To help somebody change, you must use the principle of like versus like instead of like versus unlike.

For example, if, after reading about frogs and toads, you mixed up the two species, someone could explain the difference to you, and you could learn that. The correction is likely to stick. Or if you looked at some data and misinterpreted it, somebody else could show you where you went wrong and help you correct your misunderstanding.

In both cases, the person corrects you using a similar process by which you made the error.  You read an explanation and mixed up the ideas, someone explains it better and you get it. You analyzed data and came to the wrong conclusion, but someone showed you a better analysis and corrected your thinking.

But when it comes to a belief, things are different

A belief is formed from events in the past, and often, these events are laden with emotion. A person may justify their belief using evidence from the present but if you try to use evidence from the present to change it, you’re likely to run into a barrier.

Why?

The person has the belief because they formed an interpretation of a series of events that happened in the past. If you use evidence and information from today, no matter how logical, it doesn’t address the real reason the person holds the belief. That’s why it doesn’t work. Like vs. unlike. Two things that don’t go together, like oil and water. They do not mix.

By the way, if a logical presentation could change beliefs, anybody could do it

It wouldn’t require special training. We wouldn’t require people with expertise like coaches and therapists. Just explain why a belief is not accurate or not useful. No special skills required. In fact, few people would have beliefs that don’t work. They would have let the evidence of today show them the belief they formed in the past was not the truth.

One client who had a PhD from Harvard had the belief I’m stupid

It didn’t make sense, from a logical standpoint, to hold such a belief. To get a PhD from any university, let alone Harvard, one of the top institutions of higher learning in the world, requires a high degree of intellectual ability. When asked, “How could you possibly have gotten a PhD if you were stupid?” he said, “Well, I’m a good con man.”

Spot the problem in his reasoning?

His statement is illogical because if you’re such a good con man that you could sustain a con for decades over many intelligent people, you’ve got to be pretty smart. That was obvious to him once the belief was eliminated.

This is why it’s vital that we change beliefs using a process that undoes the way that the belief was learned

Since the belief was formed from an interpretation of events in the past, we need to uncover that past and show that the original interpretation is not the truth. We help the client see that their belief is just one of many ways of interpreting a series of events. Getting that, combined with a few other realizations, changes a belief from “the truth” to just “one interpretation.”

It no longer seems like reality.

You automatically see things from the standpoint of present evidence, from the standpoint of present-day wisdom, and you’re no longer locked in a viewpoint that you formed as a child. And this is precisely what the Lefkoe Method frees clients to do. After reversing the process by which a person formed a belief, the belief is no longer held to be true. It becomes a set of words that point to nothing. They are empty.

When you take the Lefkoe Method Training 1, you’ll discover exactly how you can help yourself and others eliminate beliefs. And you won’t just do it once but dozens of times. By the time the training is over, you’ll know you can help anyone eliminate a belief.