In today’s episode, Melissa and Barb discuss the illusion of limits through the eyes of a baby elephant. They learn at an early age that they don’t have the strength to break free from bondage—until they get bigger and do, in fact, have the power to break free. Then why don’t they?

Barb and Melissa discuss the phenomenon of how beliefs shape our reality—even when that belief is errant. 

SHOW NOTES:

• Melissa sets the stage for this episode by sharing the nature of baby elephants learning at a young age that they do not have the strength to break a small rope that holds them in captivity and hang onto that belief even when they grow into adults and are capable of breaking free. [00:01:57]

• Barb talks about how she once believed personality to be fixed, then realized that personality is fluid. Even our preferences are based on historical data, not real-time likes and dislikes. [00:08:56]

• Melissa anecdotally conveys how she recognized that previous preferences don’t have to persist but can, instead, shift from a ‘like’ or a ‘dislike’ at any given moment. [00:11:06]

• Barb asks us to reflect on how we know we do or don’t like something? Aren’t likes and dislikes something we formed in the past? Maybe it’s time to reevaluate. [00:13:39]

• Melissa talks about her errant thinking that knowing what’s coming around the corner in life, or being prepared, has kept her from living a juicy and fulfilling life. [00:14:22]

• Barb and Melissa ask us to evaluate the “ropes that bind us” from which we could free ourselves if only we dropped the belief that they are somehow fixed and irremovable. [00:15:26]