All personal achievements begin with at least one change in belief.. How to make these changes? The most efficient way would be make your brain associate with intense suffering With experienced conviction.

You must feel deep down that this belief has not only cost you experiences in the past, but is also causing suffering in the present and may ultimately bring suffering in the future. Then you must associate great pleasure with the thought of developing a new, stimulating belief. This is a basic pattern that we will repeat over and over again as we make changes in our lives. Remember: we never forget what we do - whether it is associated with suffering or with pleasure - and if we have associations that are mainly associated with experiences, then we will change. The only reason we have this or that belief is that we associate great experiences with not believing in it or great pleasure with maintaining it.

Secondly, give room for doubt. If you are truly honest with yourself, then ask yourself: don’t you have the same beliefs with which you defended your inner world many years ago and which you are almost ashamed of today? What happened? Something is causing you doubt: maybe a new life experience, or maybe a pattern that contradicts your past belief.

New experiences within us do not in themselves guarantee a change in beliefs. People may have experiences that are directly proportional to their beliefs, yet they interpret them as they see fit in order to support their beliefs.

New experiences will only bring about change if they challenge our beliefs. Remember, if we believe something, then all doubts about it disappear.. The moment we begin to sincerely doubt our beliefs, we no longer feel absolutely confident in them. We begin to form the “legs” of confirmation of our cognitive “tables”, and as a result we lose the previous feeling of strong confidence. Have you ever doubted your ability do anything? How did this happen? You've probably asked yourself some minor questions like, “What if I fail? What if it doesn't work? What if I can't handle it? But questions can also be extremely stimulating if they are aimed at testing the value of beliefs that may have been developed by chance. In fact, many of our beliefs are supported by information received from others that we were unable to doubt at the time. If we look at them carefully, we may discover that what we have subconsciously believed for years is based on a number of erroneous assumptions.

If you have endless questions about something, you will eventually begin to doubt it.
This includes what you are absolutely sure of, about which, as they say, there is not even a shadow of doubt. Many years ago, I received a unique opportunity to work for the US Army, with which I was contracted to work to reduce training hours for specialists in special forces. My work was so successful that I also received permission to freely communicate with the highest ranks of the secret service, and had the opportunity to model one of the highest officials of the CIA, a person who had gone through all the steps of this department. Let me tell you that the skills that he and others like him developed to shake a person's conviction and change his beliefs are absolutely amazing. They created conditions that made people doubt what they had always believed in, and then gave them new ideas and attitudes to reinforce these beliefs. Watching the speed with which they changed the beliefs of any person was eerie, however, it was downright fascinating. I have learned to use these techniques on myself to eliminate enervating beliefs and replace them with empowering ones.

Our beliefs have different levels of emotional certainty and intensity, and it is important to know how strong they really are. Essentially, I classified beliefs into three categories: opinions, beliefs and conviction

Opinions, beliefs and conviction

Opinion- this is something about which we feel some confidence, but it is only temporary, because it can easily change at any moment. Our cognitive “table top” is supported by shaky, untested “legs” of confirmations, which can be based on impressions.

Belief it is formed when there is a much greater basis for the “legs” of confirmations, and especially those in relation to which we experience strong emotions. These confirmations give us an absolute sense of certainty about a particular phenomenon. And, again, as I said before, these confirmations can come from various sources - the personal experiences of people you know, information we receive from the media, or even from what we imagine in our imagination.

People with beliefs have such a high level of confidence that they often turn a deaf ear to any new information. But if you have a mutual understanding with these people, then you can eliminate this closure and make them doubt their confirmations in order to make them more flexible to perceive new information. From here doubts arise, destabilizing previous confirmations, and space is made available for some new belief. However:

Conviction stronger than a belief, firstly, because of the emotional intensity with which a person associates a particular thought. A person who has a certain conviction not only feels certain about a particular issue, but becomes furious if it is questioned. A person with certain views may not have any evidence, even at the moment; he always persistently insists on new information, which often turns into obsession. For example, fanatics of various religions for centuries have adhered to the belief that their view of God is the only correct one. The so-called “saviors” even speculated on the conviction of the faithful, hiding their bloodthirsty intentions under a divine guise; This is what caused a group of people living in Guyana to poison their own children and then themselves by drinking potassium cyanide on the orders of the mad missionary Jim Jones.

