Lisa LeBlancBorrowing belief is when you take what someone says about you that you don’t currently believe and you practice believing it. You ‘borrow belief’ until you get better at believing it for yourself. Have you used the words that others say to motivate you? Why not? Others can see us in a way we often don’t see ourselves. They see us without the internal dialog that we have. They don’t use the past as a filter for us today. Simply put – they aren’t judging you. You are judging you.
Borrowing belief as a child
As a child we borrowed belief all the time without second guessing it at all. We had no idea we could walk until someone encouraged us to do it. The more they held us up the more we strengthened our muscles and learned to do the thing they said we could do.
Think of all the things you did because someone else believed you could:
- Walking
- Talking
- Making friends
- Learning
- Making decisions
- Driving a car
- Getting a job
Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact
William James
I have adopted the mentality now that if someone says something nice to me, compliments me or sees something in me that I don’t, I accept it as the truth. What I don’t do is think they are crazy, I don’t think they are lying. Ok – I used to do that. Now I open myself up to believe them and I borrow their belief in me. I ask myself – what if this is true? Is it possible? I’m working on trying what they say on and seeing if I can wear it for awhile – like a borrowed jacket. While it’s on I usually notice that I feel differently. I show up differently. I do more of what they said was so great. Maybe they were right??
This message sits on my desk while I work. It was a gift from my husband. He thinks I’m amazing! I’m working on owning that. I’m practicing.
What’s in your way of borrowing belief?
You may notice that in the past you borrowed some shitty beliefs. This is often what holds us back from trying it again. If people in the past have told you that you were not good enough or needed to be better or different then you may have blocked yourself from borrowing beliefs. In that case we had good reason. What I’m suggesting here is to be selective in what you borrow. Don’t borrow shitty thoughts or beliefs. Don’t just start borrowing everything you are told. This is your chance to refine what you take in. Only borrow the beliefs that help you get yourself to the next level you want to be at in life.
We only see what we want to see; we only hear what we want to hear. Our belief system is just like a mirror that only shows us what we believe.
Don Miguel Ruiz
Borrowing belief is like holding up a new mirror
If we see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear then borrowing belief is a great way to trick your mind into looking for something it didn’t know was there. Other people have seen it. They believe you have it. If you start looking for it not only will you see it but you will create even more of it. We borrow the belief until we see it for ourselves.
How will you try this out?
I don’t want you to just read this article and go on to the next. I want you to think of how you can apply this in your life right now. Can you think of even one thing that someone has said to you recently that you dismissed because you didn’t believe it about yourself? If not then pay attention in the future. Those people might be seeing something in you that you could borrow – practice seeing it in yourself. Decide that it’s true for a bit and see if this changes how you show up in life. I dare you! You know why? Because I’m AMAZING and I own that shit!!
