
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