#SeeingIsntAlwaysBelieving #Truth #FakeNews #Mindset #Awareness #TrustButVerify #ChallengeBeliefs #Lesson #Learn #Life #ReadTheFinePrint

by SHAWN TRAUTMAN @shawntrautman

I believe what I believe is, for the most part, correct. 

You believe what you believe is, for the most part, correct. 

And, I believe the next person is probably very similar.

I’m smiling because I’m here thinking of how quickly we all “believe” things we see, hear, smell, touch, & or taste.

Anyone who is an expert in marketing knows how easily influenced most of us have become and how we won’t do our “due diligence” the way we used to. It seems we’re far too busy for that.

Who else knows this? I’d reckon most media outlets, lobbyists, activists, app designers, website designers, advertising execs, lawyers, medical professionals, and so forth. Anyone that’s vying for your time must now balance the fact that most people don’t take the time to fully research things the way they used to or read the “fine print” with being completely honest and upfront.

I often find myself getting sucked into headlines, short video clips, reviews, promo videos, etc and I initially buy in. Interestingly, my first line of defense is pretty weak as I normally am fairly open-minded. From there, though, my skeptical “is this real?” voice takes over and I often follow it up with what often takes me down rabbit holes.

What happens from here is that I often find my first assumptions and beliefs were wrong. By exploring my beliefs and coming to these conclusions I often learn why I was wrong to begin with. 

The point is, if I just blindly accept everything I believe to be truths and accurate then I’m at the complete mercy of the next thing I see, hear, feel, etc and I have to rely on what I’m told from the next person that tells me instead of what I know.

If, instead, I openly challenge & question my beliefs of what I see, hear, feel, etc and explore things deeper, I run the risk of understanding different perspectives, seeing things from many angles, learning more of what I don’t know, building connections of previously unknown pieces and making better and more informed decisions from this point forward.

Believe it or not, I believe, more and more, that my beliefs aren’t what I believed them to be. Maybe yours aren’t either?

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