Of course, strong views, or convictions, are not the exclusive property of fans; they are possessed by every person with a sufficiently high level of commitment and loyalty to some idea, principle or motive. For example, a person who strongly disagrees with the practice of underground nuclear weapons testing has a conviction, and a person who takes an action - even one that others cannot appreciate or does not approve of, such as a protest march as a means of achieving his goals, has conviction. Anyone who bemoans the state of public education has a conviction, and someone who actually volunteers for a literacy program to try to change the status quo has a conviction. A person who dreams of having his own hockey team has a definite opinion about his belief, and someone who does everything to gather the necessary resources to buy the right to vote has a conviction. What's the difference between them? It's clear that the difference lies in the actions that one of these people takes. In essence, a person with conviction is so energetic in the direction of what he believes in that he is even willing to take risks, knowing that he will be rejected, and is not afraid to look foolish in the eyes of others in the name of his own conviction.

Perhaps the most significant indicator separating belief from conviction is that the latter is usually triggered by some major emotional events during which the brain forms such connections as “if I stop believing this, I will suffer terribly. To renounce one’s beliefs means to renounce one’s self, from everything that one has stood for in life for many years.” Thus, the desire to adhere to one’s views and convictions becomes a decisive factor literally for the very life of a given person. This can be dangerous, because the moment we don't even want to consider the possibility that our beliefs are inaccurate, we voluntarily become captive of our inflexibility, ultimately dooming ourselves to long-term failure. Sometimes it is better to have a belief in something rather than a conviction.

On the other hand, conviction, by the intensity of passion it ignites in us, can be inspiring because it motivates us to action. According to Dr. Robert Abelson, professor of psychology and political science at Yale University, “beliefs can be compared to property, and conviction is a more valuable property that allows a person to work with greater enthusiasm towards the implementation of any global or purely individual goals or projects.” , desires and aspirations."

Often the best thing you can do to improve your mastery in any area of ​​life is to raise your belief to the level of conviction. Remember that conviction has the power to bring into action, to force one to overcome any obstacles

. Beliefs can do this too, but there are areas in life where the extra emotional power of conviction is required. For example, the belief that you will never allow yourself to become overweight will force you to adopt a healthier lifestyle that will allow you to get more out of life. more fun and maybe even save yourself from heart attacks. The belief that you are an intelligent person who can always find a way out of any situation can help you get through life's most difficult trials.

So how is belief developed?

1 Start with a Core Belief

2. Improve your belief by adding new and stronger evidence to it.

For example, you decide to never eat meat again. To strengthen your decision, talk to people who live a vegetarian lifestyle: what reasons led them to change their diet and what were the consequences that impacted their health and other areas of their lives? In addition, start studying the psychological effects of animal protein. The more evidence you collect, and the more emotional the evidence, the stronger your conviction will become..

Link this action to the question: “What will it cost me if I don’t do this?” Ask questions that will create an emotional uplift. For example, if you want to develop the conviction to never use drugs, make the painful consequences of doing so real. If you vow to quit smoking, go to the hospital, to the intensive care unit, where you see emphysema patients hooked up to oxygen machines, or see an X-ray of the blackened lungs of a heavy smoker. This kind of experience has extraordinary power and helps to develop strong convictions.

4. Finally, take action. Every step you take strengthens your commitment to yourself and raises your level of emotional intensity and conviction.

One of the problems with conviction is that it is often based on other people's enthusiasm for your beliefs. Therefore, people often believe in something only because others believe in it. In psychology this is called social proof. But social proof doesn't always accurately reflect reality. When people are unsure of what to do, they look to others for guarantees. Dr. Robert Cialdini's book Influence describes a classic experiment. One day there was a cry in the park: “Help! They’re raping me!” when a man walked by. At the same time, two other people, not paying attention to the cries for help, continued to walk calmly. The subject does not know whether to respond to the victim's pleas or not, but seeing the actions of two other people acting as if nothing bad is happening, he decides that the cries for help have no meaning and ignores them too.

