Are You A Believer Or A Belief?

​One of the biggest transformations I’ve made in my life is choosing to live as a believer rather than as a belief.

Deion Sanders says that when you’re a believer, you’re the creator of your own destiny. When you’re a belief, you are simply living out what people think you are—what society has projected onto you.

For much of my life, I lived according to what people thought I was or what they believed I was capable of. I soaked up every one of those perceptions—some positive, some not so much—and I lived up to what others believed about me.

But when you live out what people believe about you, you live life as a belief, not as a believer.

Then one day, you wake up and realize you’re in a place that represents the grand sum of what others believed you could or couldn’t do. A place shaped by what others decided was right and wrong. And you wonder: Have I been living a life created for me, rather than a life I’ve created for myself?

That’s why I take every opportunity to challenge my two boys. I challenge them to ask themselves: What do I believe about who I am? What do I believe is right and wrong in this world? What do I believe I can become—not based on what others want me to be, but on what I long to become?

Growing up, I experienced a lot of “go here or else” directions. But in the end, you resent the “or else” more than you appreciate the place you were sent.

You reach a point where you realize that the belief you’ve become doesn’t look anything like the believer you were meant to be.

Today, all of the directions I pursue begin with one question:

What do I believe?

What do I believe I can be in this relationship?
What do I believe I can create to impact the world?
What do I believe being a dad looks like?
What do I believe a good and kind person looks like?

Sometimes, my answers align with what others expect. Sometimes, they don’t. But I no longer let those differences tempt me into returning to being a belief instead of a believer.

It’s an interesting question to reflect on:

Am I living as a believer or as a belief?

Am I creating my destiny, or does my life simply reflect what others have believed for me? Am I blazing a trail, or am I blindly stumbling along one?

Sometimes, people believe the best for us. Other times what they believe about us robs us of becoming our best. Until you decide what you truly believe about yourself and your path, you’ll never know the difference.

Be a believer.

And encourage the people around you to do the same.