Full transcript of “Delusional self belief is a lie”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 Delusional self-belief [music] is a lie. Now, I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous because our entire lives we've been told to believe in ourselves. Nearly every single motivational video on YouTube has told you to believe in yourself. But hear me out >> [music] >> because while the intent of saying believe in yourself is good, the underlying message behind it actually [music] says something completely different. And there's no better way to explain that to you than through the greatest [music] heavyweight boxer of all time. Muhammad Ali because Muhammad Ali never believed [music] in himself. He didn't have belief. He had something more powerful than that. Something that you can achieve [music]
0:46 as well. But you first need to understand how. >> [music] >> 1942 a legend is born. At age 12, his bike was stolen and that single moment would set in motion the most unlikely journey in sports history. He walked into that police station with tears in his eyes and told [music] the local police officer he'd beat up whoever took it. The officer looked him dead in the eye and said, >> [music] >> "Well, son, you better learn how to fight first." So, he did. At 22, he would stand in front of the entire world and say something nobody [music] had ever had the audacity to say before they'd proven it.
1:33 >> [music] >> Muhammad Ali walked into a gym with a nothing. >> [music] >> He was just a kid from Louisville, Kentucky in an America that had very specific [music] ideas about how much a black man was worth and how far he was allowed to go. >> [music] >> You see, most people in a scenario would develop belief as a survival instinct. A way of holding on to something despite everything telling them otherwise. >> [music] >> Muhammad Ali didn't have belief. He just knew. And that distinction is what truly separates the greats from being average. >> [music]
2:27 [music] >> When you think of delusional self-belief, obviously there's nothing wrong with being confident. But the word belief itself is what I have an issue with. In 1877, a philosopher named Charles Sanders Peirce wrote an essay called The Fixation of Belief. [music] He argues that belief only exists because of doubt. Belief being a response to the [music] unknown. I mean, entire belief systems were made to answer questions we didn't have an answer to. And delusional self-belief >> No, you would. >> Yes. >> No, you wouldn't. >> Yes, I would. >> No, you wouldn't. >> is the exact [music] same mechanism applied to personal ambition. >> Why would you think you could make it to the NBA? >> [music] >> Cuz I think I could do anything. >> When someone tells you to believe in yourself, what they're actually saying
3:14 is hold on to something despite the uncertainty that it might not work out. The doubt is still there. You're just using belief to manage it. And that's where Muhammad Ali was different. Because for most people, belief is the default. [music] As we grow up, we're told to believe in ourselves, to hold on to our dreams. But we treat them as something distant, [music] not something that we are. And the older we get, the more that doubt starts creeping in until your dream is completely lost. >> OH. OH, IT WAS ALL A DREAM. >> is alive right now. Everybody stop talking now. Attention. I told you all of my critics,
3:59 I told you all that I was the greatest of all time. When I beat Sonny Liston, I told you today I'm still the greatest of all time. >> I think it's best if you and I don't work together anymore. >> In 1963, before he had won a single title, Muhammad Ali released a poetry album titled I Am the Greatest. >> the legend of Cassius Clay. >> He was 21 years old. Six months later, >> [music] >> he went on to beat Sonny Liston and was crowned heavyweight champion of the world. >> Yes, the great Yes. I am the greatest. I'll be champ of the world. There is no doubt. This is the most joyous scene ever seen
4:46 in the history of boxing. >> It feels like some people just seem to know they're going to become great. But I don't think they're born with that certainty. I think something happens that gives them a reason to develop it. And I think there's a fundamental difference between these people and everyone else. We'll call them knowers and the rest believers. And the difference between them comes down to one thing, where they place their identity. >> [music] >> top secret concept. It will apparently be more consistent and easier to create.
