The lie: I don’t bother trying because there’s no way I’ll succeed.
Between the LIEnes: you don’t bother trying because, for some reason, you don’t expect to succeed.
Human brains are the most complicated pieces of machinery in the world. They’re constantly finding new ways to scare us, embarrass us, overwhelm us, and torture us with stress and fear – all in the name of keeping us alive.
When we decide we want to do something (I’ll use the example of becoming a writer, because that’s close to my heart), our brain seems to automatically present us with reasons why we shouldn’t do it.
You’re not a good enough writer to be publishing pieces for the world to see.
No one will even read your work.
You can’t possibly write an entire book. (I already debunked this one – you can buy my book here.)
You don’t have anything interesting to write about.
People will read your work and laugh about how shit it is. And judge your grammar. (This is academia trauma right here……)
You’ll be wasting your life if you pursue a writing career.
With all these limiting beliefs circling around in our heads, we’d expect to fail, right? And if we expect to fail, why would we take the necessary actions to succeed? In science, this is called the nocebo effect: the occurrence of a negative outcome due to the expectation that that negative outcome will occur.
But if our brains and our actions are so easily influenced by negative thoughts, doesn’t it stand to reason that they can also be influenced by positive thoughts?
The answer is yes. This is called the placebo effect: the occurrence of a positive outcome due to the expectation that a positive outcome will occur.
And let me tell you, as a scientist, that the placebo effect is powerful. It’s so powerful that clinical trials need to account for this phenomenon as a control when determining whether a new drug has any therapeutic benefit. In most trials, patients are not told whether they’re receiving the trial drug or the placebo (i.e., a sugar pill; this is called a blinded study). And the crazy thing is that in a lot of these trials, there is always some sort of response to the placebo. It’s insane – just the sheer belief that they’re taking a medication intended to relieve their symptoms is enough to lower patients’ perceptions of their symptoms and convince them that the medication is working.
So, if we think of our negative thoughts as a disease of sorts and of our life as the clinical trial, could we use the placebo effect to our advantage to “cure” ourselves of this disease? I believe that we can.
With enough concentrated effort, we can challenge every negative thought and self-limiting belief our brain throws at us with positive thoughts instead.
I am a good enough writer to be publishing pieces for the world to see.
People will read my work.
I can (and did) write an entire book.
I have so many interesting things to write about.
People might laugh about how shit they think my work is. And they might even judge my grammar. But I can’t control what people think of me. And my grammar will inevitably improve the more I write…...
I won’t be and am not wasting my life by pursuing a writing career.
Such a drastic transformation in thought patterns will take time. And it won’t be easy. But positive thoughts are powerful and can override our perceptions of impending failure, just as the placebo effect can override patients’ perception of pain and illness. And if you believe a desired outcome is possible, you’re more likely to take the actions necessary to achieve that desired outcome. And then you’ll achieve it, fortifying your belief that your desired outcomes are possible.
Because they are.
Now go achieve them.
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