They begin to take shape when we are small children influenced by our environment, our parents, our friends, our society. Through what we observe and experience, beliefs begin to embed themselves in our subconscious at a very early age.
Over the years we accumulate thousands of beliefs, whether they are driven from external factors or self-created. Developed from what we’re told, what we hear, what we read, what we feel, these experiences influence us greatly. Whether good or bad experiences, our beliefs set up the way we see reality, and our emotions play a huge part in what we come to believe.
Behind the scenes all these beliefs intermix, forming and shaping our belief system over time - affecting what we think about ourselves, others, and the world at large. Affecting us too, our understanding of right and wrong, what is just or unjust, acceptable or unacceptable, beautiful or ugly and so on.
Normally functioning at a subconscious level, our beliefs become deeply ingrained and we begin to associate beliefs with truth. It’s natural for us to accept what we are told as truth, from a hurtful remark on the playground to praise from a colleague. Once we accept them as truth, they stay stored in our subconscious as such, whether they are true or not.
Our beliefs become essential to our being, shaping our identity, and most importantly, what we believe to be true about ourselves. In turn, this greatly affects our behaviour, how we think and act, and how we ultimately navigate our life. In a sense we create our own realities.
We often use our beliefs as protection - protecting us from rejection and humiliation. They ground us and help us make sense of the world. Even if they validate something negative and untrue.
We tend to lean towards limiting beliefs, which are disempowering in nature and stop us from moving forward…applying for a new job, starting up a business, speaking out. “I’m a failure.” “Things never work out for me.” “No one’s going to like my idea.” Our inner critic at play.
But here’s the good news. Beliefs are a state of mind and therefore we have the power to change them.
As we grow and are exposed to different life experiences our beliefs may become outdated and no longer reflect our true selves. They may be holding us back, especially our self-created beliefs.
Beliefs can be empowering. It’s a matter of awareness and strength of will, that allows us to shift our mindset and alter our beliefs so they liberate us, instead of limit us. “I believe in myself.” “I'm capable of this.” “I’m open to new ideas.” “I take responsibility for how I show up in the world.”
I know it’s not as easy as that - it can be tricky to shift our thinking, especially when the subconscious is at play. Our beliefs are so deeply embedded we may not even know we have them. We first have to become aware they exist before we can make informed decisions around changing a belief.
It can be quite confronting when we begin to explore and dissect beliefs. Uncovering the source of the belief can stir up all sorts of emotions - reliving difficult experiences - so it’s important to be aware of this before you deep dive.
For most of us our belief system is incognito, happening under our radar, but greatly influencing how we experience life - our behaviours, our perceptions, our biases. They can often obstruct our ability to connect with real insight.
Awareness is key. Being aware of our beliefs helps us to understand ourselves better. Why we made certain choices, or said certain things, or didn’t pursue something we really wanted to. The more we are aware, we can consciously have a say in how our belief system develops and transforms throughout our life.
There are beliefs we will hold onto for life, and others we’ll realise no longer serve a purpose. What’s important is we have the power to change and adapt them.
“We have the fortitude to make courageous decisions about our beliefs.”
What does this mean for our community engagement practice?
As community engagement professionals and facilitators being aware of our beliefs helps us be more present, better listeners, more open to others. In carrying out community engagement work, it’s important we set our beliefs aside to show up fully.
In order to truly be present, we can’t let our beliefs cloud our thinking or let our own prejudices act as our interpreters of what community members are saying to us. This is important work for facilitators - not to be triggered by our own beliefs and to be open to the views of others.
Within a deliberative engagement context, we teach critical thinking skills before deliberating groups start to consider and review information as a way of enabling group members to challenge their own beliefs and the beliefs of others.
Public deliberation relies on group members being able to hear each other and be willing to shift their beliefs and views based on receiving new information either from information reports, experts and other group members. As facilitators we need to be aware of our own beliefs and also to be able to work with the multitude of beliefs of group members.
I encourage you to take some time out to reflect on your beliefs before entering any community engagement work.
Remember to go gently, be patient, kind, and honest with yourself. Things won’t happen overnight, but coming to understand what we believe, and their origins, helps us understand how to shift them or set them aside. I hope this provides the means to become more connected with your beliefs and offers you renewed insight that will help with your community engagement and facilitation work, and in life.
Some questions to ask yourself
Choose a context in your life: personal, work, family, society…
What do you believe?
Are they empowering or limiting beliefs?
How do they empower you?
How do they limit you?
What is your inner critic saying?
Where did this belief come from?
What’s informed this belief or the purpose it is serving?
Is this belief relevant anymore? Does it still serve you? Or its intent?
Are you willing to change this belief?
How might you re-frame this belief to be more liberating?
What’s stopping you?
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny. ”
Annette Zapchenk Clarke
Annette is one of our support team members. Immersed in human-centred design over the past several years, Annette has an in-depth understanding of the principles of design. Through a lens of positivity, she holds the conviction we have the power to shift our mindsets and reshape our lives.
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