THE POWER OF BELIEVE
WHAT ADULTS TELL US AND WHAT WE LEARN TO PERCEIVE ABOUT OURSELVES AS CHILDREN HAS AN INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT EFFECT ON US. IT INFORMS WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT MOST OF WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND US, AND ALMOST EVEYTHIN THAT WE COME TO BELIEVE ABOUT OURSELVES.
I STILL REMEMBER THE TIME WHEN, AS A MIDDLE-SCHOOL STUDENT, I WANTED MORE THAT ANYTHING I COULD THINK OF TO PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT AND BE A MEMEBER OF THE SCHOOL BAND. ALONG WITH TEN OR TWELVE OTHER STUDENTS FROM MY CLASS, I DECIDE TO TRY OUT FOR THE BAND. AFTER BEING HANDED A COMPLETELY ALIEN MUSICAL INTRUMENT AND TRYING TO GET IT TGO MAKE MUSIC IN FRONT OF THE BAND INTRUCTOR, MY TEACHER, AND THE OTHER STUDENTS, I WAS DISMISSED.
I KNEW THAT I HAD ONE DONE WELL. BUT IT WAS AN HOUR LATER, AFTER THE LAST STUDENT OF THE DAY HAD PERFORMED, THAT I OVERHEARD THE BAND DIRECTOR TELLING MY TEACHER THAT NOT ONLY COULD I NOT PLAY IN THE BAND, BUT I ALSO NO MUSICAL ABILITY AND WOULD NEVER ABLE TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT. WHAT INCREDIBLE PROGRAMMING FOR A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO HAD HIS HEART SET ON LEARNING HOW TO PLAY!
IT WORKED. I HAD HEARD FROM SOMEONE ELSE THAT I HAD SO MUSICAL ABILITY, AND I BELIEVED IT. I ACCEPTED AS FACT THAT I HAD NO MUSICAL TALENT, AND THAT I NEVER WOULD. IT WASN'T UNTIL YEAR LATER THAT I FINALLY GOT UP ENOUGH COURAGE TO RENT A PIANO, LEARN SOME NOTES, AND PLAY IT SECRETLY WHEN NO ONE WAS AROUND TO REMIND ME THAT I COULD NOT PLAY. I NEVER DID DEVELOP THE SKILL I WANTED. BUT I LERNED, AFTER SOME TWENTY FRUSTRATING YEARS, THAT OUR SCHOOL BAND DIRECTOR WAS WRONG. AND I HAD BELIEVED HIM.
HERE IS AN OPPOSITE EXAMPLE. MICHAEL, WHO AT THE AGE OF SIX OFTEN VISITED THE ELDERLY GENTLEMAN NEXT DOOR FOR AFTERNOON CHATS, WAS SAFELY OUT OF SIGHT BUT WITHIN HEARING DISTANCE AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS ONE EVENING, READY FOR BED, WHEN THE NEIGHBOR STOPPED BY. LITTLE MICHAEL OVERHEAD THE OLD MAN TELL HIM MOTHERTHAT MICHAEL WAS VERY CREATIVE, AND HE KNEW THAT MIKE WOULD GROW UP TO DO THINGS THAT WERE CREATIVE.
DECADES LATER, MIKE VANCE WOULD BECOME DEAN OF DISNEY UNIVERSITY. LATER, THROUGH HIS PERSONAL CONSULTING AND HIS WORK WITH MAJOR CORPORATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, HE WENT ON TO BECOME ONE OF THE PREMIER CREATIVITY TRAINERS IN THE UNITED STATES, LITTLE MICHAEL, BY ACCIDENT, OVERHEARD ONE SMALL "PROGRAM" ABOUT HIMSELF. AND MICHAEL BELIEVED IT.
UNFORTUNATELY, LITTLE OF OUR OWN PROGRAMMING HAS DONE AS MUCH ON OUR BEHALF. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE NUMBER OF TIMES SOME CHILD WAS HEARD THE INNOCENT BUT THOUGHTLESS WORDS, "YOU'LL NEVER AMOUNT TO MUCH" OR WAS TOLD "THAT SPORT", THAT CARRER" JUST IMAGINE WHAT OUR EAGER AND OPEN YOUNG MINDS PERCEIVED AND BELIEVED.
UNCONSCIOUS CONDITIONING FROM OTHERS
SOME OF OUR PROGRAMMING IS OBVIOUS. BUT MOST OF IT IS NOT, MOST OF IT HAS BEEN MUCH MORE SUBTLE. EVERY DAY WE RECEIVE AND ENDLESS STREAM OF COMMANDS, DIRECTIVES, CONTROLS, INDUCEMENTS, AND EXPECTATIONS FROM OTHERS. EVERYTHING AROUND US NUDGES, DEMANDS, OR PERSUADES. EVEN AS ADULTS , WE ARE MET WITH A TORRENT OF INFULENCES, WE ARE NOT EVEN AWARE OF MOST OF THEM. WE ARE SHIPS WITH COUNTLESS CAPTAINS, ALL SEEKING TO DIRECT US ON THEIR OWN COURSES, FOR THEIR OWN PURPOSES, NOT EVEN KNOWING THEY ARE LEADING OUR SHIPS ASTRAY.
