David J.

Pollay

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February 11, 2008

To Predict Your Future, Look at Your Beliefs

For as long as I can remember, people’s behavior has intrigued me. I have always wondered why people do what they do. 

When I was still in elementary school in Shorewood, Wisconsin, I often daydreamed about how I could help classmates who were struggling. I would imagine how I could change their lives for the better if they allowed me to help guide their decisions. I would think about all the things that I would do if I were in their shoes: I would be friendlier; I would study harder; I would exercise; I would hang out with other kids; and I would believe that I could change, and that I could make my life better. See, I believed that people could change their lives if they just made different choices and adopted new beliefs.

So you can imagine why my favorite movie when I was growing up was the Academy Award-winning movie “Heaven Can Wait” (1978) with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. The premise of the movie was that Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) was a backup quarterback who wanted to lead his Los Angeles Rams football team to the Super Bowl.  During a training ride on his bicycle, he was mistakenly thought to have died in a traffic accident. The “mistake” was made by an overzealous angel (Buck Henry) who plucked him from earth prematurely. Henry’s heavenly boss (James Mason) set out to correct the mistake by helping Joe find someone who was about to expire and then place Joe in his body. The idea was that Joe would then live the remainder of his preordained life in his new body. Joe’s challenge was that he had to achieve his goals in the body and life of another person. 

Here’s what captivated me: Our beliefs direct our lives. If we believe that we can do something and we are determined to do it, we can achieve great things. While Joe inherited someone’s body, life and relationships, his character and his beliefs were still his. Joe was intent on returning to professional football no matter what it took: His conviction transcended the body and life he occupied. So it was no surprise at the end of the movie that . . . (I’ll let you rent the movie to find out for yourself. It’s worth renting.) I’ll just conclude by saying that Joe’s beliefs were critical to his success.

Steven Pinker wrote in his book “How the Mind Works”: “In our daily lives we all predict and explain other people’s behavior from what we think they know and what we think they want.” Pinker said you don’t need a mathematical model to “predict the majority of human acts . . . you can just ask your grandmother.” Pinker makes the point that your beliefs and desires underlie your behavior. If you want to know what you are going to achieve in your life, you must find out what your deep-down, unconscious beliefs are. 

So, what are your beliefs? Which of your beliefs are helping you bring out your best? And which of your beliefs are outdated, or are limiting you? Unlike Warren Beatty in “Heaven Can Wait”, you have only one body you can count on to live out your life. The question, then, is what beliefs are directing you? 

If you want to predict your future, look at your beliefs.

© 2008 David J. Pollay. Distributed by North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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