Life coach and author Marie Forleo champions the “magic of belief” in her book Everything is Figureoutable:

“Beliefs are the hidden scripts that run our lives. They determine where we go and how we get there.”

In June’s blog post we explained how an organisation’s values (or beliefs) can shape its destiny. And it’s true that at an individual level our beliefs are the “master commanders” of our behaviour and our results. If you’ve recently made any New Year’s resolutions (in the hope that behaviour change will follow), you’d better believe in them! 

We form our beliefs through:

• Our environment (upbringing, family, school etc.)
• Our experience (we do something and then form a belief as a result)
• Evidence (thoughts and ideologies we accept as the truth from authoritative figures and sources)
• Examples (role models who inspire us)
• Envisioning (a vision in our minds of something)

But a belief is “nothing more than a thought that you’ve decided is significant and true.” The great news is that if any of our beliefs are causing us pain or suffering, we can unlearn them and choose different ones. The crucial message is: 

“All beliefs are a choice and choices can be changed.”

If we want to solve a problem or achieve a dream, we must first change a belief.  Our beliefs create our behaviours; they control how we respond to everything; they determine our destiny. When you change a belief, you change everything.

Our minds are designed to reinforce what we already believe (what’s known as confirmation bias), so be aware of this and stay open-minded. Practise becoming aware of what you’re thinking and believing. Our brains are adaptable. We can train them to think in new ways. Establish and reinforce new beliefs and you’ll notice that you start to behave differently, and with less conscious effort.

Forleo urges us to adopt her one core belief: “Everything is figureoutable.” She learnt these wise words from her remarkably resourceful mother, and has personally applied this mantra to everything she does (with successful outcomes). She believes that these words will encourage you to be more creative and confident, enabling you to achieve your goals. 

The author recommends saying the phrase “EVERYTHING IS FIGUREOUTABLE” out loud (and in our heads) as often as possible. And for all you cynics out there, there’s compelling evidence that affirmations are a powerful way of feeding our brains positive information, programming it for success. 

“The most powerful words in the universe are the words you say to yourself.”

So repeat the words, rewire your brain and change your behaviour today.