The MATRIX within you - Beliefs

Podcast Version: https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/78ddf79d-0476-4f84-b363-6b9ef919a354/audio

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The Matrix exists within you. It’s not something to escape but something to understand.

It’s the system of beliefs you’ve built over your life—the rules, assumptions, and stories that guide how you think, feel, and perform. It’s everything you believe to be true about yourself and the world. These beliefs shape how you see yourself, what you think is possible, how you approach the game, and how your thoughts, emotions, and actions come together. It’s a quiet force that can mean the difference between being average and becoming excellent.

I'm not here to entertain you or make you feel good about yourself.

It’s not as sexy as working on toe drags and scoring. It's not as entertaining as watching motivational videos.  But growth is not about glamour and sparkles. It's whether you are willing to do what's necessary or not.

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Here are a few examples of beliefs we might have (many of them can hold us back):

"I’m not a top hockey player because my coach doesn’t play me."

"I need perfect conditions to perform at my best."

"I’m afraid of not living up to my expectations."

"Fear is bad."

"Hard work always gives the best results."

"I should be treated fairly and with respect."

"I’m only as good as my last game."

"I’m not good at dealing with pressure."

(A longer list of these beliefs can be found at the end of the blog.)

Your Beliefs = Your Script

Your mind works to make your beliefs true. It’s a recognized phenomenon—but you don’t have to take my word for it. Just observe your experiences.

When you don’t believe you deserve to feel confident, you don’t. When you think you’re bad at being productive, you prove yourself right. It’s like wearing tinted glasses—your beliefs color everything you see.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Whether you believe something to be true or not, you’re probably right.” But do you really see how? Does it sink in?

If you believe confidence is tied to results, then it will rise and fall with every game. If you think success requires struggle, then every achievement will feel like a battle. If you’re convinced you’re unlucky, you’ll interpret every setback as proof. If you don’t believe you deserve to feel like the best, then you won’t.

Your beliefs shape your experience. Rewrite the belief, and you rewrite the experience.

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You are the author of your own story. This is your personal matrix—an inner world created for you, often without being questioned or examined. However, the matrix isn’t something bad, evil, someone’s fault, or something to escape from—it’s something to understand. Realizing that the world you’ve been living in is mentally constructed, and that it has the flexibility to be changed and rewritten, is incredibly powerful. It can transform how you live and perform.

What if I told you success could come smoothly, without struggle or suffering? What if I told you that you could be happy without needing a reason—independent of anything happening? What if I told you your performance could skyrocket without adding more effort? What if I told you no one could have the power to make you feel unpleasant?

These are new lines of code—ideas we’re not used to hearing. Why? Because they challenge the commonly held stories and beliefs most people live by. Such a reality will always feel galaxies away if you believe it’s impossible.

So, what’s the barrier to making this a reality?

A genuine, sincere, and true desire for something more. There’s a difference between merely saying you want something and truly wanting it.

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The greatest barrier for most people is their comfort and attachment to their current story—their current collection of beliefs. They cling to what they’ve known their entire lives, even if it includes limitations, discomforts, or dissatisfaction—because it feels like “home,” the only familiar place they’ve ever known.

You’ll never understand what’s out there—the possibilities—if you’ve never ventured beyond the walls of your castle.

It makes perfect sense. People grow up exposed to certain “truths.” We grow up in social groups or cultures that program us, forming a constellation of beliefs we inherit without choice. What our parents tell us, what society says is true, what is right or wrong—all of these ideas build a castle we live in, brick by brick.

And this shaping doesn’t always happen in beneficial or effective ways. Each belief is deeply connected to the next. These beliefs stack up like a tower of Jenga blocks—each one depends on the others, and if you pull one out, the whole structure might come crashing down.

As a result, people become stuck in their current stories, blinded to what could be different—limitations stacked on limitations.

When we start to see contradictions in our beliefs, it’s like realizing the game we’ve been playing doesn’t work the way we thought. Questioning one belief can shake the foundation of everything we thought was true.

So, many of us avoid questioning our script, our story, or our beliefs because it feels like losing a part of who we are. These beliefs are rarely analyzed because confronting them forces us to face the possibility that the stories we’ve lived by might not be "true." As a result, we stick with what’s familiar—our normal life—even when we know deep down there’s more for us.

Sometimes this resistance shows up as defensiveness or discomfort when we’re faced with new ideas that challenge our familiar views. We reject them. Not many of us like hearing things that challenge our closely held truths. This resistance is normal—it’s just the mind protecting its sense of stability. The mind’s default is to prioritize what feels safe over what could lead to growth.

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Rewrite The Script

What’s the key?

Finding and uncovering your own beliefs, truths, and perspectives. You need to understand why you see the world the way you do. If you don’t know the script of your life, how can you enhance it? You need to know your own matrix—the ideas that may be imprisoning you.

