Inner Game - Beliefs

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Mandatory reading Important reading Useful reading
Time 14 min 17 min 19 min

What’s In It Level one Level two Level three Explanatory Practical Practice Explanatory Bullet
For Me? explanation explanation explanation example application exercise Diagram summary

Why Should You Read This?

 Learn about how mental barriers exist for you
 Understand why may have been so much harder for you than necessay
 Learn how to overcome these obstacles
 Start on the cycle of success today

Inner Game
“In every human endeavor there are two arenas of engagement: the outer and the inner. The outer
game is played on an external arena to overcome external obstacles to reach an external goal. The inner
game takes place within the mind of the player and is played against such obstacles as fear, self-doubt,
lapses in focus, and limiting concepts or assumptions. The inner game is played to overcome the self-
imposed obstacles that prevent an individual or team from accessing their full potential.” Tim Gallwey,
Author.

A Quick Story
For as long as the idea had existed, people believed that it was impossible to run a mile in less than four
minutes. Anybody who tried to do it failed. Doctors reinforced this belief by studying the human body
and “proving” scientifically that it was impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes. And who
argues with scientists about science?

In 1954, a man called Roger Banister refused to believe this “proof” and developed the confidence and
belief that it is possible. He trained very hard and eventually he accomplished this supposedly impossible
task that nobody else could for hundreds of years. This however, is not the amazing part! Within two
years of Roger’s breaking the record, 337 other runners also did it. What changed? Was there a special
new way for runners to run faster than before? No, there wasn’t. Once the “proof” that it couldn’t be
done was proven to be false by Banister, everybody’s beliefs about what is possible changed. Our beliefs
control what is possible for us.

What Is A Belief Anyway?

A belief is just a feeling of certainty about something. For example if you say “I believe I’m good at
math” what you are really saying is “I feel, with some certainty, that I am good at math”. Take this
dialogue between parent and student:

Student: I am a good student.

Parent: Are you sure about that?
Student: Well, I dunno- I guess I am.

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 In this example the student’s belief about himself/herself is probably “I feel certain that I am at least an
ok student”. A belief is what we feel is true with some degree of confidence.
The Cycle Of Success Or Failure
The beliefs that you have will determine what actions you take. What actions you take will determine
how much of your potential you tap into. How much of your potential is used will determine what
results you get. What results you get will in turn reinforce and create your beliefs.

The Cycle Of Success

Say you believe that you are really smart and that math is fun and easy. What actions will you take?
Obviously, you will study more; listen in class and so forth. In turn you will tap into more potential
maybe up to 90%. As a result you will get good grades and even if they are not perfect, they will be a
great improvement. These results in turn will reinforce the belief that you are smart and math is fun and
easy.

Beliefs
 I am very bright
 I believe I’m good at math
 Math is challenging butfun
 Math is useful to know
Leads to Leads to

Results Actions
 Good results  Study for tests in advance
 Often more than 90%  Do all or most of your homework
 Increasing grades  Know that you are doing your best
 

Constant improvement
Closer to being first Math 
Listen in class and ask questions
Learn better ways to do math

Leads to Potential Used Leads to

 90% of your ability
 Often even more effort
 The longer the cycle the more
potential used

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 The Cycle Of Failure
Beliefs
 I am not very bright
 I’m not good at math
 Math is hard and boring
 Math is useless
Leads to Leads to

Results Actions
 Poor results  Watch TV, study for tests last minute
 Often less than 50%  Don’t do homework
 Falling grades  Hope for the best, not do your best
 No improvement  Muck around in class or daydream
 Falling further behind Math
class

Potential Used Leads to

Leads to
 60% of your ability
 Often even less effort
 The longer the cycle the
less potential used

Clearly, the beliefs that we hold end up having a hold on us. What we sometimes need to do is to change
our beliefs and break the vicious cycle of failure.

Your Beliefs Aren’t Real

You may be thinking: Is this guy crazy? What does he mean change my beliefs? I can’t change what is
true and what isn’t! What if I really am stupid? What if my memory really is bad? Math
really is boring! I’m not
real!!!
We all make the mistake of thinking that what we believe is the truth. Remember,
beliefs are never absolutely true, they are really just opinions. For example, I believe
that maths ability is not totally determined by our genetics. I also have a friend who
believes that maths ability is completely determined by our genetics. Both of us can’t be
right at the same time. So what is the truth? Which one of us do you think got better marks in
math?

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 Where Do Beliefs Come From
Unfortunately we do not decide which beliefs to have. If we did then we would chose positive ones that
make us feel good and smart instead of making us feel incapable or generally low. So where do they
come from?

Without even realizing it people give us labels and implant beliefs into our heads.

Mum Teacher

“You inherited my “You are a poor

bad math gene” student”

“You are cool, silly

and fun” “You are lazy”
When we hear things like
this for a while we slowly
Friends Dad begin to believe them
without even realizing it!

Where Else Do They Come From?

Another way that beliefs are created is when we generalize our past experiences. Perhaps you once took
a maths test and received a poor grade. Chances are that if it happened just one more time you would
start to form the belief “I am not good at maths”. In reality there are probably many reasons why you
did poorly, perhaps you:
7 Were not aware (and maybe still aren’t) of how to study maths properly
7 Were already in the cycle of failure without realising it
7 Had poor confidence and this made you more stressed and perform poorly
7 Didn’t study properly or barely at all ... etc

The point here is that you are not bad at math at all but simply haven’t been taught how to be good at
it. When you tell yourself that you’ve used the wrong methods it doesn’t make you feel lousy. It means
that you can get good marks; you just need to learn how. But if you tell yourself “I am just bad at math”
it means you can’t get good grades no matter what you do and takes the responsibility away from you.

