He had a PhD from Harvard, but he believed he was stupid.

He was brilliant. Accomplished. Objectively successful by any measure. And he was my client.

When I asked him how he could possibly think that given his achievements, he said: “I’m a good con man.”

Think about that for a moment. To sustain such a sophisticated “con” over years—to fool professors, colleagues, and an entire institution—would require extraordinary intelligence. But logic didn’t matter.

The belief didn’t care about evidence.

No amount of new achievements could change it. He’d just find a way to explain them away. “I got lucky.” “They didn’t look closely enough.” “Anyone could have done it.”

That’s the power of a belief.

Once it’s in place, your mind automatically filters everything through it. This is the like vs. unlike problem. The belief was formed one way—from an interpretation of past experiences.

But people tried to change it another way—with present logic.

Like vs. unlike. It doesn’t work.

If you’ve ever tried to change something about yourself and failed, there’s a good chance you were making the same mistake everyone makes.

You were trying to use like vs. unlike. And that’s like trying to mix oil and water. They don’t go together.

Here’s an example:

I have a friend whose daughter loves to read aloud.

When she was reading a book, the word “sword” came up. Except she was pronouncing the “w” so it came out “s-a-w-a-r-d.” Her father corrected her just once, and from then on, she pronounced it properly.

The mistake was made because when she saw the letters, she heard it improperly in her mind.

Once she heard the correct pronunciation, she got it for good. And never made the error again. Like fixed like.

But beliefs are different.

A belief was formed from events in your past—often loaded with emotion. You might justify it with evidence from today, but if someone tries to use today’s evidence to change it, they hit a wall.

Why?

Because the belief came from how you interpreted something that happened years ago. Current evidence—no matter how logical—doesn’t touch the real reason you hold the belief. Like vs. unlike.

Think about it.

If a logical argument could eliminate a belief, we wouldn’t need coaches or therapists

Anyone could do it. Just explain why the belief isn’t true.

And honestly, most people wouldn’t have beliefs that limit them.

They would have already let today’s evidence show them that what they concluded in the past wasn’t actually true.

But that’s not how it works.

My Harvard PhD client is proof. His accomplishments should have been all the evidence he needed. But the belief was formed long before Harvard.

Like vs. unlike can’t create change.

Only like vs. like can.

How Did He Change His Belief

We didn’t try to convince him he was smart.

Instead, we used like vs. like. He formed the belief from an interpretation of past experiences. So we went back to those same past experiences. We looked at them from his adult perspective. And we saw that there were other ways to interpret what happened.

He realized something crucial.

He never saw his belief in the world the way you can see an object. It was never out there. It was only in his mind. And then—something shifted.

The belief simply wasn’t there anymore.

For the first time, he could appreciate his accomplishments. He could see that he had genuinely earned them. That he was actually capable and intelligent.

And that gave him the confidence to go on and accomplish many great things—not to prove anything, but because he finally knew he could.

Why This Matters for You

When you go back to those past events and see them differently, the belief stops being “the truth.” It becomes just one interpretation among many. And once you see that, the belief loses its grip.

This is especially powerful for beliefs about yourself.

“I’m not good enough.”
“I’m stupid.”
“I’m not lovable.”

You can’t escape beliefs about yourself.

You’re with yourself in every moment. It’s like living in a cage that you walk around in all day long. But when the belief is gone, the cage disappears.

You walk out, free at last.

That’s what you’ll learn in Core Belief Coaching.

You’ll discover exactly how to eliminate the beliefs that have been holding you back—beliefs that are at the very core of who you think you are. And you won’t just learn it once. You’ll do it again and again until you know, without a doubt, that you can free yourself from any limiting belief.

So here’s something to think about.

What belief about yourself have you been trying to change with logic? With affirmations? With willpower?

And what would it feel like to walk out of that cage—free at last?