Personal Growth Success

It will prove very helpful and telling to see why you believe as you do. You will surely be surprised to realize how ill formed some of your beliefs are.

The fact is that the major portions contributing to the building of a belief system are based on illogical input! That’s right! Only 1 out of the 5 means of building beliefs is based on logic.

The 5 core information sources feeding your beliefs are:

1. Evidence
2. Tradition
3. Authority
4. Association
5. Revelation

1. Evidence

   Evidence gives supporting facts that one thing happens because of another. The ‘cut and dried’ quality of evidence appeals to the analytical and critical thinking part of your mind. Developing your belief system through this mode is very rationale and stems from the use of logical thinking.

   Two sources of evidence:

   1. Scientific study supplies results from critically tested hypotheses to support evidence based beliefs.
   2. Your unique life experience of cause and affect. You might continually experience a regular outcome from your actions. For example:
      • If you insult a friend, you will feel badly.
      • Paying your bills on time keeps all your service providers happy.
2. Tradition
   The traditions endorsed through generations and cultures are a key factor in creating your belief system. Children are often overwhelmed with traditional activities day in and day out when growing up. This makes traditions can be very easy to take on board, without even questioning. It’s great to recognize that traditions have served some societies well. Still it does not follow that they are necessarily based in truth, nor necessarily have a legitimate place in your life.

   Many people adopt their basic ‘global beliefs’ and certain ‘topic specific beliefs’ through societal tradition. Family biases, social culture, and societal prejudice are all major factors in the formation of personal ideas about:

   • God and what spiritual understanding is correct
   • political theory and who to vote for
   • ones own personal value
   • which sporting team to cheer for

   Ask yourself ‘what role has tradition played in developing your belief system?’.

3. Authority
   Numerous beliefs are accepted from people in positions of authority.

   It’s possible that these people of influence also fit in the group of tradition, as I’m sure you can picture. For example, parents usually assume a significant role of authority in your early life and they are endlessly passing traditions down to you.

   Many times those in positions of authority stand outside of tradition. For example some of those who may manipulate, could be:

   • a religious sage that declares having a unique  direct line to ‘God’
   • a doctor who insists that they absolutely sure that any ideas on health that conflicting with theirs, are rubbish
   • a university professor who you have looked up to
4. Association
   What group are you part of?
   Whether you can be found with the ‘in crowd’ or hidden away with the ‘nerds’, you will be nurturing beliefs that are compatible with those people around you. It is kind of like ‘you rub off on one another’.

   As you are repeatedly faced with special ways of thinking common to your group, you learn to ‘go with the flow’ and adopt the shared beliefs.

5. Revelation
   Here, the definition of revelation referred to is “the disclosure of information to man by a divine or supernatural agency”. The experience might be described as:a hunch or an inkling of an idea… or seeing something in your imagination.

   Two primary understandings offer insight on how this unseen delivery of knowledge occurs:

   1. Some say that the knowledge had filtered into your subconscious before this time through external stimuli. It was just eagerly awaiting below the surface. When the correct trigger occurred, (likely some
      vague event), the info was brought to your conscious mind.
   2. Others think that perhaps it is due to a sixth sense of perception that we know little about. This extra sense is powerful in it’s own right, and able to tune into reality in a way not yet understood.

   Revelation can strike at any moment. You might be; lounging at home, driving to work, gazing at the treetops. How ever it may arrive, might be interesting to ponder. But, the really interesting question is, is this information valuable to you?

   There was absolutely one outstanding man who highly valued the wild ideas his imagination threw upon him.

   Albert Einstein! He intimately knew the power of imagination, and how it is interwoven with the magic of believing. A few of his words of wisdom on the subject:

   “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”

   “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Look at the origins of your beliefs, and see what you might learn.

1. Bravely ask, “do they have a solid basis and do they serve you well?”
2. Recognizing that many or your beliefs are ‘adopted beliefs’, have another look at them in a new light. See if you can find holes in them. As you learn and grow, it is reasonable to think that you will change some of your beliefs as you progress with your personal development. Enjoy the process!

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