Examine Your Mental Beliefs

Examine Your Mental Beliefs is Part Four of Discover U in Ten Steps. Examine your spiritual beliefs is part of a Year of Personal Development.

Hyrum Smith, CEO of Franklin Covey, talks about his “Franklin Reality Model” in the book “The 10 natural laws of successful time and life management.” Look at your beliefs to determine: 1 ) are they are based on truth? and 2) do the results of choices based on those beliefs work for you? Beliefs are learned and may have been formed in situations that were something less than perfect. If they are not working for you, they can be changed. Sometimes we internalize negative messages. For example, Instead of learning great communication, we may have gotten the message that it’s not ok to talk about certain things. We can choose new positive beliefs like “I can talk about things that are important to me.”

In The Franklin Reality Model, our belief window is a filter as we take actions (behavior) as we attempt to meet our perceived needs. Examine beliefs, actions and long term results to determine if needs are met.

In this example, the current need is the addiction of smoking, which is driven by the belief that “smoking may hurt others, but not me.” The short term result is the positive pleasure from nicotine. The long term result is the negative effect on health. An alternative belief is based in reality: “smoking is too big a health risk to take.” Quitting smoking is difficult in the short term, but leads to a longer and healthier life in the long term. Read more about the Franklin Reality Model at Franklin Covey Synthesis.

Positive affirmations are first person present tense descriptions. Pay attention to what you say when you talk to yourself and choose positive self-talk rather than saying critical and negative things.

“The Four Agreements” is a book by Don Miguel Ruiz that describes how we form beliefs based on fear. When we change our agreements, we can change our lives. The four agreements are:

1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don’t take anything personally.
3. Don’t make assumptions.
4. Always do your best.

Beliefs and our emotions

One of the Emotional Intelligence activities is a look at Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy to see how beliefs lead to emotions, which helps us Understand Emotions.

Make a list of your beliefs about yourself, others, and life. For each one, ask if it works for you. If it doesn’t, re-write it.

Discover U in Ten Steps

1. Discover your heroes
2. Identify your strengths
3. Explore your skills
4. Examine your beliefs
5. Look at your values
6. Develop a mission statement
7. Learn about your personality and interests
8. Think about your talents and dreams
9. Tell your story
10. Express yourself

About dailyplanit

I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.