How to Harness The Awesome Power of Self-Belief
How to Harness The Awesome Power of Self-Belief
• Lack of clear goal & evidence
• Not addressing the benefits of the current situation (aka. secondary gain)
• Familiarity of the current situation (a particularly sneaky benefit)
• Lack of belief and/or limiting beliefs
In Robert Anton Wilson’s excellent book Prometheus Rising, he models the mind as having two main parts; a thinker and a prover. The thinker is extremely flexible, and can think any number of things. The thinker can think the earth is flat; the thinker can think the earth is spherical. It can think all men are poison; it can think all men are essentially good. The thinker can think that women are intuitive and men are rational; it can think the opposite. It can think that there isn’t enough to go round; it can think we live in a world of unlimited abundance. The thinker can think pretty much anything.
The prover is much more predictable: what the thinker thinks, the prover proves.
What the thinker thinks, the prover proves (WTTTTPP)
Whatever the thinker is thinking, the prover will sort for evidence to support it. If a person thinks that all homeless people are lazy, the prover will sort through their experience to find evidence to support that idea. If they think all homeless people are victims, the prover will find evidence to support that idea. If a person considers themselves to be stupid, the prover will find evidence to show that it’s ‘true’. If a person thinks they are brilliant, the prover will show that to be true. What the thinker thinks, the prover proves. While it’s easy to see that this is the case for everyone else, it’s not so easy to recognise that it’s also the case for us. While it’s easy to identify the ways in which someone else is limiting themselves, the things we believe are ‘really true’ – aren’t they?
The power of beliefs
WTTTTPP is a simple way of understanding how beliefs operate in the human nervous system. Beliefs are very powerful, helping us to get a sense of certainty and direction in an unpredictable world. They are so powerful, in fact, that we sometimes don’t remember that they’re not necessarily ‘true’.
I used to be a project manager, employed to manage multi-million pound business change & software projects for large companies. While it was a matter of record that I was able to lead these large and complex programmes, I ‘knew’ that I could not go solo and succeed as a contractor. Two weeks after going on my first NLP training, I handed in my notice and started my own business. What had changed? My thinker started thinking something different, and my prover found evidence to support it. So, with regard to a current goal you wish to achieve or change you wish to make (or just for fun)…
1) Write a list of 3 beliefs which have been limiting you.
Sometimes, just the process of writing them down can allow you to begin to realise that they are not really true. As you look at these beliefs, you may become aware that, at one point in time, they were useful for helping you make sense of the world. But perhaps they’ve passed their use-by date now.
2) Underneath the list, write the heading ‘Evidence’. Start to find evidence that these beliefs are false (get a friend to help you if you need to.) When evidence is presented, leave decision & judgement to one side. Just write the evidence on the evidence list.
Nature abhors a vacuum, so begin to think about what sort of beliefs you’d like to have instead of these.
3) Write a list of 3 useful, empowering beliefs that will help you achieve your goal (or that you’d just like to believe.) Remember to state them in the positive.
4) Write ‘Evidence’ under this list, and start to find evidence that these beliefs are true. When evidence is presented, leave decision & judgement to one side. Just write the evidence on the evidence list.
I sometimes do a training exercise where I get people to shake hands with the other trainees a) while imagining that the person they are shaking hands with is going to be difficult to deal with, and then b) while imagining that the person they are shaking hands with is a great friend who will help them in many ways. The difference is always profound and it demonstrates (among other things) that what you are thinking changes the signals you give off. Someone once asked “So, are you suggesting we tell ourselves lies?” “Not quite”, I said. “I’m suggesting that you change the lousy lies you are telling yourself to good ones, which support you.”
Milton Erickson, an extraordinary communicator and patron saint of NLP used to say “You can pretend anything and master it.” So…
5) Pretend that the new positive beliefs are true.
Pretending is a big part of how Robert Deniro gets into role, how Jimi Hendrix learned to be so good at guitar, and how you learned to walk. It’s also part of how Richard Bandler and John Grinder developed NLP, but that’s another story. Pretend until the pretense starts to seem real. While NLP has many new approaches for structured belief change, this approach has been used throughout history, is lots of fun and, best of all, you already know how to do it!
How to Harness The Awesome Power of SelfBelief - To learn more about this author, visit Jamie Smart's Website.
