Believing and acting are two different things.

Believing and acting are two different things.

Tim Connor

If you don’t act consistent with what you believe are you a fraud, in denial or just driven by negative emotions or agendas?

In the face of adversity and obstacles it is often difficult to remain true to what you believe – I get this – but in the end if you let circumstances or others determine your responses, decisions or actions  what’s the point in even having beliefs, values or purpose?

I have previously written extensively on the concept of purpose, in this brief overview I would like to focus on the difference between belief and its impact on actions.

Our beliefs are the foundation for our attitudes and mindsets and ultimately are the major contributor to our actions and behaviors.  When there is a lack of consistency between these it is usually due to a few factors.  These are fear, external pressure, uncertainty or some agenda that sabotages our ultimate actions.

Beliefs are grounded in a great deal of history which includes our early conditioning by parents or caregivers, our early influencers such as; teachers, relatives, friends and clergy or our experiences and our responses to them and the outcome of these responses.  

All of this has become a significant part of your brain or mind memory bank. As a result our first reactions to something new are driven by these beliefs but if we fail to act in congruence with them there is always a reason.

Actions can be driven by our need for approval of others, the need for control of our circumstances, the result of other emotional triggers such as anger, resentment, jealousy, guilt or grief or our ego’s need to rule our world.

In the end if we fail to take action consistent with our beliefs maybe it’s time to reevaluate the beliefs we have and their indirect control over our actions.  If we continue to act contrary to what we believe, these beliefs may serve no further purpose in our life as we move into the future.

Here’s a quick example.

A belief that I developed early in life due to my conditioned environment was that I should always do what is right according to the world’s (others) expectations.  Over the years, after continuous disappointment and frustration that in many ways was due to the world (others) expectations of me I discovered that I was losing my identity, self-esteem and passion for whatever I undertook.

After I started speaking around the world I found that the need for acceptance or approval of others was a dysfunctional way to live since it was utterly impossible to be accepted or approved of by everyone I met or who was in an audience or a reader of one of my many books.

The pressure continued by others to tow the line and behave in a way that was according to their rules, the right way to live and behave.  But, come on, do you think that everyone has the same rules? No.  So what’s the answer?  Well, mine was to start living according to my rules and to be willing to accept the consequences of these behaviors.  The result – a great deal more inner peace, less stress, less frustration and the ability to be me whether you like me, accept me, agree with me or not.

As a result I was able to live out my beliefs with consistent action that validated these and when there was a need for a change the change was made not because of others but because I realized a change in some way was necessary or timely.

How about you?

Living consistently with your beliefs as your foundation or constantly compromising them for some reason?

"Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought."

Henri Bergson