Change Your Assumptions, Change Your World

Curt Rosengren

Are you creating virtual barriers to your dreams? Sometimes the assumptions we make build walls between us and our aspirations that are far thicker than any external obstacle we’re likely to meet. And the wild thing about assumptions is that they are nothing but electrical impulses firing away in your brain. Poof! Nothing more than that.

We think, “I can’t do something like that,” or “They would never say 'yes' if I asked,” or “There’s only one way to accomplish that.”

I’ve seen all those assumptions--and many more--prove to be patently, demonstrably false. And they were all assumptions that people unquestioningly held to be true (sometimes without realizing it). Each of those seemingly impenetrable walls were shattered by asking one simple question: “Is that true?”

When you hold your negative assumptions up to the light, what you find is often only a partial truth (or even a complete non-truth). “There’s only one way to accomplish that” becomes, “There’s one traditional way to accomplish that,” or “There’s one easiest way to accomplish that.” But if you explore it further, you find that there are in fact different, less traditional or less obvious options.

Take a look at your aspirations. When you imagine pursuing those goals, what negative voices come up? What negative assumptions do you hear yourself making? Write them down, and then for each of them ask, “Is that true?” Challenge yourself to find a way to prove that it’s not.

When you change your negative assumptions, you change what you believe is possible. And when you change what you believe is possible, you change your world.

After years as a professional malcontent, Curt Rosengren discovered the power of passion. As a speaker, author, and coach, Rosengren helps people create careers that energize and inspire them. His book 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work and his E-book The Occupational Adventure Guide offer people tools for turning dreams into reality. Rosengren's blog, The M.A.P. Maker , explores how to craft a life of meaning, abundance, and passion.

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