“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”
-Arthur Ashe
There is a direct correlation between studying about others belief and our ability to achieve greater belief; the same is true of success. We can learn more about the effects and power beliefs have in our lives, by looking at the two studies below.
Increase our knowledge with beliefs.
Psychologists Ulrich Weger and Stephen Loughnan (Boston University, School of Management) recently asked two groups of people to answer questions. People in one group were told that before each question, the answer would be briefly flashed on their screens — too quickly to consciously perceive, but slow enough for their unconscious to take it in. The other group was told the flashes simply signaled the next question. In fact, for both groups, a random string of letters, not the answers, was flashed. But, remarkably, the people who thought the answers were flashed did better on the test.
Expecting to know the answers made people more likely to get the answers right. In many cases, thinking that we are limited is itself a limiting factor. If we have a belief that something is there to help us, it can, in fact, help us. This is why creating positive beliefs are so important.
Beliefs can help change our physical appearances
Next, we can also look at a study done about physical exercise. As humans, we tend to think our bodies respond to physical exercise in a mechanical way. We count our calorie intake, the calories we lose on a treadmill, etc. However, merely changing our thoughts about our physical activity seems capable of changing our bodies.
Hotel room attendants clean on average 15 rooms per day, each room taking between 20 and 30 minutes to complete. The physical activity involved meets the Surgeon General’s recommendation of at least 30 minutes of physical exercise per day for a healthy lifestyle. However, most hotel room attendants believe they do not get regular exercise; and a lot of them believe they do not get any exercise at all. Alia Crum and Ellen Langer decided to monitor two groups of hotel room attendants. One group was told their work provided the recommended exercise for a healthy lifestyle and the other group was not told. These two groups were monitored for 4 weeks. People in the treatment group lost weight; their body fat percentages, waist-to-hip ratios, and systolic blood pressures dropped. People in the control group showed no such improvement. These changes occurred despite the fact that the hotel room attendants’ amount of work, amount of exercise outside of work, and diets stayed the same.
Looking at the studies
As we look at these two studies, we can see how what we believe to be true, can have a direct correlation with the events in our lives. Believing what we are doing is helping us lose weight, can actually help us lose weight. Believing we are given the answers to a quiz, even though we are not, can actually help us do better on the quiz. Beliefs are power tools we should all use to help better our lives. Studying and learning more about how to grow your beliefs is even more important. Not sure where to start? Let us show you how. Reach out to STRIVE today.
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