Using social proof is a direct path to limiting your own life- this means making it exactly the same as other people's. The most powerful social proof that people willingly use is information they receive from “experts.” But are experts always right? Think about the healers who have healed us for many years. Not so long ago, the most modern doctors firmly believed in the healing effects of leeches! And our generation remembers well the time when doctors gave pregnant women with morning sickness a sedative drug - Benedictine, which was considered equivalent to a “blessing” - but, as life experience has shown, it caused birth defects in children. Of course, doctors prescribed this drug because it was produced by drug companies, that is, professional pharmacists who gave doctors confidence that it was the best medicine in the world. What lesson did we learn from this? Blind gullibility is not a good advisor. And I say: don’t accept anything blindly! Check everything in the context of your own life - does it make sense to you personally?

Sometimes you cannot trust even the evidence of your own feelings, as the story of Copernicus confirms. During the time of this brilliant Polish astronomer, every person knew that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Where? Very simply, every person, going outside, could look at the sky and say: “See? The sun passed across the sky. Obviously, the Earth is the center of the Universe." But in 1543, Copernicus first developed an accurate model of the solar system. He, like other scientific geniuses of antiquity, had the courage to challenge the “sage experts”, and in the end the truth of his theories was recognized and accepted by society, although not during his lifetime.

Examining our beliefs and their consequences is vital to ensure they inspire us. But how do you know What kind of beliefs should you develop? The answer is: n Find someone who is already getting the results you really want in your life. These people will serve as living models for you and will give you the answers you are looking for. Inevitably, behind the success of these people there are a number of inspiring beliefs.

One way to expand the range of your life is to model it after those people who are already successful. It's very effective and very entertaining; besides, these people are in your environment. It's all just a matter of questions:

“What do you think can change you? What beliefs do you have that make you different from others?” Many years ago I read a book "Meeting wonderful people" and took her as a model for shaping his own life. Since then, I have been constantly on a quest to improve, constantly seeking out the outstanding men and women of our society to learn their beliefs, values ​​and strategies for success. Two years ago, I released a monthly audio magazine, “The Power of Communication!”, in which I interview these giants. In fact, many of the features I share with you in this book come from interviews with some of these people who excelled in their own particular fields. By committing to sharing these interviews and my newest thoughts with you every month, I have developed an ongoing plan for how to not only inspire others, but also continually improve myself. I'll be happy to help you break the pattern of successful people using my program, but remember: you don't have to be limited by what I offer. The models you need surround you every day.

“We are what we think. Everything that follows from our thoughts. From our thoughts we create our world."
BUDDHA

As the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer argued, all truth passes through three stages.
At first they laugh at this.
Then this is fiercely opposed.
And then it is accepted as obvious.

One of the most important global beliefs that you and I can develop in ourselves is the belief that to be happy and successful, we must constantly improve our standard of living, constantly grow and develop.

An integral part of my personal commitment to follow the principle of Continuous Development! is an unchanging “ritual” - at the end of each day I ask myself questions: “What did I learn today? What have I contributed or improved? What brought me joy? If you continually improve your ability to enjoy life every day, you will achieve a level of fullness of this feeling that most people do not even dare to dream of.

Remember, the key to success is developing a sense of confidence, a kind of conviction that allows you to develop as a person and take the necessary actions to improve your life and the lives of those around you. You may think that today you understand life well, but you and I must remember that over the years we will gain new experiences and, perhaps, looking back, based on this life experience we will come to a different conviction. We can develop even more inspiring beliefs ,) by abandoning those about which we felt insecure. Understand that your beliefs may change as you gather more evidence. What really matters now is how your current beliefs affect you - inspiring or enervating. Start today to develop the habit of focusing on the consequences of your beliefs. Do they strengthen your foundation, encouraging you to act in the desired direction, or do they drag you back?

“For as he thinks in his soul, so is he.”
THE PARABLES OF SOLOMON 23:7

Knowing so much about beliefs, all that remains is to figure out which ones are already guiding our actions.
So right now, put aside all other activities and spend the next ten minutes brainstorming all the beliefs you have, both positive and negative: insignificant beliefs that you think have no effect on anything, and big ones that have a huge impact on your life. Make sure this includes:

* “if... then” beliefs, for example: “If I constantly give my all, I will achieve success” or “If I behave so uncontrollably with this person, then he will leave me”;

* global beliefs, for example regarding people: “People are mostly good” or “People cause suffering”, regarding oneself, one’s capabilities, regarding time, lack or excess of something.

