For the last few weeks I have been working out in my building’s gym. While I prefer going to a larger gym, I’ve found this allows me to workout every morning without taking up any time commuting to and from. The one difficulty I have found is a lack of equipment variety or a good friend to spot me. This can make jumping from one weight up to another a struggle. One exercise I always require a spotter on is the dumbell bench press.  I have been trying to go from 40lb weights  45lbs for the past week with no luck (guys: I’ve always had a weak chest in proportion to my body). This morning I arrive at the gym, grab the 40lb weights and begin my set. I struggle to get the weights up a bit more than usual, but power through and complete my set. I am thinking about how I am going to break through to 45lbs without a spotter to help on lift off when something catches my eye. Turns out I’d just completed a set with the 50lb dumbbells. Hmmm, that’s interesting.

We often hear about the power of thought, of belief, and of knowing without significant differentiation.  This can often lead to individuals failing at tasks before proclaiming “But I said to myself ‘I can do it!’”. What we need to understand is the differing levels of belief. Deep down we all understand these different levels. Lets use Bob as an example. Bob thinks he will one day be rich, believes he could find another job whenever he chooses and knows when he jumps up gravity brings him down.

Let us look at the differences:

Thinking: Bob thinks he will “one day be rich.” Thinking is at an academic, conscious level. Thoughts can be changed by other thoughts, by other people, by other books, and by other experiences. While thought is the first step to the deeper levels of knowing, thought alone is not enough to achieve greatness.

Believing: Belief is much stronger than thought. You can feel a belief in your body. A belief is not easily rattled by a new thought, a new book or a challenging experience. Beliefs are aligned with our identity so they require more to be changed than a thought. Bob believes he can find another job when he decideds and has made this part of his identity. In order for this belief to change he may have to spend months unemployed before his sense of identity would let this belief change.

Knowing: When you know something it starts in your gut and runs through your whole body. There is no need for a fortune teller because what you know will happen, you will make happen regardless of circumstances. Knowing at the deepest level is a force to reckon with. As success minded individuals we must learn to take goals we think of believe we will achieve and turn them into what we KNOW will occur. One of my most difficult jobs as a coach is to take powerful ideas individuals know to be true of themselves (I’m not good enough, no one will ever love me, it is too much) and destroy them.

Consider the ways these 3 levels of belief affect our lives and how we can take beliefs of a certain level and make them stronger or weaker.

I work with entrepreneurs to provide them with the confidence, focus and strategies needed to successfully build their first business.

Take Action Today,

Dan Johnston.