Who I am Depends upon How I Think by Jay McCormick

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Who I am Depends upon How I Think

by Jay McCormick

Each individual forms an identity of them self, what could be called the formation of their conscious ego – from birth onward. This identity is what any individual thinks of them self. Making a list of 25 items beginning with ‘I AM’ is a great way to gain clear awareness of some ways in which you think of yourself. 

Taking a personal inventory helps each individual gain self-awareness. People form beliefs according to their ego, their sense of identity. To varying degrees each individual forms their identity and sense of who they are based on what their parents, teachers, church, family, and friends have said to them about their potential and capabilities. Parents say things that children accept, messages they say weather they are positive or negative. Statements like “You’re so smart, honey”, or “You’re stupid!” make the difference between forward motion and expansion or limitation and restriction. Particularly in the first seven years of our life many beliefs are formed. At a point in each person’s development, however, they then become responsible for thinking what they choose to think about themself.

Many times the beliefs and ways of thinking from parents are passed down to children. Far beyond physical heredity, ‘mental’ heredity is the transmission of attitudes and beliefs about self from parent to child. One of the most important beliefs is in our ability to learn. A strong belief in the ability to learn can take a person far on the road to growth and enlightenment past any obstacle and limitation. It is a belief that is accepted and maintained from childhood that can either limit or stimulate toward growth and achievement. It is also belief that can cause a renaissance within a person in any given area of life at any point. Any stimulus, from any source – weather from media, family, our experiences, or inner revelation may stimulate our imagination and stimulate us to change our identity. It is out beliefs that sentence a person in limitation or set free a person toward and expansion. 

Each person has had a different set of experiences in any given life, leading to a different set of skills and understandings. 

All of these elements combine to form a set of beliefs that a person holds. We all have differing beliefs about ourselves. These beliefs about ourselves extend to all areas of our life. In order to have self-awareness, you need to be aware of all of the beliefs you have about yourself.

There are many beliefs people hold about themselves and their capacity to learn from life. Common themes are “I’m too young to learn”, or just the opposite belief “You can start learning from day one”. Or at the other end of life, “I’m too old to learn”, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. Just the opposite belief is “You’re never to old to learn”. Fear of success can be just as powerful as fear of failure. It is belief in success that defeats failure, and it is a belief in failure that defeats success. Whatever belief resides the strongest within you at any given time will be the driving influence of your behavior. For example, someone with a belief in low self-worth doing something well for too long, they might have to then change their negative image to a positive one, they will make mistakes, sabotaging the burgeoning growth they are experiencing to maintain the false security of knowing they are worthless.

Each person indeed lives in the marvelously custom-crafted framework of a confined or open nature based upon the weaving of their own beliefs about themselves. The truth is that all thoughts are powerful, and these beliefs and judgments stop or promote learning and growth within the self. So it is then, their experiences will prove to be just a such, like a cart following the horse. You prove your beliefs about yourself correct.

copyright 2002 School of Metaphysics