“A better world is sitting, literally, right in front of us.”–Tom Shadyac

“I strongly encourage you to let go of these beliefs. They are inaccurate and melodramatic and they do not serve you.”—Cheryl Strayed

When asked “What’s the best predictor for finding a genius?” Buckminster Fuller used to answer, “A good mother.”

What he meant by that is if your mother (or your parents in general) believed in the largesse of the universe, if they saw that proverbial glass as half full and if they recognized the tremendous potential in not just you, but in all human beings, then you’d have a pretty good chance of realizing the genius within you.

If the culture that formed your rudimentary belief system is generous, open and tends to looks on the bright side, then there’s very little that can stop you from becoming all that you’re capable of becoming.

I heard a joke once that the only reason Jesus became “The Christ” is because God alerted Mary before he was born that that is who he was.

Our beliefs, more than anything else, shape our life experience. And most of our beliefs (we have thousands) are picked up before we have much say in the matter.

So despite all the positive affirmations and intentions for success, your fundamental, underlying beliefs about how the world works at its core create the framework for your reality.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1.      What’s your bottom line belief about other people? Are they good? Can they be trusted?

3.      What about yourself? What adjectives would you use to describe yourself? How did you parents describe you?

Our beliefs, the default setting we inadvertently picked up when we were growing up, are usually served up with a lot of rules, conditions and limits.

Most of the time, we’re not even aware of the underlying beliefs that create our reality. Which wouldn’t be a problem if our beliefs are aligned with our aspirations, dreams and highest selves.

But when our belief blueprints suggest that the world is a scary place, that money is limited, that hard work is a necessary evil, well, we’re going to have thoughts, those all-powerful creators of reality, that restrict what is possible.

Sadly, your beliefs don’t just filter your thoughts. They determine how big a reality you’re able to imagine.

Imagination and being able to envision a whole new possibility is what we now need.

So I say, “Let’s throw out those old, out-dated beliefs. Let’s juice up our imaginations and create a world that nobody has thought up yet.”

Pam Grout is the author of  16 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality.