"The more you challenge your beliefs, the more you can obliterate and shift from the limiting, bogus beliefs that aren't who you truly are to uncovering who you truly are as a person, as a human being, as a conscious being. It's truly courageous to challenge your own beliefs." — Curt Mercadante
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The most courageous person is perhaps one who challenges his or her own beliefs. The older we get, the harder it gets to challenge our beliefs. We might be afraid of what we’ll uncover under each rock.
We might be afraid of disrupting our comfort zone…even if it’s a “comfort zone of misery.”
In today’s episode, Curt Mercadante discusses why humanity is actually moved forward — how you can become a better person, and more “real” person — by challenging your beliefs.
FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THIS EPISODE:
Speaker 1:
I'm your host, Curt Mercadante. This is the Freedom Media Network. This is the Freedom Friday episode. And you may have looked at the title and said, "Oh my gosh, Curt's going to talk about beliefs again. You're damn right. I'm going to talk about beliefs because as you've heard me say before it all starts with beliefs. We all want to get different results in many cases. And by doing that or in doing that, we focus and we tend to focus and most personal and professional development programs would have us only focus on the actions. And then we wonder why we're still getting the same results. It's because there's that simple equation. Your beliefs fuel your thoughts. You attach emotions to those thoughts that fuels your actions, which fuel the results you get. So if you don't like the results you get, and you're only focusing on the actions, don't be surprised that the results aren't going to be different.
Speaker 1:
You haven't dealt with the foundation. You haven't dealt with your underlying beliefs. That's why they are so important. Whether you want to create a new business, attract the right clients, attract better health, more prosperity in your life, better relationship. Whatever it is, it all starts with your beliefs. Because many of your beliefs are limiting bogus beliefs, not all, but many of those beliefs are and they put a block on your energy. They put a block on you attracting what you want in your life. And so I truly believe that, in society we like to lionize the people who courage, who are really championing socialization and they're championing, I guess I have trouble saying that word. Championing what most of the collective believes anyways, right? Whether it's in war, in politics, whatever it is, it's the Pied Piper leading the crowd.
Speaker 1:
Well, I truly believe something a little bit different. Maybe you disagree and that's fine, that perhaps the most courageous person is the person who challenges his or her own beliefs. I'm going to say that again. Perhaps the most courageous person is the person who challenges his or her own beliefs. Not necessarily the person who goes out and fights for you, fights for themselves, tries to get you to change your beliefs. It's the person who challenges their own beliefs because that's damn tough. From the time we're born through the time we die, we pick up beliefs. When we're little it's from our parents and then from our teachers, from our peers, from our bosses, certainly from the news. Whether you're 20 years old or 60 years old and you have that news on in the background, it is an agenda being fed to you. And so that reinforces your beliefs. Many of them, not all, but many of them start as opinions, but they become beliefs when they're reinforced and reinforced and reinforced.
Speaker 1:
And so the older you get, the harder it gets to shift your beliefs because they're so reinforced. And so even if you're in a comfort zone, even if it's a comfort zone of misery, it's damn tough to challenge your own beliefs because they are so entrenched. And that inquiry, that process of inquiry and questioning and challenging your own beliefs. Some people just won't do it because they're afraid of lifting up the rocks and seeing what's underneath. And so they just stay in their comfort zone. That's why it's really damn courageous to start questioning those beliefs, questioning your beliefs. I mean, I work with some people in their sixties and they're still living off the beliefs that their parents told them when they were five. I think I've shared this example before, some people hate money. I have a relative who watches Shark Tank and when she watches Shark Tank, she blurts things out without even realizing it, "Oh, those fat cats, they don't even need more money."
Speaker 1:
And then you ask her a question. She kind of apologizes because she realizes that was her mom speaking through her. Many of your beliefs aren't even your own beliefs, they're the beliefs of others who have programmed you throughout your life. Now this is not as insidious as we believe. We just pick these things up and then they get reinforced and reinforced and reinforced and reinforced. And sometimes you hit a wall 40, 50, 60, maybe even younger, maybe older where you realize, where am I headed? What do I truly believe? Who am I? Perhaps you're sick or at least questioning why you're living a life based on someone else's beliefs and so challenging it is really tough. People don't want to rock the boat. I talk to people almost every day who don't want to rock the boat.
