Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman was a behavioral economist - he studied the difference between what economists expected people to do and what they actually did. I heard an interview he gave where he described the difference between facts and beliefs. He said our beliefs were like a tabletop, and we used facts like legs under the tabletop to support our beliefs. He said our beliefs were surprisingly durable; if someone came along and proved the facts we used to support our belief wrong, we rarely changed our belief. We find new facts to support our belief. I have found this to be true in my own life.
What I have also found to be true is that our beliefs are changeable, but only when we are willing to believe something new. We can choose to believe in either our abilities or our limitations. Either way, the belief will prove durable and withstand all the evidence to the contrary. However, a belief in our abilities will take us to places we want to go, and a belief in our limitations will stifle our growth. We have to choose what to believe, and that choice can make all the difference. The famous Henry Ford quote goes, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." Choose wisely.
