When I lead a self-mastery or leadership workshop, one of the main things I want the participants to learn firsthand is the power of beliefs: our reality is shaped by the beliefs we have. As the research of Carole Dweck has shown, beliefs about change are a strong predictor of whether change will happen or not.

I think workshops are a great opportunity for people to stop and think about their own beliefs: what are my beliefs? Are they still useful? Are they “up to date”? How do they affect me?
That is something that can be done more easily while interacting with others, following a specific format – self-reflection alone can lead to delusions.

To bring home to the participants of my training workshops the power of beliefs & the power of a reality check on beliefs I use a wide array of tools all designed to burst the bubble of certainty & unchecked assumptions in which we live: visual illusions, stories, simulations, demonstrations and role plays. And, from now on, the following video:

And here is the story, in the words of David DiSalvo of the blog Neuronarrative:

The video is a terrific illustration of self delusion’s power, both internal and external.  The older gentleman is a self reputed Kiai Master — Kiai being a martial art that requires no physical contact with one’s opponent. The wielder harnesses his or her Kiai (or Chi/Ki) energy to fight instead of using hands and feet.  You’ll see at the beginning of the video that the Kiai Master appears to effortlessly throw his students around the dojo without ever physically touching them.

Clearly this guy has a big following and plenty of students who believe exactly what he says — and evidently, so does he. So sure is he that his power is real that he offered a $5000 challenge to anyone willing to fight him.  Unfortunately for him, someone took him up on it.

H/T: Todd Stark

Tags: beliefs, martial arts, reality check, Todd Stark, workshops