How beliefs are formed

It's scary how quickly beliefs are formed! 

From A Thought to a Belief.
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What is a belief? 
A belief is anything that you believe to be true.

Is it necessarily true? 
No, it’s not. It's just what you believe to be true at a particular point in your life, based on the best available evidence you have at that time. There is no such thing as a true belief or false belief. There are only useful ones that help and support us or harmful ones that sabotage us and stop us from achieving happiness and success...

So, can a belief be changed?
Yes, definitely it can. Sometimes it can be relatively easy to change a belief.

Let’s take Father Christmas as an example. At one point in your life, you happily believed in Father Christmas. Then someone, usually a well-meaning older brother or sister, told you that he wasn’t real. When you first heard the upsetting news, your evidence that Father Christmas was real started to change. You were no longer convinced. Perhaps you asked your parents or friends if this was, in fact, true. When the story was confirmed, you formed a new belief that was based on the new best available evidence. 

Another example is when someone is happily married, and they find out that their husband or wife is having an affair. In the blink of an eye, the belief that you have a happy marriage is shattered.

These are two pretty extreme examples. Is it usually that easy? No. Not always. It will depend on how deep the belief is. Some of your beliefs will be extremely deep-rooted, so you may need a little help from EFT (aka the heavy duty weed killer) to shift them.  But you CAN change many of your beliefs easily enough, as long as you are prepared to put in a little bit of effort.

So, let’s talk about how a belief is formed.
A belief starts as a thought.  Either we notice something about ourselves, we say something to ourselves, or we hear someone else say something about us. The seed of a belief has been planted (usually by a well-meaning Chimp). A neural pathway has been created in your brain.

Your subconscious mind will then work tirelessly to make your thoughts come true. It will take note of the negative thoughts and file them neatly under “Things We Believe to be True About Ourselves”, and make sure you don't forget them. The neural pathway will get deeper and deeper, a little like a groove on a record. A belief will be formed, which will create a habitual way of thinking or doing –  a programme. One which will stay with you until you replace it with a more helpful programme.

All habitual ways of thinking and doing start the same way. The more you repeat your negative self-talk, the deeper your negative beliefs will go. The deeper the negative beliefs go, the more likely you are to say the negative belief. Eventually, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You say it, your subconscious mind believes it and helps you become it. You command. It obeys. And around and around it goes! Your thoughts determine your actions.

Imagine you installed Windows 10 on your laptop or computer. It’s not going to start running Windows 8, however much willpower you have, or however much you want it to. You’ll need to install a different programme. Same goes for your brain. If you want more beneficial habits and behaviours, you need to install new ways of thinking first. 

What you think about, you bring about.
Just in case you didn’t get the message, I really want to drive this point home as I believe it is one of the most important things that you will ever learn.

I will say it again…
What you think about, you bring about!

Don’t take my word for it, here’s just a sample of the thousands of quotes from famous people on the subject…

Buddha
“All that we are is a result of what we have thought.”

Winston Churchill
“You create your own universe as you go along.”

Gandhi
“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.”

W. Clement Stone
“Whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve.”

Henry Ford
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way, you are right.”

Shakespeare
“Nothing is unless our thinking makes it so.”

Jack Canfield
“Whatever you focus on, think about, read about, and talk about intensely, you’re going to attract more of into your life.”

Napoleon Hill
“The vast majority of people are born, grow up, struggle, and go through life in misery and failure, not realising that it would be just as easy to switch over and get exactly what they want out of life, not recognising that the mind attracts the thing it dwells upon.”

Hopefully, you got the message there. Your thoughts and beliefs are holding you back. You’re not a failure. Change your thoughts and beliefs, and you will crack your problems forever. How wonderful is that?
And therefore, you will only make long-term changes in your life if you work on your beliefs and self-talk first. If you want to change your life – you must start by changing your beliefs.