Starting in the early 1960’s, research began to show that most people are not very realistic or accurate in what they think.  In other words, what we think is true is highly debatable.  We are master storytellers.  We tell stories about ourselves, others and the world, and most importantly—think they are all factual and true.  I’ve spoken with many clients about what I’ve found to be the principle process of how we naturally create a story or belief:

We have a thought that gets repeated in high quantity, gets attached to a feeling, and when coupled, becomes a belief that we believe to be true.  What is not recognized by most however, is how much we actually create these stories (thoughts & beliefs).  There is simply the “what is,” and then there is our reaction to it.  Consider that we rarely—if it all—are able to “see” realities; the stories that we create, whether positive or negative, are our own created (semi-delusional) recreation and story of any given event.

One of the most powerful things we can do then, is to first recognize how much we are the master creator of our own beliefs, thoughts and attitudes; and second, to know that if a belief that we have created is not one of value to us, a new belief can be generated and created.  Put another way, if the story that we create is made up of our own thoughts and attitudes about what occurred, it is equally possible to create a positive (or negative) retelling of that tale—even if one appears to come “more naturally” than another.  Deliberate creative creation is one of the most powerful assets to possess, and one of the most highly coveted techniques I teach.  In it, holds the key to not only how we view the world, but our entire well-being and mental disposition as we live through it.  As Henry David Thoreau so beautifully said, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”