Hey Guys!
Another day, another video.

Do you know that people always tell you to just "believe" into something? Just "believe youre strong!" or "Tell yourself youre confident, and you will become!".

In this video I want to talk about how we can actually get from a simple thought to truely integrating a belief and thus changing our self-image.

ShoCk

hp.Shell

United States2527 Posts

September 06 2015 21:07 GMT

Thank you for this.
Belief is the ultimate superpower. It is commonly known as the placebo effect. Used negatively, it can bring negative consequences into your life. Positively, it can create miracles.

The example I can think of from pop culture is from LOTR.

+ Show Spoiler [LOTR] +

In this video from The Lord of the Rings, we have Gandalf (a magician) fighting a Balrog. You can tell from the video that Gandalf has had a long study and relationship with Belief. As the Balrog stands ready to cross the bridge, you can see the fear in Gandalf. He then goes to a magician's short-litany as he has trained himself to do. Listen to what he says:

"I am a servant of the secret fire,
wielder of the flame of Anor."

This line represents a strong connection Gandalf has to the belief that he is the wielder of Anor's flame, the secret fire.

You can read more about the flame of Anor here http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Flame_of_Anor

The short version is that the flame is synonymous with the light of the Sun. So here we have Gandalf reciting his belief or affirmation that he is a wielder of the light of the Sun. If you believe that beliefs have power, then it follows that Gandalf may have obtained his magical powers through practicing with this power. (Though the lore goes deeper than that, and other concepts aside from belief maybe involved.)

Then he raises his staff, and a heavenly light, the flame of Anor, draws forth from it, and he surrounds himself with it.

"The dark fire shall not avail you, flame of Udûn!"

Expressing another belief that he will overcome the fires of hell (Udûn) in the Balrog. Good (Anor) triumphs over evil (Udûn).

The Balrog attacks, but is stopped by Gandalf's sunlight-shield.

"Go back to the shadow."

Gandalf, a Maia or angel of the ancient world, is ordering the Balrog, a fallen Maia associated with demonology and hell, to retreat. Fallen Maia have lesser rank on the heirarchy due to their disobedience or dissociation with Ilúvatar, the god of the LOTR creation myth. In this Gandalf is essentially giving a General's order to a Colonel.

We end with more Belief-magic and the famous line "You shall not pass!" (and perhaps an invoking of Gandalf's Generals' power over Colonels - in the book, his staff is even broken by this!)

+ Show Spoiler [text from LOTR] +

At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog's feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood crashed into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock thrust out into emptiness.

A lot can be learned from LOTR and some other famous fiction, but regarding belief it is more interesting to me to look to real-world legends from religious text like the Bible. That is, what exactly did Jesus and others believe about themselves and about the world?

He is probably the best example. He is an example from the real world of someone who was able to perform miracles.

JimmyJRaynor

Canada17329 Posts

September 06 2015 23:20 GMT

blowing kisses to yourself in the mirror won't do it.
actions speak louder than words...
mind-tricks won't work either.
again, actions speak louder than words.

the best way to improve your self image is to improve your self esteem.
self esteem is the reputation you acquire with yourself. Self esteem has 2 components. A feeling of self respect and a feeling of self confidence. you need both to have solid self esteem.

i recommend Dr. Nathaniel Branden's books about raising your self esteem.
Here is teh ACTION-ORIENTED approach to improving your confidence level.

http://www.amazon.ca/Raise-Your-Self-Esteem-Action-Oriented-Self-Confidence/dp/0553266462

For a greater look at the theoretical background behind this book check out "The 6 Pillars of Self Esteem".

and then, if you want to continue.. i recommend "Taking Responsibility"

NeThZOR

South Africa7387 Posts

September 07 2015 18:12 GMT

On September 07 2015 08:20 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
blowing kisses to yourself in the mirror won't do it.
actions speak louder than words...
mind-tricks won't work either.
again, actions speak louder than words.

the best way to improve your self image is to improve your self esteem.
self esteem is the reputation you acquire with yourself. Self esteem has 2 components. A feeling of self respect and a feeling of self confidence. you need both to have solid self esteem.

i recommend Dr. Nathaniel Branden's books about raising your self esteem.
Here is teh ACTION-ORIENTED approach to improving your confidence level.

http://www.amazon.ca/Raise-Your-Self-Esteem-Action-Oriented-Self-Confidence/dp/0553266462

For a greater look at the theoretical background behind this book check out "The 6 Pillars of Self Esteem".

and then, if you want to continue.. i recommend "Taking Responsibility"

Yep, I also prefer that route. But meditation and introspection play a huge role in attaining self-confidence and understanding why you think the way you think. Mindfulness is not a mind trick, but a tool to help you in your daily life.

ShoCkSC2

Germany340 Posts

September 08 2015 11:39 GMT

Great book, also read this one a while ago. This topic wasnt about how to aquire confidence, it was about strengthening your beliefs, reinforcing your positive self-affirmation.

Self-image isnt just about confidence. Its the 'idea' you think you have about who you are, what traits you represent etc. A part of that obviously is your level of self-confidence.

I vastly agree that self-confidence is mainly built by taking action (Had my fair share of experience with that. However to stay on the right path and actually keep taking action, positive self-affirmation supported by your very own experiences with the topic at hand can really make or break you.

An example here is, I do have social anxiety and it won't just fade away. Every time I'm standing in front of a bar, club or store I feel that pressure on myself. I wanna turn around. I ask you the following question: Am I truely confident in that situation? If I truely was completely confident, why would I feel the need to turn around?

I'm not. But I always push through it, because I remember the last 500 times that I did. I remember this belief that I'm a guy pushing through - and step by step I get better at it. Step by step, reinforcing this with every little experience I make, I truely become to believe this and facing my anxiety and these moments of pressure may not always be comfortable, but is almost normal for me nowadays.

It's a part of "what I am", "What I do" and thus became a part of my self-image. I am that person.