Experiencing vs Believing

by Aubrey Patterson

Belief is a poor substitute for experience. 

We might have a belief about being in the mountains, but when we actually go there, we experience a much more impactful reality than what we've framed from afar.  

A lot of us get stuck in our heads and need to get moving. Covid accentuated this problem. And the isolation, along with these tendencies, forced a greater reliance upon ideas rather than experiences.

We need to put ourselves in more experiences to grow. Both for ourselves and the people we lead. It’s easier to lead through a difficult today, if we are inspiring, visualizing, and creating experiences that lead to a more compelling future.

New experiences move us from believing to knowing.

Some leaders can be quite convincing about their beliefs. Many rely too much, though, on cardiac assessment - I know in my heart this is the best way!

Many of our beliefs are cultural truisms: widely shared, but rarely questioned. If we take a closer look at them, we often discover that they rest on shaky foundations. (Adam Grant)

But when we actually know something and share real experiences and authentic data, we become exponentially more convincing.

It's much more impactful to lead with the few things we know than the many things we only believe.

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