Speaker 1:
In fact, this past weekend we unfortunately had a death in our family and I was talking with a relative about life and death. And we got a little bit philosophical and got into various beliefs. And this relative said, "I don't know, I don't even want to talk about this. This is too philosophical. I don't even want to think about it." And the more entrenched the older you get with those beliefs, the more you, "I don't even want to think about it." Because it's going to disrupt your comfort zone even if you're miserable, even if it's a comfort zone of misery. One of my very first clients with my current company, this was probably four or five years ago. She reached out to me. She was in her sixties and she said, "Listen, I'm 62 years old. Is it too late for me?" And I asked her, I said, "Do you still have a breath left in your body? Do you still have a breath left in your body?" She said, "Yes. Why?"
Speaker 1:
And I said, "Because if you have only one millisecond left on this earth, why would you want to have it without freedom and fulfillment?" You deserve freedom and fulfillment. Even if it disrupts your comfort zone, even if it requires you to challenge your beliefs. And yes it is tough. Yes, not everyone will do it. In fact, some people are so fearful of challenging their own beliefs that they'd be right. Others who want to challenge their own beliefs because they're threatened by that. We look, we may call them conspiracy theorists, not just over the past two years, but look in history. Inquiry moves humanity forward but some people are afraid of inquiry because it disrupts the status quo. It disrupts their comfort zone. Those people become a threat because maybe they show you a different way. Maybe they challenge you to challenge your own beliefs and again, the most courageous person in my view, perhaps might be the person who challenges his or her own beliefs.
Speaker 1:
And so that client, that woman came to me. She was 62 years old. She didn't have a lot of money. She paid me. She transformed her life and it started with challenging her beliefs. Beliefs that were picked up through a life of, for instance, her mom was abusive, mentally abusive to her. I don't know, maybe physically as well. She was in an abusive marriage that ended. Those beliefs made her think less of herself. They were bogus, bullshit beliefs. And for a while she didn't want to challenge them. But the pain became so much that she said, "I'm going to inquire. I'm going to challenge my belief." She was one of the most courageous people I have ever met. I have people with a lot of money, pay me a lot of money and they want me to do all the work. That's not courageous. That's hiding. That's not true inquiry.
Speaker 1:
You're not challenging your beliefs. If you are not willing to challenge your beliefs, don't hire me. If you're not willing to challenge your beliefs, be willing to get the results you've always gotten. You can focus on your actions. I can be more productive. I can get things done. I could do 75 hard. I can focus on my actions. Until you change your beliefs you won't truly change. You are not your beliefs, but you become what you believe. You are not your beliefs, but you become what believe. Now, a lot of us think, we're not even aware, our beliefs guide our actions, right? And so we just think we're our beliefs, but you're not. You can separate yourself from your current beliefs. You can become an observer. And once you do that, you can more easily question them and challenge them. But it takes work.
Speaker 1:
It takes courage to do it. The older you get, the less you want to do it. I know this. I have people in my family like this. I've had clients like this. I've had potential clients like this. The older you get, the less you want to challenge your beliefs. Even if you're in a comfort zone of misery, you just want to let the clock run out. Let the clock run out with a sense of peace and harmony even if that peace and harmony makes you feel like shit. Even if that peace and harmony has you feeling mentally, physically unhealthy. Even if you're anxious and stressed, maybe that's become your default. So anxiety is your comfort zone. It's a comfort zone in misery. But in order to get out of it, you have to challenge your beliefs. And maybe you're just not courageous enough to do that.
Speaker 1:
And I don't say this as a judgment. I say this as someone who for years and years didn't want to challenge my own beliefs. But the pain became so much, the anxiety, the stress, the realization that I wasn't the father, the husband, that I should be, that I decided to challenge my beliefs. I'm still challenging my beliefs. I still have bogus, bullshit beliefs that hold me back. And I try to challenge them every single day to become a better person. Not even a better person to become more of who I truly am. Because again, I know I'm not my beliefs. And so I have to uncover them. I have to look under those rocks, question and challenge them. I'm not saying I'm courageous and I'm not saying you are not courageous. What I'm saying is the people who challenge their own beliefs on a regular basis are some of the most courageous, the most brave people I know.