Quickly write down every belief you can imagine on paper within ten minutes. Please indulge yourself and do it now. I'll show you how you can strengthen your empowering beliefs and let go of your weakening ones.

Faith, unlike belief, does not require confirmation in experience and is more “irrational.” Therefore, faith usually concerns “unverifiable” things: faith in a bright future, faith in God, faith that everything will be fine in the end, faith in the meaning of life, etc.

Belief Structure

Beliefs can be divided into two groups:

“rules of life” - how it works;

“categorization” - what is what.

Belief

• the reason tells what needs to be done to achieve the value;

• about the investigation - what happens after the value is achieved;

• about criteria - what must happen in order for it to be decided that the value is satisfied;

• definition - what this value is;

• category assignment - which category the object belongs to.

Rules of life

These are beliefs about “rules of interaction with values.” Value is a category of things that are important to us. Beliefs of this type describe what to do with this category. Since values ​​are very general concepts, beliefs also describe fairly large generalizations.

To succeed you need to work hard. [to obtain the value "success" you need to "work hard"]

Money is a sign of a successful business. [having “money” is the criterion for a “successful business”]

Cancer leads to death. [“cancer” leads to the achievement of the anti-value “death”]

Freedom is the opportunity to be who you want. [definition of the value “freedom”]

Cause-effect

These beliefs describe what you need to do to get into the category (satisfy the value) and what will happen if you receive this value. For example, the value “popularity”.

Cause: “In order to become popular, you need to work hard.”

Consequence: “Popularity leads to loss of common sense.”

A characteristic feature of this type of belief is the presence of a sequence - one comes after the other: “alcoholism leads to death,” “love causes happiness.”

The “cause-effect” type includes ought beliefs:

I have to work hard.

He is forced to try.

I can't be late.

It’s just that the second part is usually “lost” in these beliefs: what will happen if you don’t do it (or do it).

To get a promotion, I have to work hard.

In order not to stay for a second year, he is forced to try.

I can't be late - I can get fired for being late.

In the meta-model, to restore the full form of beliefs of this type, a reaction to the pattern “modal verb of obligation or necessity” is used.

Complex equivalent

Another type of belief “equates” different elements with each other. This includes beliefs aboutcriteria(how do I know when the value is satisfied?) anddefinition(what it is?).

Criteria:“If they constantly talk about you, invite you to different places and want to communicate with you, then you are popular.”

Beliefs about criteria usually assume that all criteria must be met: “Success is when you have a lot of money, everyone respects and envy you.” If at least one of the criteria is not met, then the value has not been achieved. You won’t be able to understand just from a phrase whether a person has mentioned all the criteria - you need to additionally collect information.

Definition:“Popularity is when you are in the spotlight.”

As the name suggests, this belief “explains” what a value is.

Definition beliefs often link values ​​together: “Love is happiness,” “truth is a necessity,” and so on.

"Categorization"

These beliefs describe what is what, what belongs to what category. That is, for which “things” which rules are fulfilled (or not fulfilled).

Actually, all statements like “I am a genius”, “she is beautiful”, “all cats are cute”, “I don’t like blondes”, “I like burritos” are beliefs about attitude to the category. That is, a person places himself in the “genius” category, “her” in the “beauty” category, and blondes in the “don’t like” category. As you understand, all identity beliefs are of this type: “I am a genius,” “he is an idiot,” “I am a motorcycle racer.”

Petrov is a successful businessman. [“Petrov” is included in the category of “successful businessmen”]

- Mercedes makes good cars. [Mercedes cars falling into the “good cars” category]

I don't deserve happiness. [“I” do not fall into the “deserving of happiness” category]

Health is important. ["Health" is included in the "important" category]

The full form for a belief of this type must include a rationale for why “A is in category B”—usually a message about the satisfaction of the criterion: “Petrov is a successful businessman because he has a million-dollar fortune.”

Identity

The most important among this type of beliefs would beidentity beliefs : “I am a good swimmer.”

Please note that if a person has assigned himself to a category (identity), then formally all beliefs about this value must be fulfilled:

- I am a good swimmer because I trained a lot. [cause]

- I am a good swimmer, so I am invited to important competitions. [consequence]

- I am a good swimmer, because I can swim a hundred meters and not get out of breath. [criteria]

- I am a good swimmer, which means that I swim better than most other people. [definition]
But in reality, things are often not quite like that - and this can be used to change or strengthen beliefs.

