Understand Your Niche

This is not exactly related to Twitter, but it’s nearly Sunday which is a day of reflection for some, and I’ve encountered lots of seemingly nonsensical (even clearly ‘bad’) belief systems on Twitter, so reading this might be appropriate for some. What I’m going to do here is give you some tools for helping identify and then rid yourself of these ‘bad’  belief systems.

Before we go on to the nitty-gritty, let’s be clear about what I mean by ‘bad’ belief systems. I am not meaning ‘bad’ in a judgmental manner. I simply use ‘bad’ as a shorthand for a belief system that limits you in some way, one that prevents you from getting where you want to go, or something that you are holding onto as perhaps a way to prevent yourself from taking a risk you’re afraid of taking. It’s not that the belief itself is bad, its effect on you and your life is limiting, disabling, or debilitating.

Here’s an example: let’s say I am short-sighted and cannot see very far. I believe this short-sightedness is a good reason why I’ll never be able to drive on the highway. As a result, I rely on the public transportation system to get from one place to another, or I might ask my friends to drive me to any place that I cannot reach via local roads. If I need to get from my house to another city in which there’s a concert of an artist I would dearly love to attend, and I cannot find any friend that also wants to go, I’m unable to attend that concert.

The tool I’m going to give you is a set of three questions:

1. Is this belief true? Ask yourself if it is really really true that you cannot drive on the highway because you’re short-sighted. What if your life depended on it, would you drive on the highway to get away from a natural disaster, or to save a friend’s life? Hold the belief up and examine it, and in turn examine scenarios that are connected with that belief, and see what you would do in each of these situations.
2. What would my life be like if I didn’t hold this belief true? Envision your life without this belief, what previously inaccessible goals you could now reach, and what you’d lose as a result of not holding onto this belief. In the example I gave above, obviously it now becomes possible for you to drive yourself to the concert and it reduces your dependence on friends also going. Looking a little deeper, now you’re more independent, can make more choices for yourself, can enjoy more of the opportunities available to you, and can live a more fulfilling life w/o blaming your short-sightedness for limits you place upon yourself.
3. What underlying beliefs are now brought to the surface? Perhaps discarding this belief exposes an underlying belief that is congruent with the removed belief? For example, I’ll be a safety risk to other people by driving on the highway, because I am afraid of making a mistake and killing someone. If you find such a belief, go back to point 1, and ask yourself the first question, is this belief true? In what way am I more of a risk to people than other drivers who do not take their physical limitations into account? At the very least I am aware of any risk my physical limitation may cause, and I’m in a very good position to counter, reduce or neutralize the risk, by for example driving extra-carefully.

So you see — that’s what I mean by ‘bad’ belief systems. These three questions are powerful tools that can help you overcome many obstacles that at first seem like uncrossable deserts and barriers.

Good luck! Now go and remove your obstacles!