Speaker 1:
It's easy to go along with the crowd. It's easy to be led by the nose by the beliefs that you've picked up throughout your life. I say it's easy because 95% of your cognition is your subconscious. That's where a lot of these beliefs, you don't even know them reside. And so just like breathing, just like showering or just like driving to work on a route. You ever drive, there's a route that you drive every single day. And so you get to work and you're like, "I don't even remember there." Right? Your subconscious is driving the car. In fact, for most of your life, your subconscious is driving 95% of the time. And if your beliefs are limiting, if your beliefs are bogus, if your beliefs are bullshit. Guess what? You might not even know you're living that life. Because your subconscious is driving the car and you wake up on New Year's day and your 5%, that is your conscious says, "I'm going to make a change." But you haven't dealt with that underlying beliefs.
Speaker 1:
You're only changing, you're only dealing with the actions. So you go to the gym for three days and then you just stop doing it. You start being more productive. You put together a new program because you're only focused on the actions and it lasts for like a week or two. But come February, you're back to the same old habits because you haven't dealt with those beliefs. You haven't lifted up the rocks. You haven't taken the shovel and dug down deep to uncover what is below the surface because you don't want to, because you're afraid, because, yes, it takes work. Yes, you might uncover some things in the basement that you don't want to deal with. And that's why I say it is damn courageous to challenge your beliefs. You got to consciously make that decision and then you got to fight with your subconscious.
Speaker 1:
You got to fight with it. You got to kick its ass because your subconscious may have been kicking your ass for most of your life. And you could become so used to it, it's like Stockholm syndrome. Your subconscious rules your life, your subconscious is a terrorist. Your subconscious just holds you hostage and you've become so used to it that you do not want to challenge it. That's why I'm saying, if you want to challenge your beliefs, you are courageous. I don't care how much money you have. I don't care how much success you have. If success is defined by what society looks at it, fancy cars and all the stuff you can hold. I know a lot of people who have all that stuff, who aren't truly successful because they're anxious and they're miserable. But again, their belief might be tied to something society believes.
Speaker 1:
And so we hold them up as heroes, the man, the sales guru with the private jet. We don't know if he's truly miserable or not. Maybe he's a horrible parent. Maybe he is awash in anxiety every single day. I say that because for years people thought I was so happy and I was joyful because I would make jokes and I had all the money in the world and the fancy suits and I would buy these steak dinners and drink all the fancy wine. And I was fucking miserable because my beliefs sucked. It was only when I decided to challenge those beliefs that I truly made a difference. And this isn't about me. As I said, I have worked with a number of people who were the most courageous people I have ever met because they decided to challenge their beliefs and in doing so, they became different people. They became better people. They actually became who they truly were. So when we talk about becoming a better person, it's not just about more money, more stuff, bigger house.
Speaker 1:
In many cases, becoming a better person is becoming a real person. Becoming the person you really are. The person who is not just driven by beliefs that were instilled in them by other people. So I invite you. I implore you. I challenge you starting today. Start becoming an observer of your beliefs. When you separate yourself from your beliefs and you look at them, you can more easily. Well I don't want to say easily. You can better more effectively question them. You can question those beliefs. You can inquire. You can ask yourself, is this truly me? Or is it my parent? Is my teacher? Is it my boss? Is it the news? Is it society? Is it the politicians? Whatever it is. Is it my Facebook friends?
Speaker 1:
So I urge you, I challenge you. Start challenging your beliefs. It could be damn scary. You don't know what's going to be under that rock. Here in the desert, sometimes you look under a rock, there's a tarantula or a snake. It can be like that. It can feel like that. But the more you challenge your beliefs, the more you can obliterate and shift from the limiting bogus beliefs that aren't who you truly are to uncovering who you truly are as a person, as a human being, as a conscious being. It's truly courageous to challenge your own beliefs. I invite you to do so. This has been the Freedom Media Network. I am your host, Curt Mercadante, and I wish you whatever day it is, wherever you're at, wherever you're watching or listening to this, have an abundant and prosperous rest of your day. Have an abundant and prosperous life. Thank you so much.
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