Success Advice

How Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success

Your life is dictated by beliefs and biases that drive your thinking, behaviors, and decisions

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 20, 2023

Jane Frankel

Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success (1)

Image Credit: Midjourney

Pause for a moment and ponder two pandemic-era beliefs: First, closing schools will control the spread of a serious virus. Second, the consequences of such school closures—particularly social interruption and the prevention of immunity—are worse than becoming sick with the virus.

A common goal of controlling the virus could have created a new or modified version of school policies to accommodate both beliefs. But no common paths forward were researched or considered. Instead, adversaries chose to disagree and caused obstructions to collaborative governance.

Have you ever believed that you were the best person for a new job, only not to be selected? Was your self-opinion overconfident? And what did you assume about the other candidates? Your beliefs include your biases, which are made up of your opinions and assumptions. Your life, in turn, is dictated by beliefs and biases that drive your thinking, behaviors, and decisions.

Understanding your beliefs and biases

Beliefs translate your values into supporting behaviors and decisions. Biases are usually beliefs that come from a more personal perspective, such as your nature and nurture, your life experiences, your community influences, or the uncertainties in your world.

You might have a belief that vacations are good but a personal bias against beaches and relaxation. Beliefs and biases are not good or bad; they simply impact your decisions and outcomes. Understand them—and use them wisely.

Observing others can help you to see your own beliefs and biases. So whenever you find yourself cringing at other people’s behaviors or decisions, consider what might be prompting you to feel that way. Then ask yourself what their beliefs or biases might be to have prompted such behaviors or decisions. And think, too, about why you find those things to be offensive.

Now check in on one of your recent behaviors or decisions and consider the beliefs or biases that may have sparked it. Odds are you’ll find a belief or a bias buried in your unconscious mind. Or, conversely, it could be, quite obviously, in your conscious mind.

Using the “Five Whys” approach—a method of inquiry in which you ask yourself “why” sequentially five times—can help you identify your beliefs and biases and if you actually agree with them today.

Sometimes your behaviors and decisions are rooted in old beliefs that are no longer valid, such as a fear of losing when you have actually mastered an expertise that was once lacking.

Finally, ask yourself if your beliefs are aligned to your values. Beliefs add another layer of clarity to your values in the context of particular people or projects.

For example, if you value honesty, do your beliefs about a certain team member demonstrate that value? If you value learning, do you believe in others’ thinking in brainstorming or problem-solving sessions? Are your beliefs leading to good behaviors and decisions? Or are they causing obstacles to your work and decisions?

What might the school-closures folks have believed? And how did those beliefs serve their behaviors and decisions?

“Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.” – Robert Collier

Using your beliefs and biases

It is not too strong of a statement to say that your beliefs and biases will likely impact your work and decisions. Areas of impacts can include:

Research. Your beliefs can eliminate inquiry into areas that do not align to your beliefs. If you believe that socially oriented perspectives are useless in cost-benefit analyses, you might ignore the research of behavioral economists, which credits beliefs with driving decision-making in most scenarios.
Behaviors and decisions. When everyone on a team believes together, that creates a belief that binds (Dr. Jon Shane, professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY). That can be positive in propelling a project to success, as there will be no divergent behaviors or decisions. But an in-group and an out-group can emerge, creating intolerance for the out-group’s beliefs. As a result, no consideration is given to the out-group’s work or decisions, even though they have an impact on behaviors and decision-making.
Options. Your beliefs can overlook options that come from another perspective. If you believe a leader is incompetent, you likely won’t consider a suggestion from that leader that may very well be a valid solution to a problem.
Outside-the-box thinking. Your beliefs can create strong and secure boundaries that restrict your thinking. If you believe that something is off limits, such as a niche market for a new product, you probably won’t consider its possible value.

Here are some proven ways to use your beliefs and biases to supercharge your success.

Clarify your goals and values that can propel you toward success.
Identify beliefs and subsequent behaviors and decisions to support that success.
Confer with your team to adjust and confirm your goals, values, and beliefs in order to create positive bonds.
Articulate your beliefs regularly to ensure positivity toward your goals.
Continue to test for alignment within your team.

In closing, checking your goals, values, and beliefs with those of your collaborators will not only give you insights into your own thinking, but give you food for thought on how to manage your beliefs toward your success.

Up Next

How to Ignite the Spark Within for Future Success

Don't Miss

How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

Jane Frankel

Jane Frankel is a business author, lifelong educator, workforce consultant, and successful entrepreneur. Her new book is The Intentional Mindset: Data, Decisions, and Your Destiny (Business Expert Press, 2023). Learn more, visit artofperformance.net.

Click to comment

Success Advice

Mastering Self-Management for Success: Lessons From Peter F. Drucker

With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success.

Published

23 hours ago

Dec 8, 2023

Benjamin Gruber

Image Credit: Midjourney

In today’s dynamic professional world, self-management has become increasingly important. With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success. (more…)

Success Advice

How to Ignite the Spark Within for Future Success

All of us come to this world with our own reserve of magic unfortunately, not everyone can unleash it

Published

5 days ago

Dec 4, 2023

M.S. Rao

Image Credit: Midjourney

What is it that makes some people great leaders while others remain followers? What magic do they have that others don’t? What special blessing gives them the power to bring significant change? (more…)

Success Advice

How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.