The power of your self beliefs.

Your self beliefs have helped you to become what you are today, whether you are a newly qualified nurse or a senior/head nurse.
Beliefs are very powerful. Your beliefs move you forward to success and happiness. Equally, they can hold you back, denying you of the success and happiness you deserve.

The placebo effect is a great example of the power of self belief. In one study? volunteers were given harmless but painful electric shocks to their arm under MRI surveillance. Next a cream was spread on the volunteers arm. They were told that this would block the pain (the cream was a regular body lotion). They were zapped again. This time the volunteers reported significantly less pain. The MRI scans also showed less pain activity in the brain. I am sure, as nurses, many of us have seen the placebo effect in action.

What about the anorexia patient whose self belief tells her she is fat when the opposite is true? And, I am sure we have all met the medics who believe they are akin to God!

Where do they come from?

Self beliefs come from many sources – a mixture of childhood experiences, how you were brought up and treated by parents and teachers, the beliefs and expectations held by the society in which you grew up to name a but a few.

Beliefs are powerful because we believe them!
Here are some well known stories which illustrate the power of belief.

A mile in less than 4 minutes?

Many of you will have heard of Roger Bannister – the first man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes (remember the film Chariots of fire?). The record was made in 1954, but for the previous 100 years runners had tried to break this record but could not succeed. Various doctors and scientists said it could not be done. The human body would not be able to cope.

But guess what happened when Roger Banister broke the 4 minute mile? Within the next year 37 other runners ran a mile in less than 4 minutes. During the next few years as many as 300 runners had broken this record!

Breaking the sound barrier

Another well know story which illustrates self belief is about General Chuck Yeager. Chuck was the first pilot to break the sound barrier in 1947. Up until that point, many “experts” had considered the sound barrier to be impenetrable. What ever would the passengers of Concorde think of that!

So what actually is a belief?
A belief is a feeling of certainty. Ideas become beliefs once you have built up references to support your idea.
Think of a belief like a table, the top is your belief and the
legs of the table are your references.

Example: When you were young you may have believed in Santa Clause. Why?

You saw him in shops, you may have even met him and spoken to him
He left you presents
You wrote him a letter each year and he replied
The mince pie and glass of sherry you left by the chimney had gone the next day
All these were your references, the legs of your table. These are what gave you the "proof" that Santa exists. And, as we all know he does!

OK, so now we know all about beliefs and the power that they hold. So what do we do about beliefs that are holding us back?