Lies We Are Told...

Is that really true? Like really?

Have you ever stopped to think whether all the things you were taught to believe as a child are actually true?  

What makes something true?

Is something true because your teacher told you so? Your Mom? Dad? Minister? Best Friend? A respected elder? Society? 

It is true primarily because we believe it is true, regardless of how we came to that conclusion.

I am curious, have you ever challenged any of those beliefs or "truths" You know, stopped to think is it really true, or is it worth dismissing?

Here are some of the beliefs I have questioned...

Most of us were taught that breakfast was the most important meal of the day...

Is it really?  I have done Intermittent Fasting for most of my life, and I rarely eat breakfast in the morning. I believe, what you eat far outweighs the importance of when you eat.

" You need a college degree to be successful"

I can name thousands of successful entrepreneurs that never stepped one foot in college.

We are also taught that failing is bad.

This is one I really take issue with. Failing just means you didn't meet your expectation. Nothing more, unless you make it mean more. You simply didn't get it quite right this time around, it doesn't mean you are dumb, incapable, or that you need to give up.  Unfortunately, many adults struggle to UNLEARN this "lesson."

The truth is you fail until you don't. And if you're not afraid to fail you keep moving forward until you reach your destination.  

You continue trying different things until you succeed.

Of course, you always have the option of simply quitting.  However, when you quit, you are just failing ahead of time,  and your lack of success is guaranteed.  

Here's another belief, I let go of a long time ago...

"You have to work hard to make lots of money"

While that may be true for some that can't be true for all people, or ALL hard-working individuals would be loaded right?  Hard work isn't what makes money, creating and providing value to others is what makes money. Let that sit with you for a while.  Working harder isn't the answer, working smarter - yeah I can buy into that. 

The truth is you get to believe whatever the hell you want to believe.

No one can make you believe anything you don't choose to believe, on purpose. 

I mean ANYTHING. You can believe absolutely anything. It doesn't matter if one person, 100 people, or no one agrees with you, they get to believe what they want and so do you.   You own your beliefs, which of course means, you are also responsible for how you feel, act, and the results you create from your belief system. 

Beliefs are just thoughts we continue to think over and over, and those thoughts create very specific feelings in our bodies.  Those feelings drive our actions and create the results in our lives. 

Final thoughts.  If you do have that belief of failing is bad, I want to challenge you to come up with a better feeling thought. When you find a thought that you can believe lightens the load of the negative thought that doesn't serve you.  What if you instead believed, I am one fail away from success. Or, I refuse to quit and I am willing to feel the discomfort of not getting it perfect.  Or, what did I learn this time around?  Seriously, there are thousands of better thinking thoughts you can focus on.

Find the better thinking thought and then most importantly practice believing it. You will be surprised how changing a simple belief around failing can create more success in your life than you could have imagined.

Think about it. 

Please remember, to Love, Laugh and most of all Learn to Live Boldly

Jill

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