AS LONG AS YOU AND I ALLOW OTHERS TO PROGRAM US IN A WAY THAT FITS THEIR CHOOSING, WE ARE, WITHOUT A DOUBT, OUT OF CONTROL, CAPTIVE TO THE WHIMS OF SOME UNKNOWN DESTINY, NOT QUITE RECOGNIZING THAT WHAT HANGS IN THE BALANCE IS THE FULLFILLMENT OF OUR OWN FUTURES.
WHY DO SO MANY THERAPISTS TAKE THEIR PATIENTS BACK TO A TIME IN THEIR CHILDHOOD WHEN THE PROBLEM WAS FIRST CREATED ? BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE THE BELIEFS BEGAN. THAT IS WHERE THE FEAR, THE TRAUMA, OR THE SELF-IDENTITY FIRST BEGAN TO TAKE HOLD. OUT OF THOSE EARLY YEARS, EACH OF US FORMED A COMPOSITE PICTURE OF OURSELVES. IT MADE LITTLE DIFFERENCE WHETHER THE PICTURES OF OURSELVES THAT WE CREATED WERE TRUE OR NOT. OUR EXPERIENCES, BECAME THE FOUNDATION FOR THE MENTAL PROGRAMMING THAT DIRECTS US TODAY.
OF COURSE, NOT ALL OF OUR PAST PROGRAMMING HAS BEEN THE WRONG KIND. SOME OF IT HAS BEEN GOOD. MOST OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED THE LOE AND CARING OF OTHERS. AND MOST OF US HAVE TOUCHED FROM TIME TO TIME WITH VISIONS OF POSITIVE SELF-BELIEF. MANY OF US HAVE HAD PARENTS WHO COUNTERED THEIR MISGIVINGS WITH ENCOURAGEMENT. WE HAVE HAD COACHES, TEACHERS, AND FRIENDS WHO SAW THE BEST IN US. AS WE GREW, ALL OF US, FROM TIME TO TIME, HAVE HAD OUR SUCCESS.
BUT, AT OUR BEST, WE HAVE BEEN LIVING WITH ONLY A PART OF OUR LIFE'S PROGRAMS WORKING FOR US. IMAGINE THAT YOU COULD DO IF YOU COULD OVERRIDE THE PROGRAMS IN YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND, THOSE THAT STILL WORK AGAINST YOU, AND REPLACE THEM WITH A REFRESHING NEW SET OF PROGRAMS OF ABSOLUTE BELIEF, AN ALMOST UNCONSCIOUS, AUTOMATIC NEW SET OF PROGRAMS THAT WOULD GO TO WORK FOR YOU - REPLACING THE BARRIERS WITH A REFRESHING NEW LOOK AT THE LIFE YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU.
THINK WHAT YOU COULD DO, BEGINNING TOMORROW, IF THE SHACKLES OF BAD HABITS, OLD CONDITIONING, AND SELF-DOUBT WERE SUDDENLY GONE.
I ONCE ASKED A WOMAN WHO HAD LOST 120 PONDS WHAT THE FELT LIKE AFTER SUCCEEDING IN HER GOAL TO LOSE THE WEIGHT, HER ANSWER WAS, I FEEL LIKE I'VE LOST A HUNDRED AND TWENTY POUNDS"! I UNDERSTOOD HER JOY. SOMETIME, WHEN YOU ARE A HEALTH SPA OR GYM, GO OVER TO THE WEIGHT-LIFTING SECTION AND TRY TO PICK UP 120 POUNDS.
AND THE MENTAL WEIGHT WE SO OFTEN CARRY WITH US I FAR HEAVIER TO BEAR. IMAGINE LOSING, EVEN FOR ONE DAY, ALL OF THE EXTRA WEIGHT OF SELF-DOUBT AND DISBELIEF WE CARRY WITH US. THINK HOW FAST YOU COULD RUN.
BECAUSE OF OUR BRAIN'S NEUROPLASTICITY, FREEDOM OF MIND IS POSSIBLE, AND NOT BEYOND THE REACH OF ANY OF US. NOT ONLY CAN YOU ACHIEVE THAT FREEDOM FOR YOURSELF, BUT WE ARE ABOUT TO SEE THT THERE ARE A FEW PRACTICAL STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO MAKE THE FREEDOM OF A SELF-DIRECTED MIND A PERMANENT PART OF EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE.
YOU ALREADY HAVE ALL OF THE NECESSARY EDQUIPMENT. YOU WERE BORN WITH EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO LIVE YOUR LIFE IN A MOST EXCEPTIONAL AND WORTHWHILE WAY. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHAT YOU HAVE THOUGHT OR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IN THE PAST. FROM THIS DAY ON, YOU CAN, IF YOU CHOOSE, CHANGE A LITTLE TO GAIN A LOT.
