The Power of Beliefs

The internationally bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential illuminates how harnessing our beliefs can influence our success in the real world. Same world. Different beliefs. Different outcomes. The greatest predictor of your future is the beliefs you hold about the world. In this extraordinary book, world-renowned researcher and author Shawn Achor illuminates how beliefs change the math about what is possible and probable in our lives. And by changing the math, beliefs change our path. Drawing on two decades of research, as well as his work with NASA, the NFL, and over a third of the Fortune 100 companies, Shawn has discovered that the predictive power of beliefs has increased significantly. Beliefs about ourselves, money, the world, politics, faith, and work do more than shape the lens through which we see the world. They shape what happens next. Scientifically speaking, beliefs don’t just reflect reality. Beliefs bend reality. Unfortunately, our beliefs can be empowering or they can be destructive. During what Achor calls the Great Drift, we have seen the staggering rise of the Four Horsemen of the Modern World: burnout, anxiety, loneliness, and depression. We are underperforming our true potential. But there is hope. Stunning new research in this book reveals the seven most predictive “core beliefs” that alter our future health, success, wealth, and education. Scientifically, these core beliefs take the cap off our potential, enrich us, strengthen us, and heal us. Shawn explores the six main ways of changing your and others’ beliefs using research-based strategies he has tested everywhere from Wall Street to impoverished schools in Africa, from Camp Pendleton to Camp David: • The Disaster Elevator: change what part of the brain processes the world. • The Memory DeLorean: change the memory. • Stopping Negative Mantras: change the language. • Creating a Neural Tribe: change the sources. • Starting the Wave: change the contagious actions. • Common Texts, Common Action: change the texts. The Power of Beliefs shows how seven core beliefs predict your present, bend the probability of future success, and, in the modern world, are the key to creating a better life for you and for others.

After twelve years at Harvard University, Shawn Achor has become one of the world’s leading experts on the connection between a positive brain and success. His research has graced the cover of Harvard Business Review, his TED talk is one of the most popular of all time with over 25 million views, and his PBS lecture has been seen by millions. Shawn’s research has taken him to more than 50 countries to work with a wide range of groups, including Marines at Camp Pendleton, every NBA team owner, school children in South Africa, farmers in Zimbabwe, public schools in Flint, Michigan, and over half of the Fortune 100 companies. Shawn is one of only two speakers to ever be invited to speak to the White House staff at Camp David and has worked with two U.S. Presidential Administrations. He is the bestselling author of several books, including The Happiness Advantage, which has sold over a million copies.