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BELIEFS & FEARS
Module 3 · 7 min
What pulls you back from what you want?
Watch first: Watch: what holds you back?
A short animation.
Try this: The rubber band
Loop two rubber bands on one finger. That finger is you, today. The blue band pulls you forward towards your goal. The red band pulls you back.
Feel both pulls at once? That's what it feels like inside when you want something but something holds you back.
The idea: Two pulls
Tap each one.
- What you want · A goal gives you focus, energy and useful tension.
- Where you are now · Your current reality, seen honestly.
The choice: Two ways to release the tension
Source: The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge.
“You can move towards your goal, or you can lower your goal. Many people lower the goal without noticing.”
Inner pulls: What pulls you back
These pull your "now" hand backwards.
- Fear of failure
- Fear of being laughed at
- Lack of energy
- Not being clear about what you want
- Negative beliefs, like "I'm not a Maths person"
Your turn: Fact or belief?
Some thoughts are facts. Some are beliefs that feel like facts.
- "I got 42% in my last Maths test." (Fact: It happened. It says nothing about the next test.)
- "I'm not a Maths person." (Belief: It's a story about the fact, and stories can change.)
- "People from my village don't become engineers." (Belief: Many do. Ask: whose belief is this?)
- "My board exam is in March." (Fact: A real constraint you can plan around.)
- "Everyone will laugh if I ask a question." (Belief: Often, others have the same question.)
Conditioning: Where beliefs come from
Many beliefs were picked up from others, often years ago. Like a rubber band, they pull us back to where we were.
The good news: a belief can be tested. Ask, "Is this actually true? What is the evidence?"
Four steps: Test a belief
- Name it · Write the belief down, exactly as it sounds in your head.
- Question it · Is it a fact, or a story about a fact?
- Find evidence against it · Think of one time it wasn't true.
- Rewrite it · "I'm not a Maths person" becomes "Maths takes me more practice, and practice works."
Your turn: Pause & ponder
Write one belief that might be holding you back. Then rewrite it.
Apply: Try this week
When the belief speaks this week, notice it and say: "That's the rubber band." Then take one small step towards your goal anyway.
Well done!
Next: Module 4 · Time