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You are what you believe !

Written by: Larry McMahon

Article Overview: Your belief system determines your success ... or failure !

You are what you believe !

Originally published in "Decision" magazine.



Some years ago, a massive medical study was undertaken in the U.S. They used old-age pensioners as the "guinea-pigs". What they wanted to find out, was why some old folks live longer and healthier lives than others. Thousands of pensioners were involved in this study. They were subjected to batteries of medical tests & questionnaires. The researchers kept tabs on them over the decades that followed. And guess what ? They found that one of the most statistically significant factors was Belief. In other words, those elderly people who believed that their health was excellent, tended to live longer. Those who believed that their health was poor, tended to die sooner. And this was irrespective of the actual clinically measurable state of their health, at the start of the project. So for instance, if two people were diagnosed with a serious illness (like Cancer)...and one person believed his/her health was excellent, while the other believed the opposite...the individual with the positive mind-set usually recovered, and lived longer...while the other person unfortunately had the opposite outcome.


YOU GET WHAT YOU EXPECT

In fact, the researchers concluded that "believing your health to be excellent" is as statistically significant as non-smoking !

Talking about Cancer...yet another massive U.S. study throws some interesting light on that particular illness. Overall, 50% of cancer patients recover, while the other 50% die. And this has been the case since studies began over 50 years ago...despite the vast sums spent on cancer research ! This time however, they wanted to find out which of the many therapies was most highly correlated with healing. These therapies included Chemotherapy, Radiation Treatment, Surgery, Yoga, doing nothing etc.

After surveying thousands of case histories, they concluded that, no matter what was done, the patient had a statistically similar 50% chance of recovery ! So, in other words, whether you opt for Chemotherapy or Yoga, your chances are still the same. You still have a 50% chance of healing !

The doctors doing this study were taken aback and puzzled by the results. They thought that there must be at least one factor they could correlate with recovery. After all 50% of people do get better. So what's the secret ? And in the end they found it. What they discovered was that those patients who "expected to get better" tended to do just that. And those patients who expected to die, tended to die. "Expecting" to recover is different from "fighting cancer". Expecting is the same as Believing. It’s a quiet inner confidence. You just "know" you are getting better.


THE POWER OF BELIEF

Belief is an incredibly powerful force in all our lives. It affects us as individuals, and as groups. Those individuals and companies who believe they are winners, tend to be just that...and vice-versa. During the last war, many Germans and Japanese believed they were "superior"...and achieved astonishing military results. They almost pulled it off. And beliefs are generally slow to change. So despite Hiroshima, many Japanese apparently still believe themselves to be intrinsically superior to lesser mortals.

You could of course say that beliefs are merely illusions...or delusions. Beliefs seem to reside within the deep inner wiring of the mind. And whether or not they correspond with objective facts…they are still powerful ! So if I happen to believe that I am extremely intelligent (despite an abysmal academic track record)...then I am intelligent. And all of my behaviours will be driven by this inner belief. Think of Einstein !


HOW LUCKY ARE YOU ?

Check this one out with yourself – Do you believe that you are generally a "lucky" person ? Or do you believe (like a lot of people) that you are really "unlucky", one of life’s victims ? Whenever an officer was presented to Napoleon for possible promotion to the rank of general, he is alleged to have always asked..."Is he lucky? – I only promote lucky officers!"

Believing yourself to be lucky is certainly a more pleasant belief to have, than the opposite...even if it is an illusion, and does not correspond with an objective scientific study of your life to date ! Positive beliefs feel good and make you healthy. Negative beliefs feel bad and make you ill. It's like the old question – "Is the glass half-full or half-empty?"

Every couple of years a new Flu epidemic spreads from Asia. Some people (as soon as they hear about it) say – "Oh I always get the Flu"...and they do ! Other people say - "I never get the Flu"...and guess what?...they never do !

People who suffer from mental depression, are always loaded down with negative beliefs (illusions)...about themselves, about others, and about life. These beliefs have such a devastating effect, that they are often driven to suicide as the only conclusion.


YOUR BELIEFS CREATE YOUR FUTURE !

So if beliefs can affect something as complex as the immune system, and your very life - think of how they can affect your business and professional success ! It has given me great pleasure over the years, to meet people who have enhanced their existing possible beliefs even further - in order to achieve even more in their lives. But even more gratifying has been the experience of learning with other people, who have succeeded in completely reversing a negative set of beliefs...and replacing them with a completely new set of positive beliefs. The real secret of confidence and success is after all, positive beliefs.

Some years ago, when I was running one of my management courses in England, we all got into a discussion about beliefs. One lady (in her late 50s) told us the following story, against herself. Here is how she put it....

"On the street where I grew up as a little girl, there was one family who had three little daughters. These little girls however, were extremely ugly. In fact, they were almost hideous. And as you can imagine, kids can be very cruel. So, of course, the rest of us called them 'the ugly sisters'. And to make matters worse, their mother always treated them as if they were the prettiest little girls in the world. She used to dress them up with ribbons in their hair, as if they were really pretty. But this just served to emphasise their sheer ugliness. The contrast between their pretty clothes & ribbons, and the way they really looked, just made them look even more grotesque !

Then later on as we all grew up to be teenagers, we would all go to dances at the local tennis club. And of course the three ugly sisters went along as well - to everyone's amusement. Because their mother still treated them as if they were the prettiest girls around - they actually acted as if they were ! The overall effect was hilarious - just to see them preening themselves as if they were so beautiful - when all the world knew they were so ugly!

Anyway, the end of the story is....that all three of those girls married a handsome young man with a good job, and they all have lovely children...while I’m still an old maid!"


LARRY MCMAHON - www.larrymcmahon.com

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