Limiting and expanding beliefs

Limiting beliefs “get in the way” of living, while supportive beliefs “help”.

Consider that in different contexts and at different times, the same belief can be empowering (helpful) and limiting (harmful). The belief “you can’t talk to strangers on the street” can be supportive for a teenage girl and limiting for an adult woman.

There are some types of beliefs that most often turn out to be harmful (limiting).

Hopelessness

The conviction that the desired goal is not achievable, regardless of your capabilities.

No one can be completely happy.

It is impossible to be free in this country.

People can't help but lie.

Helplessness

The conviction that the desired goal is achievable, but you are not able to achieve it.

I'm no longer at the age to start my own business.

Some people can enjoy life, but I can't.

I am unable to control myself.

Worthlessness

The belief that you do not deserve a desired goal because of your own qualities or behavior.

I'm not worthy of you.

I don't deserve to be happy.

I'm not good enough for this position.

Addiction

The conviction that a goal can only be achieved with someone's help.

You will be happy only with me.

Only in our company will you be able to realize your potential.

Only our medicine will help you cure cancer.

Subjective representation of belief

Subjectively, a belief has a sensory representation: a visual picture, a sound, a sensation. The phrase that a person utters simply serves to describe this subjective idea.

For each belief there is a summary representation - a subjective representation of the belief itself - and a base - a set of events that confirm this belief.

Ways to change beliefs

In a sense, most interventions have to deal with beliefs. But we can identify several patterns specialized for this.

How do religious and political organizations exercise control over human consciousness? Here is a general technique of reorientation, indoctrination and/or brainwashing that is used in a wide variety of groups.

Kevin Hogan, psychologist, specialist in nonverbal communication and body language

The last thing every politician is interested in is that we have a wide choice of opportunities and styles of behavior. Why? The more opportunities we have, the more difficult it is to predict our actions. The more difficult it is to predict our actions, the less likely he is to convince us. The politician is interested in making our behavior more predictable. A person familiar with the subtleties of persuasion will not have difficulty applying his knowledge and achieving his goal if he is dealing with predictable people. Unfortunately, many people who understand the process of persuasion and are able to persuade do not strive to achieve a mutually beneficial result.

The desire to convince a person, regardless of his values ​​and views, is “brainwashing”. According to the author, “brainwashing” in this understanding is almost always unethical. But not always. Like “ethics,” “brainwashing” must be assessed in the context of each person’s individual values. Therefore, you should not think that I am imposing my own opinion on you. The final decision is yours. For now, I invite you to become familiar with the general techniques of reorientation, indoctrination and/or brainwashing that are carried out in a wide variety of groups.

How do governments, groups, religious and political organizations control human consciousness? I highly value the Christian religion and have great respect for the military establishment, which is why I propose to look at examples of reorientation taken from these areas. I want to emphasize that my goal is not to criticize any religion. People's beliefs must be respected, otherwise communication will be impossible.

1. It is very difficult to control people’s consciousness if people are in a familiar environment. To do this, it is necessary to remove the person from the usual environment for a while or forever. Upon enlisting in the military, a person undergoes “basic training” and is sent to barracks. This is the first step towards reorienting the recruit's consciousness. Very soon he will learn a new system of values, but for now he is leaving the previous environment and moving into a new one. The old way of life, when he returned home from work, would be forgotten very quickly. In the new environment there is a communal way of life. And this is no coincidence: in this way the recruit will quickly learn new values.

If he went home after each day of basic training and discussed what had happened with his family and friends, the indoctrination process would go on forever. The recruit must communicate only with the military. After basic training, the recruit is transferred away from home and friends. The army becomes his home.

A recruit who is unable to adapt to a new environment (a rare case, but it happens) is subject to demobilization. A person who refuses to work in a new environment will not become a good soldier, will not obey orders, and will not internalize the value system of his unit and military hierarchy. Such a person is dangerous for the army.

A man is disillusioned with his church and begins to search for truth on the side. People seeking truth usually go to a group, in this case a church or other religious organization.

