Useful Belief

Chapter Four From useful belief to useful action

It really is a fantastic time to be alive. When we start to believe this, we start to see things differently.

What I like most about the idea of useful belief is how simple it is to apply it. Merely being conscious and aware of what is useful means your brain will seek out evidence to support you. The reticular activating system we discussed in chapter 2 will filter all the information you receive and present to you what is really important — and most relevant and helpful to your current situation.

I wrote this book as a story because I felt this approach would make the ideas easier to grasp and act upon. Simon is everyman. Like many of us, he is a little cynical, frustrated, angry and confused about his life. We can relate to him and see how simple changes could shift his life completely. I wanted to show that people do not usually need to completely reinvent themselves. For most of us, it may simply require that we open up just a little. I talk about a 3 per cent shift. It is about waking up to what it is you want to focus on.

Often people believe they need to make radical changes, to completely transform themselves. Of course, when they think like this, making any change at all becomes a major project. This tends to overwhelm them, which of course means they end up doing nothing and taking no action towards improving their life.

But a change this big usually isn't required. Adopting some simple useful beliefs to improve the ...