Humans are like trees. Really. Well… how so? Here’s where I come in. I thought this little analogy could help you understand the power of beliefs. Hear me out please. Since this is better explained with graphics, we have an illustration.

An Important Biology Lesson?
Trees have roots. And the roots are their main source of life. Take out the roots of any tree, and its demise is guaranteed. Our values and belief systems are like the roots of a tree. They control how we behave. And they can either positive or negative. Put a knife in the hands of a kind man, and he becomes a chef, cooking delicious food for all to savour. Take out his positive values and beliefs, put the same knife back in his hands, and he might become a robber or a murderer.

Then, there’s something called parasites – like fungi growing on the trees. These little organisms sap away at the life energy of the tree, leeching away while making no positive contributions. Horrible as they sound, these are really how our negative values and beliefs are like. Let’s just call them mushrooms.

How Many Mushrooms Do You Choose to Feed?
As we move along in life, our personal growth is determined by how many positive values and beliefs we feed ourselves with. On the other hand, each little mushroom that you choose to feed serves only to deter your growth. A healthy tree has strong, incredible roots. And a successful man is a healthy tree indeed. Conversely, trees that allow too many mushrooms to grow on them become undernourished, weak, and unstable. One day, when a strong gale blows or lightning strikes, the tree succumbs and falls.

Mushroom Farming!
Yes. Time to remove the mushrooms. Allow me to borrow some ideas from bestsellers like “Law of Attraction” by Michael Losier or “Unlimited Power” by Tony Robbins. They share the same basic principles.

Step One. Identify your limiting beliefs. Maybe your goal is to run a music cafe, but you’re stuck with the following belief.  

“I’m too young to start a business. I wouldn’t have sufficient experience.”

Step Two. Pluck out those mushrooms. How? By finding strong supporting evidence to overthrow your limiting belief. For instance, to deal with the above belief, a quick google gives me this. “30 Under 30: America’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs”. Cold hard proof that age is not a real problem. Neither is experience.

Make sure that you do a clean job. Find a few evidence. You don’t want some of those wicked spores to be left behind do you? Want something more inspiring? How about this? A young man who became millionaire at 14.

Step Three. Okay. Maybe now you’re thinking, “Heh, these guys have to be really smart to be able to do that.” Repeat steps one and two until you can no longer find any excuses that prevent you from pursuing your dreams.

Step Four. Here’s the cool part. Create a new, empowering belief. Something like…

“I’m in the process of becoming a sharp businessman.”

Be precise. And write it down. It has been scientifically proven that the simple act of writing it down greatly increases the chances of achieving it. Then back up your new belief with new evidences. These new evidences are the result of the consistent actions you take from here on to substantiate your belief. From something small, like winning a business competition, to something even bigger, like finding your first business partner.

You Are What You Think…
Remember this. You can have all the best tools in the world. But without the right mindset, even the best tools are rendered useless. Start practising the four steps above in your life.

Stop growing mushrooms NOW.