7 Beliefs You Must Give Up If You Want to Live a Great Life
By: Ayodeji Awosika
Tags: Life Lessons, Inspiration, Mental Health, Psychology, Self Improvement

7 Beliefs You Must Give Up If You Want to Live a Great Life

Remove these toxic mind viruses at all costs

Beliefs are powerful, both negative and positive. Beliefs can dramatically improve your life, spark positive change for the collective, start wars, cause anxiety, help you find love, help you destroy relationships, make you a ton of money, make you broke, make you happy, make you sad, help you find purpose, or push you to aimlessness.

There is nothing more powerful than a belief. Why? Because once you hold a belief, it becomes the operating system for your reality. And once you already believe something to be true, it’s hard to change your mind. But you can still do it.

Usually, you’ll change your beliefs when you’re still at least somewhat on the fence about them. Much of society is fully indoctrinated, thus can’t be saved. But some people, maybe you, smell BS in some of the narratives you hold dear. You want out, but it’s hard to let go of those beliefs because your beliefs make you who you are.

You don’t want to lose your sense of self on the path to living a better life, but you kind of have to. It won’t be easy. It might even feel like death and cause grief, but it’s necessary.

I could talk about what beliefs to adopt, but getting rid of negative and limiting beliefs is much more powerful than adopting positive ones. As soon as you get that little societal parasite out of your mind, you’ll develop a new belief system that’ll help you get what you want and it won’t be all that hard.

Get rid of some, and eventually all, of the following beliefs and you’ll be well on your way to a successful life.

The “Sky is Falling” Narrative

“Outrage is like a lot of other things that feel good but over time devour us from the inside out. And it’s even more insidious than most vices because we don’t even consciously acknowledge that it’s a pleasure.” — Tim Kreider

You know why people keep bucking even though life is, without question, much better than it was in past generations? They bathe in outrage because their living standards are, in absolute terms, good, but they’re still unhappy.

Most of us have smartphones, flatscreen TVs, a two-ton piece of metal that moves, endless entertainment, an abundance of food — even living paycheck to paycheck is amazing compared to being a sharecropper. But still, we’re unhappy.

Why? Because humans are wired to look at themselves in comparison to others. It looks like the sky is falling because you don’t have as much as other people have. Not only that, but you’re not confident in your ability to go get it.

Self-confident people don’t get outraged at the news and believe the sky is falling narrative. If you were confident, you’d just assume you could be a part of the one percent. You’d assume you could lift yourself up by the bootstraps. You wouldn’t care about the disadvantages you have because you’d be confident in your ability to overcome them.

Some people are circumstantially screwed, poverty line, and they suffer from a double whammy of real obstacles and the psychological ones that come from their situation.

If you’re not one of those people, be thankful, focus on yourself, and avoid the need for a savior. The destitute have a harder road, but, still, they won’t be magically saved. No one will.

Optimism isn’t idealistic. It’s pragmatic. It’s the only sensible choice.

Your Perverted Sense of Self

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” — Lao Tzu

You have to remove this idea that you’re “just the way you are.” Says who? What proof do you have of this other than your own negative feedback loops and psychological reinforcement?

I talk about this constantly — life is a game of upward and downward spirals. When you’re losing in life, you become blind to opportunity and subconsciously look for more opportunities to lose so you can justify your current identity. This, of course, causes you to lose more, creating a spiral.

I used to have it in my mind that I was the type of person who started projects but never finished them. Five years have passed since I decided to reinvent myself. I’ve published three books, gave speeches in front of 1,000+ people, created products, successfully completed hundreds of blog posts.

How? I gradually re-defined my sense of self and grew my confidence by developing competence at a skill I enjoyed. This is the process. One day, you look up and the old you doesn’t even feel real anymore.

This happens whether you decide to consciously do it or not. Most people reinvent themselves by drifting more and more until they develop hardened hearts, stubborn ways, and even more warped levels of limiting beliefs.

You get to choose.

You don’t have to believe your limiting beliefs. Me saying that doesn’t make the process easier for you, but it is the truth. Within reason, you can do or be anything you want if you have a bit of talent for it. You don’t have to be destined to be a background character in the game of life at all.