Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.
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A friend of mine, Nir Eyal, just published a new book called Beyond Belief.
If you've read Hooked or Indistractable, you know Nir. This is his best work yet.
He didn't pay me to say that. I just read the book and loved it. Made an infographic to help promote it because I believe in the ideas that much.
One concept hit me harder than the rest.
Your brain takes in 11 million bits of data every second.
You're only conscious of about 50.
Your beliefs decide which 50.
That stopped me cold.
Two leaders can sit in the same meeting. Watch the same team member. And see completely different people.
One sees potential.
The other sees problems.
Same person. Same performance. Different belief.
I've lived this from the other side.
Years ago, I almost didn't apply for a role because I convinced myself I wasn't ready.
I had already written the story in my head. Too junior. Not enough experience. Who was I to throw my hat in?
Then someone I trusted said 5 words: "You're more ready than you think."
That one sentence changed the next decade of my career.
Because it gave me a new belief.
That belief changed what I noticed, what I expected, and what I was willing to try.
The belief you borrow from others
Psychologists call this the Pygmalion Effect. When someone believes in you, you start to perform like it.
The research goes back to the 1960s. Rosenthal and Jacobson told teachers that certain students were about to have an intellectual growth spurt. The students had actually been chosen at random.
But by the end of the year, those kids showed real, measurable gains.
The teachers didn't tutor them more. Didn't give them extra work. They just believed in them.
And that belief changed everything... the eye contact, the tone, the patience, the opportunities.
Marva Collins saw this too.
She was a Chicago teacher who took kids labeled "unteachable" and had them reading Shakespeare by the 3rd grade. Quoting Emerson and Tolstoy.
She didn't have better resources. She had a better belief about what those kids could do.
I've experienced this throughout my career.
Every major leap started with someone (a leader, a mentor, my parents) telling me they believed I could do something I didn't yet believe about myself.
Their belief became my borrowed confidence. And borrowed confidence, acted on, eventually becomes the real thing.
The 3 powers of belief
Nir's framework in Beyond Belief breaks it down into 3 forces:
Attention. You see what you believe. Your beliefs filter what your brain lets through. Expect problems? You'll find them. Expect growth? You'll find that too.
Anticipation. You feel what you believe. Your expectations shape your energy, your reactions, even your team's performance. When you expect someone to rise, you create the conditions for it.
Agency. You do what you believe. Small actions create evidence. Evidence strengthens belief. Belief fuels more action. This is the flywheel that makes change stick.
But Nir's big insight, the one that really separates this book, is that belief without action keeps people stuck.
Positive thinking alone can actually backfire.
Psychologist Gabriele Oettingen found that people who vividly imagined achieving a goal felt so good about it that their motivation dropped. Their brains acted as if it was already done.
The better approach? Picture the goal. Then picture the obstacles. Then take one small action.
Real confidence comes from evidence you create by doing.
I built this infographic based on key ideas from Beyond Belief by Nir Eyal. Click the thumbnail above for the high-res version.
How to change a limiting belief
Most of us carry beliefs that cap our potential. And most of them aren't even ours. They came from old bosses, childhood experiences, or a culture that told us what we could and couldn't be.
"I need to have all the answers."
"My team can't handle this."
"If I show vulnerability, I'll lose respect."
"It's too late to change how I lead."
Those are labels we've accepted as truth.
To change them, Nir lays out a 5-step process:
Name it. Write down the belief that's holding you back. Get it out of your head and onto paper.
Challenge it. Ask: "Is this a fact, or a story I've accepted as truth?" Most beliefs crumble under that question.
Act against it. Find one small action that contradicts the belief. Do it today. If you believe your team can't handle hard things, hand them something hard and support them through it.
Collect evidence. Each action creates proof that the old belief was wrong. Track it. Your brain needs receipts.
Repeat. New beliefs are built by acting differently, not just thinking differently. The doing is what rewires the belief.
Try this today
Grab a piece of paper. Write down one belief that's been running the show for you lately.
Now ask yourself: Is that a fact? Is it actually a fact? Or a story?
Then do one small thing today that proves the old belief wrong.
That's where the change starts. In your actions.
I've changed my beliefs over and over throughout my career.
Every time I changed a belief, my results changed with it. Yours will too.
If you want to go deeper, grab Nir's book Beyond Belief. It's an instant New York Times bestseller for good reason.
Keep leading forward,
Justin
P.S. The thing I've been building for 18 months? It's not for everyone. It's for people like us. Details coming.
