Flexible Beliefs

image: https://pixabay.com/photos/matrix-choice-pills-decision-4280571/

How flexible are your beliefs?

Not so flexible that you consider switching to unethical or illegal choices, I hope. Flexible enough that you aren't codified in place. Flexible enough that you are willing to consider other people's ideas and, yes even beliefs.

Your belief system is flexible so why not make it work for you?

It's a simple way of expanding your possibilities.

-- doug smith

Notes:

"Wait, is that a reference to the matrix?"

"What do you think?"

"I asked you first."

"It depends on what you believe."

"I believe that you meant it to refer to that movie..."

"If it helps. But no, that's not what I meant. We aren't sleeping. We aren't living in a dream. We aren't extremely inefficient batteries keeping our robot lords alive. We're people who make choices every day and those choices are sometimes limited by what we believe."

"How do you know what you believe is true?"

"Exactly."

"..."

"We can explore without expanding. We can question without toppling. And, we can talk about this just about forever..."

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image: https://pixabay.com/photos/tree-lake-stars-reflection-water-838667/

Reflections:

What do you believe, for sure?

Can you think about a time when you questioned a strongly held belief? How did that go?

What widely held belief do you find objectionable or just plain wrong? Are you sure?

Have you ever asked a question as a way to convince someone to believe something?

What questions do YOU have about beliefs?

Comments

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The Need to Act

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Note to Self: Negotiate

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Keep Your "Yes" Ready

When we are frustrated it is tempting to say "no." When customers are unreasonable it is oh so easy to say "no." As a high performance leader and as someone who learns to balance clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion, you'll hold off on that "no" long enough to consider a useful "yes." A yes that will please your customer and you as well. A yes that builds a relationship bridge instead of constructing a negative wall of "no". Sometimes, instead of saying "no" we need to say what it would take for us to say "yes". You can always say "no" later if you need to. Keep that "yes" ready, though, and it will likely work out for the best. -- doug smith

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