I wanted to tackle a subject and the subject is negative beliefs, and more importantly, a belief that I had that held me back for a long time and it’s to do with my bald head.
Many of you know my core beliefs about human nature is every single human being those of you watching everyone around and anyone I’ve come across at any stage has the ability at any point in our lives, to review to change.
And to redirect their beliefs in such a way that they can overcome obstacles or possibly overcome stuff that has held them back in past.
I think we have to be authentic, real and share some of the challenges that we face on a daily basis or weekly basis or blocks that may have held us back for years.
Here is one many, many years ago when I started choosing to go bald to shave my head what I chose to do was use a blade, but at the time I did this and this is like 20 years ago I was in Australia and had an electric shaver with me.
For the first two days I tried to use and bear in mind this is 20 years ago. I basically decided that the electric shaver technique for my head didn’t work for me. It left marks, scars.
Think about this in your own life.
Think about a time when something has happened to you incident an observation and off the back of that we often make decisions as grown-ups based on a belief or a set of beliefs that we’ve either observed from somebody else, inherited from somebody else, experienced ourselves or even magnified ourselves.
That goes down to physical abuse, emotional abuse, financial experiences, personal relationship experiences, business-related expenses.
In my case, head shaving experience.
Long story short, I just couldn’t get it to work. It was leaving lines on the back of my head, so I moved over to blades. Now blades are bloody messy, you have to oil or shave gel and basically every single day for the last 20 years since I made that one decision.
One frigging belief.
I’ve been shaving, wet shaving, so I get a blade and I do this. Sometimes it’s a pain in the arse it goes everywhere, I get told off at home by the kids. Sometimes I miss a bit.
Then about a year ago I found a skull shaver and I thought it looked good. This happened to my mum and dad, and brother I’m not going to do that. I saw this skull shaver and said no I tried a shaver 20 years ago and it didn’t work. I let it go.
Then about six months ago the same thing happened again, a guy said I’m using an electric shaver. I said I tried but that didn’t work for me.
A simple belief I’ve been holding on for 20 years has meant thousands of hours spent with a wet shave and thousands of clearing up in hotels.
Finally, last week I gave in, I said stop doing this, remember what are the consequences?
Whenever you look at a belief you think has held you back the first thing I do is say what are the consequences of this belief?
Has it served me? Has it not served me?
Yes because it’s got my head shaved. It’s the principle that it’s the very fact that it doesn’t matter what also belief it is, in this case it’s about my head shaving, but if this belief has steered me in a direction that has not necessarily served me as well as it could have done, and that’s an important point.
Then why not change it.
I’m having a quick flick through Amazon and looking at the reviews and thinking why don’t I give it a go?
I buy this thing and it’s awesome. Clean, easy-to-use and I’m telling myself even as I put it on my head it’s £25 what I spend on blades alone a year. I’m thinking this really works.
Now my daughters have come, I’ve got my youngest, who is five who really likes it when I shave as she has a go as well. I’ve got my eldest having a look and they’re like this is amazing and I don’t use any water, any oil. In the space of five to eight minutes, my belief system I’ve held onto for 20 years was shattered with one shave.
One shave and that’s sometimes what you have to realise is that in life if there is something holding you back the best way to break that belief is to do exactly the opposite to it, do the very thing that you think it doesn’t do you do it.
You prove to yourself actually, I can do this, I can make that phone call, I can ask that person for money. I can do this deal. I can do this presentation or whatever it is you’ve got a block on right now.
Here’s my challenge think of one thing it could be to do in relationships. Maybe you haven’t spoken to a friend or family member, or you just lost connection with your kids for a while.
I told my kids about this and said it is a really important learning lesson. I teach this and I practice it, and I am aware of it on a regular basis, but here’s what I completely forgot and I’m being totally honest with you.
I had completely missed my conversation with myself about a shaver was actually just a belief. Whenever you’re talking there are only two forms of communication.
There are two forms of communication questions and statements. I’ve been making statements to myself about those things that don’t work, but that’s a belief.
What if I changed that statement to, say, I’ve been saying that for too long now, let’s make an assumption that yes, I can do that. Whatever it is the one frigging thing you know you’re saying to yourself reverse it and go do it.
Give it the chance to work, don’t just do it once and then go. It doesn’t quite work. It might not be the seven, eight-minute revelation I had, but typically if you’ve matured as a human being your whole psyche will change the way you react to things, your value system.
Your experiences of the world.
The point I’m trying to make is often we make decisions and we create a belief and that sets a foundation. But you know what foundations can be changed.
Or you can remove the old foundations and put new ones in.
Take care everybody.
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