“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. — George Bernard Shaw”
― Wayne W. Dyer, Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao
Many doctors and scientists believed that we were born with a brain that was either of high functioning or not.
At the end of the twentieth century, scientists began to understand the concept of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to grow new cells, and forge new neural connections throughout your life.
A person can use these new cells and newly formed connections to develop new habits and beliefs, learn faster, and remember more effectively.
So, if you think you’re not smart enough or not good enough, it doesn’t matter. You can change it. If you Have False Beliefs then They are True The beliefs you hold and the stories you tell yourself shape your internal model of reality.
When your model is wrong, you build broken habits and make decisions that don’t create what you want. You suffer. A flexible mind changes itself and builds a better model as it gathers more data about reality.
Build a flexible mind with the built-in habit of questioning your assumptions about reality so you can grow.
Vishen Lakhiani has been a meditation teacher for more than twenty years. Vishen used to believe a false story about himself. He is of South Asian descent, but he grew up in Asia, where he looked different from the other kids.
He had a larger nose than most of his classmates and more hair on his arms and legs. The other boys called him Gorilla Legs and Hook Nose, and Vishen internalized those messages. It created the meaning that he was ugly, and he held on to that belief for many years.
These beliefs and stories like our hardware if we allow them to go unquestioned, they can have a hugely detrimental impact on our lives. Our beliefs tell us how important we are, what we are capable of, our role in society, and so on.
If our beliefs are limited, they can drastically diminish our human potential. The problem is that our beliefs feel like reality because they are a reality, until you realize they are false. Just keep updating your own hardware just like you update computer hardware.
In Vishen’s book, he teaches a codified form of learning and human development that he calls consciousness engineering.
The first step of consciousness engineering is to recognize that your beliefs are not who you are. They are simply hardware that was installed in you long ago and can be upgraded or replaced.
Swapping out your limiting beliefs is crucial if you want to go from Human 1.0 to Human 2.0, but it isn’t easy. Humans hold on to limiting beliefs without even realizing it. They seem so real to us that we don’t always realize they even exist.
Vishen recommends modalities, which can lead to awakening moments that make you conscious of your beliefs. Then you can begin to change them intentionally. Your positive beliefs can literally bring you success.
You can tell yourself the story that you’re successful, and your brain will believe it and act on it. The opposite is also true. Your beliefs directly impact the outcome of your efforts, so it is essential to swap out your negative beliefs so you can reach your potential what you presently believe is your potential.
The second aspect of consciousness engineering is upgrading your systems for a living, also known as your habits. Habits like apps on your phone, start learning new systems through studying greats and finding out what habits made a difference for the most impactful people.
To learn more about how to easily create new habits, you can check out Robert Cooper. He is a neuroscientist. Robert effectively combines two fields that seem completely unrelated neuroscience and business strategy to help elite performers.
He says that the brain has an embedded performance code for the world of two thousand years ago. You can ignore this outdated programming, or you can upgrade and reprogram the brain to become compatible with First, you must become aware of the brain’s default settings.
The reality of today’s world. This is helpful on a day-to-day basis, such as when you drive to work using the same route as always without even thinking about it, but constantly reverting to automatic behaviors can shut down innovative thinking.
Robert calls this your “hard wiring.” Your “live wiring,” Robert says that even when you are relying on your hard wiring, your brain is constantly changing. The question then becomes: In which direction are you changing?
When you settle into your default mode and someone takes your favorite seat, you are “down-wiring.” but it doesn’t have to be that way. You are “up-wiring.” The key to upgrading your performance is to spend most of your time up-wiring rather than down-wiring.
Up-wiring requires more effort and more risk. To do this, Robert encourages you to identify moments when you can prevent an automatic response and instead guide yourself in a better direction.
It’s exciting to know that your brain, your beliefs, and your reality are incredibly changeable. You decide who you are, and you can also choose your own truth. That is a powerful game-changer.
Inspired from the book “Game Changers”
Dave Asprey
Great article and very helpful.
Thank you Sergio.