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In my experience there are several factors that can prevent people from getting what they want in their lives, whether in business or in other areas:
• Lack of clear goal & evidence
• Not addressing the benefits of the current situation (aka. secondary gain)
• Familiarity of the current situation (a particularly sneaky benefit)
• Lack of belief and/or limiting beliefs
In Robert Anton Wilson’s excellent book Prometheus Rising, he models the mind as having two main parts; a thinker and a prover. The thinker is extremely flexible, and can think any number of things. The thinker can think the earth is flat; the thinker can think the earth is spherical. It can think all men are poison; it can think all men are essentially good. The thinker can think that women are intuitive and men are rational; it can think the opposite. It can think that there isn’t enough to go round; it can think we live in a world of unlimited abundance. The thinker can think pretty much anything.
The prover is much more predictable: what the thinker thinks, the prover proves.
What the thinker thinks, the prover proves (WTTTTPP)
Whatever the thinker is thinking, the prover will sort for evidence to support it. If a person thinks that all homeless people are lazy, the prover will sort through their experience to find evidence to support that idea. If they think all homeless people are victims, the prover will find evidence to support that idea. If a person considers themselves to be stupid, the prover will find evidence to show that it’s ‘true’. If a person thinks they are brilliant, the prover will show that to be true. What the thinker thinks, the prover proves. While it’s easy to see that this is the case for everyone else, it’s not so easy to recognise that it’s also the case for us. While it’s easy to identify the ways in which someone else is limiting themselves, the things we believe are ‘really true’ – aren’t they?
The power of beliefs
WTTTTPP is a simple way of understanding how beliefs operate in the human nervous system. Beliefs are very powerful, helping us to get a sense of certainty and direction in an unpredictable world. They are so powerful, in fact, that we sometimes don’t remember that they’re not necessarily ‘true’.
I used to be a project manager, employed to manage multi-million pound business change & software projects for large companies. While it was a matter of record that I was able to lead these large and complex programmes, I ‘knew’ that I could not go solo and succeed as a contractor. Two weeks after going on my first NLP training, I handed in my notice and started my own business. What had changed? My thinker started thinking something different, and my prover found evidence to support it. So, with regard to a current goal you wish to achieve or change you wish to make (or just for fun)…
1) Write a list of 3 beliefs which have been limiting you.
Sometimes, just the process of writing them down can allow you to begin to realise that they are not really true. As you look at these beliefs, you may become aware that, at one point in time, they were useful for helping you make sense of the world. But perhaps they’ve passed their use-by date now.
2) Underneath the list, write the heading ‘Evidence’. Start to find evidence that these beliefs are false (get a friend to help you if you need to.) When evidence is presented, leave decision & judgement to one side. Just write the evidence on the evidence list.
Nature abhors a vacuum, so begin to think about what sort of beliefs you’d like to have instead of these.
3) Write a list of 3 useful, empowering beliefs that will help you achieve your goal (or that you’d just like to believe.) Remember to state them in the positive.
4) Write ‘Evidence’ under this list, and start to find evidence that these beliefs are true. When evidence is presented, leave decision & judgement to one side. Just write the evidence on the evidence list.
I sometimes do a training exercise where I get people to shake hands with the other trainees a) while imagining that the person they are shaking hands with is going to be difficult to deal with, and then b) while imagining that the person they are shaking hands with is a great friend who will help them in many ways. The difference is always profound and it demonstrates (among other things) that what you are thinking changes the signals you give off. Someone once asked “So, are you suggesting we tell ourselves lies?” “Not quite”, I said. “I’m suggesting that you change the lousy lies you are telling yourself to good ones, which support you.”
Milton Erickson, an extraordinary communicator and patron saint of NLP used to say “You can pretend anything and master it.” So…
5) Pretend that the new positive beliefs are true.
Pretending is a big part of how Robert Deniro gets into role, how Jimi Hendrix learned to be so good at guitar, and how you learned to walk. It’s also part of how Richard Bandler and John Grinder developed NLP, but that’s another story. Pretend until the pretense starts to seem real. While NLP has many new approaches for structured belief change, this approach has been used throughout history, is lots of fun and, best of all, you already know how to do it!
How to Harness The Awesome Power of SelfBelief - To learn more about this author, visit Jamie Smart's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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