5:32 >> Hey, Winnie, it's me. Can you tell me if you've ever heard this sound before? >> who passed away last week, wouldn't >> [clears throat] >> This is Harold and he's the perfect example of a believer. Harold's life has been nothing short of >> Hello? >> [clears throat] >> Sorry. We were so rudely interrupted there. Let us continue. As I was saying, Harold's well, an average bloke. He works a regular job, wears regular clothes, and drives a regular car. But deep down, Harold has always craved more. He's always had big dreams. He
6:19 used to want to own his own business. He used to want to learn the guitar, but he never did. Because Harold was waiting for something monumental to happen to prove to himself that he's capable of becoming the person who does those things. But nothing ever happened. And he kept waiting and waiting until the comfort of mediocrity slowly took away his dream. >> So, essentially, a believer needs an outcome to happen before they can accept their dream. That's why they put so much emphasis on failure because every little
7:05 setback increases doubt that their dream is possible. But a knower approaches ambition differently. They don't wait until they're successful to start seeing themselves as someone capable of success. In my case, I'd say I used to be a believer. Before [music] I started going to the gym, I needed to prove to myself that I was strong enough to go, so I do home workouts until I finally felt ready. I've always wanted to do my own thing, but always needed that confidence [music] to actually take a risk. Over time, though, I realized that I had to stop believing [music] I was capable of doing something and just know that I am. That's what a knower is, and I think that's what we miss when we talk about believing [music] in ourselves. We treat confidence as a prerequisite to action, that we should feel [music]
7:50 ready before taking a risk. But what if you got it backwards? What if the reason [music] you keep waiting to become the person you want is because you're still treating that person as someone you need permission to become. [music] Ali didn't wait for the world to call him the greatest before he started declaring it. He made the declaration before the recognition came. >> [music] >> But, here's where you run into a problem. Because, if all it takes to become a [music] knower is to declare yourself one, then what's stopping everyone from doing exactly that? What's stopping you from looking in the mirror and telling yourself [music] you're destined for greatness? Well, that would simply be what we call delusional self-belief. [music] So, how do you actually go from a believer to a knower?
8:36 Well, think about it. Anytime [music] that science turned belief into certainty, what did they need? Evidence. But, how do you actually accumulate evidence of achieving a dream before you've actually achieved it? Well, you don't need evidence of achieving the dream itself. You just need to build evidence every day that you are a person capable of achieving it. That's why Muhammad Ali was able to sit up there on that microphone and tell the world [music] he was the greatest. He already knew he was. The evidence he built was waking up at 4:30 a.m. to run 7 mi 6 days a week, running through the streets [music] of Louisville in heavy boots, shadowboxing as he ran. He didn't simply [music] tell himself he was the greatest. The work he put in proved it.
9:23 That's the evidence ledger. And it's the reason why the whole idea of delusional self-belief falls apart. It promotes laziness, not action. Think about the clips we celebrate. Someone declares that they're going to achieve something [music] extraordinary and we admire them for their mindset. You should be delusional. [music] >> Cuz I think right now, if I was to quit rapping and I said I want to go to the NBA, I would be in the NBA. >> I could go to the moon if I wanted to and then I'm going to get rich. You know what I mean? >> Objectively, no. How are you going to the moon? >> Factually, I could. >> But, if all you take away from [music] those clips is that you need to say your dreams out loud, you could spend your entire life declaring who you're going to become without ever becoming that person. I could just repeat my affirmations in the mirror, dream about my ideal life while I scroll on Reels
10:09 all day and never actually do anything. Because think [music] about it. If you woke up every day and put in the work required to become the person you dream about, what exactly [music] are you being delusional about? If you want to become a great filmmaker and you're spending hours [music] every day learning cinematography, studying films, and making your own projects, you're not delusional for believing you can become a great filmmaker. You're becoming one. You have certainty. [music] And that's what I want you to take away from this. You don't need to convince yourself that success is guaranteed. Because I feel like when we say believe in yourself, it tells people that you need to be confident before you do something. I don't think you need to believe in yourself or have delusional self-belief to start [music] something. But that's why so many people fail to start because
10:55 they think they need that confidence, that belief to [music] do it, but you don't. You need to actually start doing the thing. Build evidence, evidence that you're becoming [music] the person you want to be. Eventually, the whole belief thing starts to fade anyways. Because you don't need to tell yourself [music] you can do the thing. You start seeing it for yourself. And that's what it means to actually know. You know that whatever happens, outcome or not, one failure or success, you are becoming [music] someone capable. The greatest thing you can do isn't to convince yourself that you're going to become someone extraordinary. >> [music] >> It's to wake up every day and become someone a little more capable of doing extraordinary [music] things. So, build the evidence first
11:42 and let the confidence follow.
