A well-chosen word will engage your audience, and allow you to communicate more effectively, and economically. This is an exciting prospect, so every week I pick, and ruminate about a normal, average word that I think is under-appreciated, this week’s word is BELIEF.

BELIEF is an umbrella  word:  it encompasses opinions, thoughts, hopes, fears, wishes and  superstitions. A belief can come from experience, gossip, tradition, information or instinct.

It’s a conviction, an acceptance, a certainty. A belief can be inferred from another’s’ actions, or passed down from another generation.  In polite conversation, it’s a way to differentiate  another’s opinion from fact.

But at the end of the day, it’s a personal,  internal entity that guides external actions.

Some realities may drive a belief, a belief is not necessarily tied to a result, or a reality, in many cases they just exist: Because the NY Giants won the last two Super Bowl matchups with the NE Patriots, one might be led to BELIEVE that Eli Manning is the best QB in football today. Unless one was from Boston, that is.  Or Green Bay. Similarly, BELIEVING the health benefits of eating dark chocolate puts it on par with having a salad will not make it so, no matter how fervently I might believe it can.

Respecting the right to an individual’s belief system is part of MY belief system; but in business, remember: I am typically called into a job because someone’s belief is not working out so well:  No, buyers will not be impressed by your vintage red flocked wallpaper…maybe lime green is the color to go for in PILLOWS, not the sofa….yes, spend the money to get a LICENSED electrician to install that new lighting….

BUT

What if I found out that their mom-who recently passed away-always loved red flocked wallpaper. Or perhaps they didn’t think lime green in pillows would add enough pop. Maybe their son’s friend is ‘handy’, and they don’t know the law, or how to say no?

Knowing, and understanding the ‘whys’ behind these beliefs allows you to understand the their actions, the first step to helping clients find solutions that will work.