A person who is disillusioned with his previous group and is looking for a new one may become a victim of manipulation. In most cases of reorientation (“brainwashing”), a person is told to come to church as often as possible and become familiar with a new creed (indoctrination). This is necessary to function in a new group environment. Every church, sect or group has its own language. Group members often have no idea what another group's words and concepts mean. (For example, if you are not a Catholic, can you say with certainty what “purgatory” is? If you are not a Baptist or a member of a related denomination, can you give a precise definition of what “the rapture” is in the understanding of a Baptist? If you - not a Mormon, can you explain what "Heaven of Heaven" is? If you are not a Buddhist or a Hindu, can you say with confidence what "dharma" is? Most often, people do not understand the language of other groups. This is the second property of reorientation. ideological indoctrination.)

2. Language is the next connecting element between a person and the new group into which he finds himself. Let's return to our example with the recruit in the barracks. Here he not only gets used to new conditions (getting up at the same time every day, living according to a schedule, lunch, dinner and bedtime at the same hours, etc.), he masters the new language of the people with whom he will be work. The language of the army is military ranks, specific designations of already known and new professions, abbreviations, etc. This is a complete transformation. And it is necessary. When a new recruit talks about his new environment with old friends, they don't understand him the way they used to. He is changing. He is different.

Once in another group or church, a person learns the language of that group. The more time he spends in a group, the faster he masters the language. The faster he masters the language, the sooner he finds mutual understanding with these people. When he connects with people, those people start to like him and they like him. Conversely, people outside the group who do not speak the language are not as interesting to the recruit or convert as his new friends. People outside the group sense that the person is changing. It is no longer easy for them to communicate with him. He is different.

3. The next logical step towards a new member joining the group is the abandonment of previous beliefs and values ​​(“deprogramming”). This is done very subtly. Abandoning previous beliefs is necessary to move to the next level. Here's how it happens.

In the military, where the threat of physical or emotional punishment can be carried out, deprogramming occurs very quickly. The sergeant who leads the drill training of soldiers becomes the dominant parental figure for each recruit. His real mother remained at home. The Sergeant is his new "mother", whether you like it or not. He can make arbitrary decisions and expects his recruits to completely obey every order. Now you cannot decide on your own when to get up, when to go to bed, when to have lunch, etc. The old setting has been removed. This prepares the way for a new program. The army threatens punishment, so a person cannot refuse to follow orders and goes for deprogramming. Old friends are no longer friends for him. He is here, they are there. They will never join the army.

In another group setting (church or cult), the threat of physical punishment is usually low (with a few exceptions), while the threat of emotional punishment is almost always very high.

One of our friends got into a religious group, mastered its language and is now gradually being deprogrammed. A person comes to a group not because of any specific beliefs, but to learn something new. When he learns the “truth,” they gently and unobtrusively make him understand that his old friends and relatives are mistaken. He is convinced of how much they are losing. He is shown that some of his previous beliefs and values ​​are at odds with “the truth.” The new convert is usually asked to point out where he has gone wrong or been misled. He is required to admit that his previous beliefs are wrong. This is done very subtly. The most important thing is that before he was mistaken, but now he has found the “truth”. The last and very important phase of deprogramming is the renunciation of relationships outside the religious group. A person is not told that he must forever refuse to communicate with such people. He is simply made to understand that living side by side with “evil” or with those who do “evil” is dangerous, so communicating with people outside the group requires great caution.

4. The next step is to fill the resulting voids with new beliefs and values, or “reprogramming.”

Each of us has basic, basic needs. Each of us needs food, clothing and shelter. We need security. We need a mother, real or imaginary, that is, a person who cares for us and with whom we are connected, regardless of whether we feel a constant attachment to him. When a person separates from his mother, spouse, loved ones and/or friends, he creates an empty space, which will soon be occupied by the leader of the new group or the members of the new group closest to the person. This often happens already at the first stage.

Now old beliefs are being replaced by new ones, and old leaders are being replaced by new ones. “Truth” replaces “fiction.” "Good behavior" is rewarded to train the new member to be obedient.

The recruit sees his father in the sergeant, and his colleagues as people who will save his life in difficult times. While they lie in the trenches in the middle of the desert, friends and family will bask in a warm bed. Now his colleagues are his new family, which has replaced the “old” one. The Army Corps replaced all other organizations. Now a recruit's best friend is his colleague. This is how it should be, it is necessary for everyone’s safety. Unfortunately, a person leaving the service does not change the overall structure of his beliefs. Returning to civilian life becomes a difficult ordeal for former military personnel, so they try to stay in the army as long as possible. The military manual gives them a value orientation and replaces all previous value doctrines.

