Praxis and Taking Action

The idea of praxis is that by taking consistent actions and creating results you will create new reference points for yourself that will change your thinking. By doing and taking action you will change the way you experience yourself. When you change the way you experience yourself you change what you believe. The key is to take action, do things and do them consistently. This post covers some of my ideas on praxis and how taking action can anchor new thoughts into your subconscious.

The Creation Process

We normally create through a process beginning with a thought. These thoughts manifest into words or feelings. The feelings that are acted on create our physical results. The process is as follows,

Thoughts > Feelings > Actions > Results

You might have seen this before. It’s the formula used by a lot of personal development guru’s to describe the creation process. This process is how we create our daily lives. The problem for most of us is that 90% of the thoughts you had yesterday are going to be the same ones you have today.

If you’re not thinking differently then you are most likely not acting differently. If you’re not acting differently then you’re most likely not getting different results. This is where the creation process comes to a road block for the majority of people. They haven’t changed their thoughts but they still expect to get a different result!

I believe the problem originates in our false beliefs. If we could change our counter-intentions and false beliefs then we could change our thinking.

The first step is to bring your false beliefs into your awareness. Once you’re aware of what has been stopping you, you’ll be in a better position to create new beliefs.

Praxis

You can create new beliefs by using praxis. Praxis means, ‘integrating belief with behavior’. A few other definitions of praxis include:

• Translating an idea into action;
• Practical application or exercise of a branch of learning
• Habitual or established practice; custom
• A habitual way of behaving
• Practical application of a theory
• Established practice: established custom or habitual practice

These definitions are nice but let’s keep it simple. Praxis comes from both Greek and Latin as “to do”. Therefore, in order to use praxis effectively you need to do things. You need to take action and take these actions consistently.

Taking action will change what you believe

I surprised myself when I first started writing. I didn’t think I would make a very good writer because I had never written anything before. In high school I got below average marks in my writing courses, I had terrible grammar and I hated journaling. When I was younger I struggled with writing and even had some close friends tutor me in my writing courses.

Thankfully, I made a change. I wrote my very first article for Confidence Bound in 2006 and this experience had a lasting impact. Not only did the article get published but it also changed the way I experienced myself. It changed what I believed about myself.

I still remember the look on my mom’s face as she was proof reading my very first article submission to Confidence Bound Magazine. As she finished reading the article she looked over at me and said,

“When did you learn how to write? You were never any good at writing before.”

This experience made me realize something. I realized that I might actually make a good writer and I realized that anything is possible.

If I could write one great article, maybe I could write a few more great articles. Maybe I could write an e-book or even publish my very own book! A whole new series of thoughts raced through my mind.

These thoughts began to seed nicely into my sub-conscious as I created an entirely new paradigm for my life – that I could make a career as a writer. This initial seed of thought led me to start blogging.

The bottom line is that I’ve changed who I believe I am. I relate to myself very differently that I used to. I now believe I’m a writer because I’m actually doing these things. I’m walking my talk. I’m taking action!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle

The point is that by doing things you can actually change who you are and what you believe. Taking action is a key ingredient to changing your beliefs but there are limitations to this. The problem is that 90% of the thoughts you had yesterday are going to be the same ones you have today.

The way around this problem is to take 3 Steps to Inspired Action