How To Install a New Belief

In my previous post, I quoted a set of beliefs about rejection that came from some of the top sales professionals in the world. In each case, the belief was one that would create a more positive emotion, thereby generating a more positive attitude, better performance, and better results (and thus less rejection, BTW).

But what if you don't believe what they believe? What if you still feel lousy when you're rejected? Simple. You need to obliterate the belief that's screwing you up and incorporate a better, more powerful belief into your habitual thought patterns. It sounds difficult, but it's not.

Your brain is hardwired to reject anything that's painful and attach itself to anything that's pleasurable. To change a belief, you convince your brain that the old belief will create pain, while the new belief will create pleasure. Here's one way to do it:

STEP #1: Think about a time that you felt rejected. Imagine that you're in the middle of that experience. Don't dwell on it, just "go there" for a moment or two. Feel the pain for a second. Now, think for a second. Why did you feel bad? What was the belief that led you to feel that pain? Write that belief down. Start with the phrase "I felt bad because..." Here are some examples:

• I felt bad because being rejected means that I wasn't smart enough to make the sale.
• I felt bad because being rejected means that I'm going to have a bad day.
• I felt bad because I really needed that sale to make my quota and now I'm screwed.

STEP #3. Forecast Your Current Future. Re-read the old belief. Use your ability to predict results and understand relationships to project yourself into the future. What level will you be selling at if you keep believing that weak-kneed idea? What kind of success will you have? What experiences will you miss? What achievements will you wish you had attained? Imagine that you're in that place, in the future, wondering why the hell you kept on believing that stupid belief, when you knew it was only going to bring you pain and failure.

STEP #4. Forecast Your New Future. Re-read the new belief. Use that same ability to predict results and understand relationship to imagine what your life would be like if every rejection made you BETTER at sales. What level will you be selling at? What kind of success will you have? Will you be able to retire early? Buy things that help you feel happy? Will you be better able to provide for your family? What great experiences will you have? How much more fun will it be to sell? What could you achieve that you couldn't have achieved otherwise.

Step #5. Celebrate. If you actually followed the first four steps, the new belief is locked in your mind and is changing, or has changed, the way that you feel about rejection. In that case, you have every reason to celebrate, because you're on the way to the more positive vision of the future that you experienced in Step 4. So celebrate already! Do something nice for yourself. Today.

Tomorrow I'll explain how to ensure that the new belief stays active and alive in your mind, forever. By the way, I originally learned this above technique more than a decade ago from Anthony Robbins.