Let's return to the example of a religious group. The newcomer meets more and more often with members of the community. Reprogramming occurs: old values ​​and beliefs are replaced by “truth.” Leaving the “truth” and returning to the past deserves the greatest punishment. A person is taught that it is unforgivable to leave the “truth” after having acquired it. And he agrees. As a rule, when a person has just joined a new group, there is no need to use coercion against him. “Truth” is still in the stage of discovery, not in the stage of “exposure.” Values ​​and beliefs are gradually restructured, and once this happens, it is very difficult to change them again.

It's no secret that our perception of life, behavior, mood - and ultimately - largely depend on those beliefs and attitudes that are in the skull.

What is belief? For those interested in academic meaning, look in an encyclopedia or dictionary. And we will use the following working concept: “ a belief is a thought ingrained in the mind that is perceived as an axiom and thus influences other thoughts". These thoughts are a person’s assessments of reality, of himself, views of the world that a person believes in and accepts (consciously or not).

Examples of beliefs:
“I’m ugly”, “German cars are the best in the world”, “I can do everything!”

Of course, in terms of self-development, we are most interested in the personal sphere (examples 1 and 3).

It is quite obvious that since beliefs are so important, then by changing them, replacing them with more effective concepts and views, we can get closer to success and solve many of our problems.

It is not surprising that recommendations in the style of “how to change beliefs” are found quite often and can be successfully applied. To achieve this good goal, self-hypnosis (various methods) and so on are used. Again, everything is quite logical: to achieve a goal, you need to imprint a new, more constructive thought in your mind, and this can be achieved in different ways.

Attention, question. What's wrong here? Why can’t this approach be considered truly effective?

Okay, I'll answer it myself. Follow the thought.

1. Here is the logical chain:

beliefs influence life -> the cause of many problems is wrong beliefs -> you need to change them to correct ones

She is correct, no doubt about it. The problem is that life doesn't like such simple solutions. Anyone who approaches such a subtle matter as the human psyche with dumb mathematical logic may end up left with nothing.

2. This is manifested in the fact that even at the most superficial glance the following problems are revealed:

• the problem of identifying beliefs: how to understand which thought is interfering? In short, who are the judges? An experienced psychologist, of course, can help with this. But will everyone go to him? And will everyone find him?
• problem of the mechanism of change. In the post I already wrote about the dangers and difficulties of interfering with the psyche. And at the everyday level it’s obvious: a waste of time!
• the problem of the effectiveness of new thoughts: how to know what is useful and what is not? What exactly do you need to cultivate in yourself?

These problems are, of course, not insurmountable obstacles. But their very presence is alarming. “A smart person won’t get ahead” - right?

3. I will add that developing new beliefs is a long process, and our lives often change so rapidly that we barely have time to notice these changes. What can we say about applying all the heavy artillery to your psyche, like listening to affirmations every day!

You cannot vouch for the effectiveness and absolute correctness of beliefs. This would not be scary if the process of changing ingrained ideas were not so long and painful. And life, meanwhile, throws up new problems and poses new challenges.

What to do?

May be, it is worth approaching the problem more broadly and changing beliefs regarding the beliefs themselves?

Take one step away from schoolboy logic and ask yourself: is it possible to do without most of the established axioms altogether?

Wouldn't a style of thinking that is based not on postulates taken for granted, but on real facts and a real situation, be ten times more effective?

I don't suggest living with an empty head;)
Of course, a certain set of principles and views is necessary - this is the core and foundation of the personality. These are views on morality, general lifestyle, personal mission. But not on specifics, which are usually “treated” with affirmations and the like.

That is. Developing beliefs like:
“I have a great complexion,” “I wrote an excellent and easily executable business plan,” “I know how to manage my finances” are not the most useful things to do. And in general, in such matters it is simply practically more useful to maintain a sober, unbiased view.

It was a theory. What about practice? How to work with beliefs based on the idea I gave?

1. Decide on your MAIN beliefs - the already mentioned core of your personality. This kind of work is well organized by writing a personal mission statement (read Stephen Covey).

