Attitude and belief is the topic on the ‘Thought for the day’ blog today. I have already mentioned in one of my posts that character is made up of many attitudes that we have. But what our attitudes are based on? They are based on our beliefs. Our beliefs are convictions about something that we consider to be true, right, good, bad and etc. This, of course, forms our attitude about this or that aspect. You are what you believe. So, take care what you believe about yourself, the world that surrounds you and other people. Your beliefs as well as your thoughts control your behavior.
How is a belief formed?
It all starts in our childhood. Babies do not understand what is good or bad. The only people they have around are their parents. So, whatever their parents say, they believe. Later, these things are repeated and a lot of beliefs become part of children lives. Later, this process continues at kindergartens, schools, universities. We hear things and we either accept them or reject them. If what we hear pleases us and sounds to be true we very often accept those things as truth. Another way is through our relationships. If we spend a lot of time with the same people they influence us and there is a high probability that we will take over their beliefs. And if we are strong enough we can actually pass our beliefs unto them.
We also form our beliefs from reading books, watching movies and opening ourselves to the influence of mass media. In all of these cases information comes one way, it comes your way. It comes from all those sources and your choices are limited: accept or reject. As you may understand our beliefs might be very subjective. They are not facts and you need to be sure they do not destroy your life; because when your beliefs are formed they start influencing and controlling your behavior from subconscious level.
Our beliefs are meant to help us not hinder
Our beliefs were meant to help us to live our lives, create our future, pursue our careers, and make us happy. However, the world is so much flooded with negativity that adopting most common beliefs is not only unwise but might be dangerous for your life and future. They would limit your personality, talents, and career. Although negativity is not the only problem connected with beliefs it is very wide spread and part of most cultures. Although America is probably the only country that has embraced so much of positive thinking, it is still not in the place where it has to be. An average person bases his life not on possibilities but on limitations and that’s why he does not achieve much. We do need more information on how to develop positive thinking and take our lives to a higher level.
How do we change our beliefs?
First of all, we have to see the need of a change. It usually happens when we see how limiting our old beliefs are. Then there must be willingness to change. You can start the process by reading and watching material on positive thinking. You also try to switch off sources that are the causes of negativity in your life. It is not very pleasant to say, but you might consider cutting off some of the relationships that lead you nowhere. I believe our relationships should be based on something like ‘give and take’ principle and we should contribute to the growth of our friends. If your friends do not have any serious plans for the future except to survive I do not know if you will achieve something by keeping close ties with them. Why? Most of our goals, desires, and motivations are reflected in our talks with our friends. In this way we either benefit from each other or deepen and strengthen our limitations. So, think about it. Maybe you will have to change something in the field. You need to have people you will be able to share your visions and goals for the future and it is only right to expect support from them. The final thing that you will have to do is to take some actions to reinforce your positive beliefs. That involves thinking positive thoughts, searching for positive aspects in every situation, reacting positively even in adverse situations, looking at people positively and expecting good in the future.
There are many more points to be discussed on the topic, but I will do it in my later posts. In the meantime read my previous posts about:
Attitude quotes