Latest / The Talent Brief / The Thoughts We Stop Questioning
Transcript
- The Thoughts We Stop Questioning: What if you're wrong about something you've believed your whole life? And what if the reason you haven't discovered it is that you stopped questioning it? When did being certain become more important than being curious? Welcome back to the talent brief. I'm Jeff Ganter. I've been thinking about how easily we we become attached to what we believe, not just our opinions about the world. But what we believe about ourselves, our abilities, our relationships, and what we're capable of becoming, at some point, a thought becomes a belief. A belief becomes a conviction. And eventually, that conviction becomes something we no longer question. Not necessarily because it's true, but because it's familiar. Think about the things we say without giving them a second thought. I'm just not that kind of person. People don't change. That's how it's always been done. I'm too old to start over. Or my personal favorite. I know how this is going to end. Do we? Or have we become so accustomed to our own thinking that we've stopped considering another possibility? I've spent more than twenty years working with people. leaders and organizations while navigating my own share of professional and personal experiences. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that experience doesn't automatically make us right. Sometimes it just makes us more confident in what we think we know. I've certainly been guilty of that. There have been times when I've walked into conversations convinced I understood someone's intentions only to discover I'd completely misread the situation. And I wonder how many opportunities I've missed because I thought I already knew the answer. But here's where this gets more personal. Sometimes the thoughts we stop questioning aren't about other people in the world around us, they're about ourselves. The things we believed for so long that we don't even recognize them as beliefs anymore. I've always been the strong one. I don't need anyone. I'll relax when I've accomplished enough. Or perhaps I'll finally feel good enough when someone recognizes what I've achieved. But what if those aren't truths? What if their conclusions we reached at a time in our lives when we're simply trying to figure out how to get through? And here's something I've been questioning in my own life. How many things have I worked toward because I genuinely wanted them? And how many because I thought achieving them would finally make me feel a certain way about myself? That's not an easy question to answer. And perhaps. The thoughts most worth questioning aren't the ones we argue about with other people. They're the ones we've been quietly agreeing with ourselves about for years. Think about how this plays out in our professional and personal lives. A leader continues making decisions based on what worked ten years ago. Someone stays in a relationship because they've convinced themselves that leaving means failure. A person keeps chasing the next accomplishment, believing that's when they'll finally feel successful. And sometimes we become so good at being the person everyone depends on that we forget we're allowed to need someone too. These aren't always conscious decisions. Sometimes they're patterns. We've repeated for so long they've become a part of how we identify ourselves. But here's what I want to challenge. Not every belief needs to be abandoned, but every belief should be allowed to be questioned. There's a difference between having convictions and being held captive by them. And questioning ourselves doesn't mean dismissing what we've experienced or pretending the past didn't happen. It means being willing. To consider that something we once needed to believe might not be something we need to carry forward? What if the way you've always understood yourself is only one version of your story? What if the behaviors that once helped you navigate difficult circumstances are now preventing you from experiencing something different? And what if changing your mind isn't a sign of weakness? But an indication that you're still willing to grow. Because here's something worth considering. The beliefs that limit us aren't always the ones we know are holding us back. Sometimes they're the ones we're most proud of defending. And perhaps that's why they're so difficult to recognize. So here's my challenge this week: think of one belief. You've held about yourself for years. Something you've accepted as fact without giving it much thought. Now ask yourself, when did I first start believing this? Is it still true? And what might I do differently if I stopped allowing it to make decisions for me? You don't have to rewrite your entire story, but perhaps it's time to question a sentence or two. I'm Jeff Ganter, and this has been the Talon Brief. Trust the signal, question the script. One last signal. The next time someone challenges something you believe, resist the urge to explain why you're right. Ask yourself why being right matters so much. Thanks for listening. See you soon. Bye.