How long does it take to change beliefs

By M.Farouk Radwan, MSc.

How beliefs are Developed?

How long does it take to change beliefs?
In order to know the answer to that question you need to understand how beliefs are formed.

Beliefs are formed when:

  • 1) A certain statement is repeated over and over: For example saying "i am a loser", "i am a loser" so many times might result in the formation of such a belief (see also How negative words turn into negative beliefs)
  • 2) When something asserts the belief indirectly: You screwed up? if you made a wrong conclusion and assumed it happened because you are a loser then the belief will become much stronger (see also How to protect your beliefs)
  • 3) When someone else repeats it: If someone told you that you are a loser it would be the same as telling the belief to yourself with just one difference; The more you trust the person who repeated the statement the more will the statement affect your beliefs
  • 4) The absence of contradictory beliefs: If you had a high self esteem then a statement such as "you are a loser" won't affect you much. Yes it will still weaken your beliefs but the effect wont be as big as what would have happened if you didn't believe in yourself

How long does it take to change beliefs

A belief changes when the opposite of the steps described above happen. The more you repeat contradictory statements and the more you prove to yourself that you were wrong the more likely will the belief weaken and disappear.

Lets supposed you have been told 1000 times directly and indirectly that you are no good. In such a case you need an equivalent amount of positive statements to be repeated to change that belief.

But put something in mind, you don't need 1000 positive statements exactly because a statement coming from a trusted source can be equivalent to 10 ordinary statements or more.

So in other words, you need to get exposed to an amount of positivity that is greater than the negativity you got exposed to. But there is a big problem here, repeating the affirmations out loud to yourself might not work at all.

In fact your subconscious mind might think that you are deceiving it and so your positive statements might backfire. So what's the solution? You need to find a place where so many people keep telling you positive things!

In such a case your mind will not filter the statements much as they are coming from other people and your beliefs will change.

How can that be done practically? And where is that place?

I have great news for you. We created optimistnet to help you solve that same exact problem.

Because i noticed that finding out positive people or getting exposed to positivity is very hard these days i thought of creating a social network that only allows positive, motivational and inspirational posts.

Now all you need to do to change your negative beliefs is to join optimistnet and follow some positive people.

Every time you will check the news feed there your beliefs will change a little. After some time you will realize that your negative beliefs have been changed.

Now if you supported those new positive statements with positive actions such as trying hard, being persistent and never giving up then you will surely end up proving your negative beliefs wrong and you will get rid of them for good.

So how long will it take to change old negative beliefs? It depends on the amount of negativity you got exposed to and the rate with which you will get exposed to positive statements.

Whether we like it or not we get exposed to a tremendous amount of negativity in our lives. If we didn't balance this negativity with an equivalent amount of positivity we will certainly become pessimistic, sad and eventually depressed.

Want to know more?

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