| our confidence is totally affected by your beliefs. The | | | | might have been worse than your friend at maths, but |
| first step to changing your beliefs is to understand how | | | | your friend might have happened to be a genius. In |
| these beliefs affect your confidence. | | | | which case your conclusion is possibly wrong. Or you |
| It might seem obvious, but you are having experiences | | | | might be better than your friend at maths, but only |
| from the moment you are born. What is less obvious | | | | because they are absolutely awful at it. Again, you |
| (perhaps) is that each of these experiences, no matter | | | | have drawn an incorrect conclusion. |
| how small is having an effect on our internal picture of | | | | Imagine, years later, still believing that you are either |
| the world. Some experiences boost our self-esteem. | | | | good or bad at maths, all because of that friend who |
| Others don’t. | | | | you sat next to in class! |
| Let’s take an example. Suppose that at school, | | | | And many of our beliefs are formed in similar ways. |
| you had a friend who was in the same maths class as | | | | They often have a very tenuous link to reality. It all |
| you. If you were better than your friend at maths, you | | | | comes down to interpretation. |
| might conclude that you were good at maths. If you | | | | And this explains why two individuals with the same |
| were worse than them, you might conclude that you | | | | level of ability can have two totally different views of |
| were terrible at maths. Once you have the inklings of a | | | | themselves. They have each chosen to interpret their |
| belief, you will look for evidence to back it up. If you got | | | | reality in a different way. |
| 50% in a test, and thought that you weren’t | | | | This especially applies to your beliefs about confidence. |
| good at maths, then you might focus on the 50% you | | | | Whether you are confident in a particular area will |
| got wrong. | | | | have nothing to do with your actual abilities but more |
| But if we look closely at the example, we can see that | | | | often your interpretation of previous events in your life. |
| our beliefs are not really based on logic or common | | | | If you can change the interpretation, you can change |
| sense. They are very fragile and often flawed. You | | | | your confidence. |