The Most Common Excuses And Poor Beliefs

Many students make excuses that they have some of the learning difficulties below and make the
mistake of thinking that good students do not have these problems. Below is a list of the “16 Common
Problems All Students Face Around The World”, research has shown that almost every student from
every country in the world shares these 16 problems. You are not alone! The difference is that good
students don’t let these beliefs control them.

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 7 Have poor memory 7 Like to day dream in class
7 Procrastinate a lot 7 Suffer from examination anxiety
7 Am lazy 7 Make careless mistakes
7 Am addicted to TV/computer games/internet 7 Am pressured and stressed by parents
7 Have difficulty understanding what is taught 7 Have too much to study and not enough time
7 Am easily distracted 7 Am lacking motivation
7 Have boring teachers 7 Am not interested in what is being taught
7 Have a short attention span 7 Give up easily
The Power Of Beliefs- Examples
1. In the 1960’s a psychologist divided a regular class of students in two and told the teacher of that
class that group 1 was “gifted” and group 2 was just average. After 8 months the first group was
receiving grades 28% higher than the other group. The teacher’s beliefs rubbed off on the students
without them even knowing! This is called the Pygmalion Effect.

2. Students in a Bulgarian class were asked to memorize a poem. Another identically matched class were
asked to do the same, only they were told that the author was a famous and respected poet. The second
class, believing that the task was important, remembered 60% more than the first group.

3. In a 1979 study, patients with a very serious illness were split into two groups. One was told that they
were taking a new medicine that would bring immediate relief. The other group was told that they are
taking experimental medicine and not much is known about it yet. The same medicine was given to both
groups. 75% of the first group improved, only 25% of the second group improved- the only difference
was their beliefs. This is called the Placebo Effect.

Almost like magic our beliefs influence what really happens in our lives. In psychology this is called “The
self fulfilling prophecy”.

Some Good Beliefs

Here are some beliefs held by the very best students. Once you learn to believe these you will become a
better student.

IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO CHANGE THINGS, I MUST CHANGE FIRST

Successful students realize that they are responsible for their own grades. Not their parents, teachers or
friends. It is up to you to do whatever you need to find the right strategy for the marks you want.

NO FAILURE, ONLY FEEDBACK

The best students in the world make mistakes. Sometimes they fail a test. The difference is that they
treat failures as an indicator that they were doing something wrong. For them it simply means that they
didn’t have the right approach and it motivates them to find the right strategy. It does not discourage
them or make them scared to try again.

IF OTHERS CAN, SO CAN I

High achievers recognize that we basically all have the same brain capacity and neurological make-up.
No matter how impossible it seems at the time, if somebody can “do it” then there exists something
that you can learn or a series of steps that you can take “do it” too.

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 Let’s Change Some Beliefs
We have now understood what a belief is, how it is formed, that beliefs are only opinions and the power
that beliefs hold. Now it is time to start the cycle of success.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is absolutely essential that you complete this exercise- DO MORE than read it. Take
your time and do it properly without rushing. Give it a lot of thought. When finished you will
understand why! Use the blank tables at the end of this article to do the exercise and have a look at the
example tables at the end of this section for some guidance.

STEP1:
Start writing NOW; write down at least 3 of your lousy beliefs to do with math, school or your abilities in
the 1st column of the first table. If the belief makes you feel lousy then it’s a lousy belief. What makes
you feel lousy? Write it down now!

STEP2:
Briefly think about how each one of these is silly or ridiculous, find a way to laugh about the limiting
belief like it is nonsense. Analyse each limiting belief and write down why it is not true in the second
column. If you think hard enough you will always be able to find an exception. Take your time.

STEP3:
Why did you think that this belief was true? How did you know? Write down how you think the belief
was created in the first place in column 3.

STEP4:
What are the real reasons that the belief was created? Write these down in column 4.

STEP5:
Write down what it will cost you if you don’t change the belief. Would it mean failing your goals and not
making it to university? Would it mean fighting with your parents? Would it mean you feel like you are
stupid? What will happen if you let this damaging belief hold onto you? Find some big costs for each
belief so that you feel that you MUST rid yourself of that belief.

STEP6:
In column 1 of the second table write down a new positive belief for each limiting one. If your lousy
belief is “I have a bad memory” then a good positive replacement belief would be “I have a good
memory” or “I have the resources to make my memory as good as I want it to be”.

STEP7:
For each positive belief write down a “proof” or an example that it is true. If you have no proof make it
up, imagine it! Do what Roger Banister did. He couldn’t have proof because nobody in history had ever
run a mile in less than 4 minutes. So, he imagined it being true and possible until it was.

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 Changing A Belief – Example Tables

Table1

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Lousy Why It’s Not True It Was Created The Real Reason What Will It Cost Me
Belief Because Is
I have a I am able to I could not I didn’t use the I’ll continue to get bad grades,
bad remember song recall what I correct be a disappointment to myself
memory words of new studied for a technique to and others, forget other
songs easily. test, a few remember important things
times
I remember my I didn’t make
family’s birthdays the material
interesting to
study

Table2
(6) (7)

New Empowering Belief Proof

I have the resources to make my
memory as good as I want
- When I was interested in the topic we did in history I
remembered all the dates and information very easily
- My sister always tells me I have a good memory
- I remember the plots of movies I watch with my friends
much better than they do

Summary
 A belief is just a feeling of certainty about something
 Your beliefs determine how you behave and in turn what results you get
 Beliefs aren’t real, they are just opinions. But beliefs affect us in a very real way.
 Poor beliefs are the result of us making generalisations or of negative suggestions from others
 You can change your beliefs right now by following the exercise above

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(1) Limiting Belief (2) Why Its Not True (3) It Was Created Because (4) The Real Reason Is (5) What Will It Cost Me

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(6) New Empowering Belief (7) Proof
-

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