Man is what he believes -Anton Chekhov
A belief is any guiding principle, dictum, faith or passion that can provide meaning and direction in life; it is the prearranged, organized filter to our perception in the world.
Beliefs are commanders of the brain, when we congruently believe something is true, it is like delivering a command to our brain as how to represent what is occurring. Beliefs are the compass and maps that guide us towards our goals and give us the surety to know we will get there, therefore as young people belief need become a pertinent cause in our daily lives, if indeed we want to excel.
Without beliefs or the ability to tap into them young people can be totally disempowered, they are like an aeroplane without engine or fuel. With powerful guiding beliefs, young people have the power to take actions and create the world they want to live in by seeing what they want and this energizes them to get it.
For instance, the people who have changed history- Christ, Mohammed, Copernicus, Columbus, Edison, and Einstein etc are people who have successfully changed our belief.
Belief is nothing but a state, an internal representation that governs behaviour, it can be empowering in possibility- a belief that we will succeed in something or achieve something else. It can be disempowering- that we cannot succeed, that our limitations are clear, intractable and overwhelming.
For instance, when i was discussing with Akin of NOVA magazine sometimes ago about the constraints militating against the continuation of this newsletter, using my organization as an example. we both realize that the constraints are enormous in which only the belief that it can be done make it leveled, and now the stopping edge has now become the starting edge again.
Remember, whether we as young people says we can do something or we say we cannot we are right. Both kinds of beliefs have great power to drive our dreams. We must also understand that our beliefs are choices, and as young people we can choose beliefs that support us as or one that can limit us because it is our beliefs that determine how much of our potential we will be able to tap. Imagine when I met with Akin, it could have been devastating if we assume that it cannot be done and it will not have been done but today we have another edition of NOVA newsletter and my organizations GLOBALILO newsletter is out one more time.
Again, beliefs are preformed, pre-organized approaches to perception that filters our communication to ourselves in a consistent manner; however, we need to examine critically where our beliefs emanate from;
(a) Environment- where the cycles of success breeding success and failure breeding failure are played out in relentless fashion. The horror of ghetto life is not the daily frustrations and deprivations, which young people can overcome overtime but the nightmare is the effect it has on our beliefs and dreams. If all we see is failure and despair, it is very hard to form an internal representation that foster success.
(b) Events- there are certain events in every young people’s life that they will never forget. The incessant killings of political stalwarts in Nigeria are events that will forever alter our worldview most especially in the political terrain of this country. Likewise, the little girl that sent a letter to Mr. President concerning organizing parties for children on the Independence Day, which got a consideration among other things, will never forget such an event in a hurry
(c) Knowledge- a direct experience is one form of knowledge, others is gained through reading, seeing movies, viewing the world as it is portrayed by others. It is one of the great ways to break the shackles of a limiting environment. No matter how grim our world is, if we can read about the accomplishment of others, we can create the belief that will allow us to succeed.
(d) Past Results-, the surest way to create a belief that we can do something is to do it once; it is far easier to form the belief that one will succeed again. As I said earlier, when discussing with Akin of NOVA about subsequent editions of NOVA newsletter, it is the belief that we have done it once that sprang up all actions that we could actually do it again successfully and today, both the NOVA and GLOBALILO newsletter are finally out.
(e) Projecting- just as past can change our internal representations and thus what we believe is possible, so can our imagined experience of how we want things to be in the future through the creation of the experience we desire in the future in our minds as if it were here now. I call it experiencing results in advance, when the result we have on ground is not supporting us in being in a powerful and effective state. We can simply create the world the way we want it to be and step into that experience. thereby changing our states, beliefs and actions .after all, Rev Sam Adeyemi of Daystar Christian Center affirms that he always paste the total income he expects every month by his door post of his room and whenever he attains this, changes it with another fat one. The truth is that, it is easier to beat a registered goal because it is what we represent to ourselves about why we are living. we will be always excited , empowered, and be in resourceful state whenever we actualize this vision and this state of excitement is much likely to activate our taking the kinds of consistent actions that will tap our higher potential, than mere existing on the planet earth for no reason. Goals are to motivate us no more any less.
(f) Modeling- this can be described as discovering the sequence of internal representations and behaviours that allows someone to accomplish a task; combination of strategy, beliefs, detailed behavior, skills which can be easily learned by others. Presently, we have loads of models which young people can emulate and weave their beliefs around them, the likes of Fela Durotoye, Rev Sam Adeyemi, Ayo Aderinwale, Gbenga Sesan, Ndidi of LEAP Africa, Nike Essiet and so on.
However, we can get screw up at times. Affirmative beliefs may not guarantee results every time and if anyone tells us that he has the magic formula to guarantee perpetual, flawless success, let us start walking the opposite direction. Because history has shown repeatedly that if people maintain the belief systems that empower them, they will keep coming back with enough action and enough resourcefulness to succeed eventually.
So always belief you CAN.
This came as a result of the discussion with Akin of NOVA magazine at the ICASA 2005 in ABUJA