3. Learn to make decisions and build your behavior based on introspection (see above), and not stereotypes. It's simple (but not so easy): do you know how to behave? So behave exactly like this.

Applying this system in life is not a very simple task, I will say right away. Drilling yourself with affirmations is much more difficult. Here you need to think and manage yourself. But success in this endeavor will be worth all your efforts.
Having reached a certain level of such conscious behavior and thinking based on selected (!) principles, you will no longer have to break yourself for the sake of insignificant changes in character. Over time, the entire system of self-analysis and self-change will work like clockwork. It will be enough for you to say to yourself: “yeah, I need to act this way and think this way, because this effectively corresponds to the core of my personality” - and the result will not be slow to appear. This, in my opinion, is one of the

Our behavior is fundamentally influenced by our beliefs. But what are beliefs? What do they give us?

What is belief?

A belief is a certain view of the world that gives confidence to an individual or social group in their views and assessments of reality.

When making a choice in favor of any action, a person is guided by his beliefs and views on this matter. For example, we read professional literature or articles on the Internet because we are convinced of the importance of improving our own qualifications.

Parents try to devote more time to their children, as they are convinced that communication with parents is extremely necessary for children.

However, there are also negative examples. People who change their beliefs towards radical ones, being previously nice and harmless, can go on to kill people, sincerely believing that their actions are beneficial. Examples of such changes in people’s beliefs, regardless of their will or not, are one of the threats of the modern world - conflicts on religious grounds.

You can as long as your words and instructions are consistent with their beliefs. At the same time, beliefs can change throughout a person’s life and methods of influence also need to be changed. For example, now it seems funny to us what we believed in in childhood and adolescence. What we attached great importance to in our youth is no longer important to us. And so it will continue - we will gradually revise our beliefs as we move to a new stage of life.

Therefore, whether a person wants it or not, he has beliefs in every area of ​​life; in professional, personal, religious, political and others. And there are some beliefs we would like to change, but we have no idea how to do it. Usually, an existing belief prevents us from not only accepting the opposite belief, but even considering it, since opposing ideas are incompatible in the human mind. Therefore, all that can be done in such a situation is to replace one belief with another.

Belief Changing Technique

Stage 1. Preparatory

• If any belief limits your activities or prevents you from living, it’s time to get rid of it. Think about what changes a new belief would make in your life.
• Do you have doubts about your beliefs? What are you unsure about? What do you think is a good idea and what is a bad idea? Maybe your lack of confidence in your own strength is stopping you? Or have you not yet decided on an idea or haven’t come to it?
• What new belief do you want to introduce into your consciousness? What belief should be replaced by a new one? Formulate a new belief using positive statements.

Stage 2. Changing Beliefs

• An unwanted belief must be turned into doubt using one or more For example, a belief can be presented in the form of a movie, making it slower and slower. Or the belief picture can be gradually removed. Select the submodalities that work best for you to reduce the role of persuasion.
• Now change the old belief picture to a new one using the selected submodality. Use the method that is most suitable for you, which has already been tested in practice in previous parts of the course. If you use pictures to replace beliefs, be careful not to let the image of the old belief jump into the new one. To do this, you can move the old picture as far as possible to erase the clarity of the image, and then bring the picture closer with a new conviction. You can work with the brightness of the picture in the same order.
• If you experience internal resistance when changing your beliefs, be careful. Perhaps you have poorly formulated your new belief or it contains negative words and expressions. If you encounter such resistance, review all available information and return to the first step.

Stage 3. Testing a new belief

You will notice how well your new belief has taken root in your changed behavior. If your inner world shows doubt, this will also be noticeable. Once you are convinced that the new belief is not sufficiently accepted by your consciousness, repeat all the steps. If you are satisfied with the implanted belief, begin to actively act.

This is how the belief change technique works. Much of its effectiveness depends on the amount of information collected, prepared and received. More precisely, high-quality information collection means 90% of success. When information is prepared, it is much easier to painlessly introduce it into consciousness.

If you believe that it is too late to learn something, this belief needs to be changed. Proponents of NLP argue that to do this, you need to break down a global goal or task into its component stages or try different ways to solve it.

To apply different solutions, you will need to acquire new skills, which will be better mastered if you are convinced that you can learn them.

Below we have given a training presentation on changing beliefs by Alexander Lyubimov.