What new beliefs can serve you better than old ones?
“Seeds of Change” by Ruben Esquivel, displayed on 1st Street, Austin, TX
During an internet search for the weather forecast this morning, a video ad caught my attention.
Its tagline was, “Let’s retire that thinking.” The company on the advertisement is an investment group that helps its customers plan for retirement, and the campaign is inviting people to retire their thinking about
what’s possible for their financial future. Completely congruent with our Default Listening model, it invites the viewer to shift old beliefs to make way for new ones.
There is a conversation going on right now in this country, and it is a conversation filled with old beliefs juxtaposed with new thoughts and ideas. For most of us, old beliefs are familiar, comfortable, and deeply rooted. Personally, I believe in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. I believe that grandmas and grandpas exist to
cuddle and spoil their grandchildren. I believe people should be on time for their appointments. You and I are a bottomless pit of beliefs.
Beliefs can be hard to change.
Our Default Listening model illustrates a mechanism we unconsciously use to maintain our
belief system, as we seek out and confirm information that supports our beliefs while we deny
and discredit any information that contradicts them, no matter how true. This confirmation bias is
automatic, hidden, and therefore that much more powerful.
Learn more about our Default Listening Model with our new series, available HERE
We didn’t all grow up with the same beliefs.
Two other beliefs I grew up with are that the police are the good guys, and that I should be
grateful for the privilege of being an American.
Yesterday, as I watched the reading of the Derek Chauvin verdict, my emotions surprised me. I
was relieved, saddened, outraged, joyous, and resigned all at the same time. Some people I’ve talked to
about the issue of race are tired of talking about it, while some believe we need to talk about it
more. Does this sound familiar?
Some of us (like me) have no idea what it’s like to walk through the world with skin that isn’t
white. Some of us have no idea what it’s like to send our children to school hoping their lives
aren’t threatened because of the color of their skin. Yes, we need to talk about this experience, and we need to listen.
I need to retire some of this thinking, and I need to listen.
I’ll never be you, and you’ll never be me, but what if my survival depended on your survival? And what if the quality of my life depended on the quality of your life? If I don’t listen, I have no idea how to get us there.
What do you believe?
What is your experience of being human?
What’s that experience for others?
Do you believe theirs is of equal quality and opportunity?
What can we do to make each of our experiences fulfilled, happy and loving?
If we’re not doing that for each other, what the hell are we doing here?
Thoughtfully;
Fundamental #25: PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS: Be rigorous about accuracy and precision. Double-check your work.