How can you make changes once you uncover limiting beliefs or ideas? Start by genuinely observing and questioning them. Sit with them. Once you see what your beliefs are, everything else becomes easier.

Yes, you can do affirmations. Yes, you can replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Yes, you can meditate. But the tools and tricks come second to a basic understanding of your own mind.

By truly picking apart and challenging each belief, you’ll have no choice but to grow. The natural side effect will be sticking with the beliefs that serve you and letting go of the ones that don’t. 

Awareness is both the first and the last step.

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Look at your life. What do you want to be different? What is holding you back from living the way YOU truly want?

The answer lies squarely in the truths you believe about yourself and the world. It's always been there and will always stay there.

The universe is like a mirror. Your life is a reflection of what's inside you. Your beliefs reveal themselves to you all the time—what you’re thinking, feeling, expecting, your opinions, what you label as good or bad, your inner dialogue, what you value, and your shoulds and shouldn’ts. There are beliefs tied to all of these, whether they’re about yourself, the world, or simply truths you live by.

These are the patterns you must observe. Why am I less confident after my coach doesn’t play me? Why do I have negative thoughts after I make mistakes? Why do I only feel good when I compare myself to others?

You must become an interrogator of your own mind. It’s the only way to take the garbage out.

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Ask yourself:

Why do I hold this belief?

How does it influence my feelings?

Why does it affect me this way?

Does it empower or diminish me?

Would I be better off without it?

Is this belief actually true?

Does it align with what I want to achieve?

Is there another perspective to consider?

What would my performance look like without it?

The Results

The bold individual who dares to look beyond their current understanding of life will have the chance to see, feel, perform, and experience things in ways others can’t. It's not about right or wrong; it's simply the way it is.

Your entire perception is your life. Your performance is heavily influenced by it. How you perceive your skill can be more influential than your actual skill. What you believe you can do will determine your experience more than your actual abilities. 

This might go over the heads of many people; they will nod and return to their normal lives, treating it as mere entertainment, which is also fine. But for the select few, they will realize the significance of this—that their internal story shapes their life, and their life is all they truly have. Engaging deeply with this concept, playing in this sandbox of self-reflection, is one of the most valuable things one could ever do.

The unexamined life is littered with ceilings and prisons.

"the greatest tradegy is not the chains that bind us, but the blindness to our own captivity" - Friedrich Nietzsche

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THE MATRIX

A world shaped by what you believe,

The truths you hold, the webs you weave.

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A story written, line by line,

This inner script—your grand design.

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Your beliefs are not set in stone,

They're threads you’ve spun but still can own.

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Rewrite the script, reclaim the stage,

And free yourself from your mind’s cage.

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LIST OF BELIEFS

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Beliefs (These are the stories, narratives, or assumptions we hold about ourselves)

• I don’t deserve to believe that I can make it to the NHL
• If I don't train harder than everyone else, I don't deserve success.
• I should get what I deserve in the sport
• I must play in a specific role to be successful.
• I am afraid of failing and becoming nobody
• I don’t deserve to feel like one of the best players on the ice
• I am afraid of making mistakes 
• I don’t have what it takes to play at an elite level.
• I am the best player on this team
• I am not a good hockey player when I'm tired
• I am only confident after successful external outcomes
• I am only as good as my last game or practice
• I need to have a great week of practice before I can play well
• I am not good at dealing with other people and coaches 
• I am not a natural athlete, so I will always be at a disadvantage.
• I need to feel bad about not getting points or losing to show to myself and others I care
• I need to be upset when things aren't going well because that is how I show I care
• I need perfect conditions to perform my best
• I am not skilled enough for the NHL
• I am nothing without motivation
• I am an unlucky player
• I perform poorly in critical games because of nerves.
• I am not a natural athlete, so I will always be at a disadvantage.
• I must always be strong and can never show weakness.
• I lose focus too easily to be truly great.
• I am not good skating with the puck 
• I can only perform well under pressure. 
• High-pressure situations cripple my performance.
• I can only do productive work late at night
• I need things to be in a certain way for me to be happy, confident and motivated
• My potential is fixed and cannot change significantly.
• If I can’t commit D1 how could I ever deserve making it pro
• If I don't perform well,  I let my team down. 

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Statements About the World - (These truths reflect assumptions about what things are and how the world works)

• Success requires struggle and suffering
• Balance and moderation is the key to growth
• Success in sports is my only path to happiness. 
• The hardest workers get the most out of life
• My potential is fixed and cannot change significantly.
• Fear is bad
• Leadership is only for the most experienced players.
• Leadership is being loud and supportive
• I am at my best after a weekend of rest
• Loud and motivating people are strong, being silent and quiet are weaker
• Resting and time off is for the weak
• People should be respectful and nice to me

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Your Internal Rules  - (often unspoken or unacknowledged truths that are drivers behind actions and perceptions- they operate whether you are aware of them or not)

• The world should be fair and I should get what I deserve
• My confidence is fully dependent on my last performance
• I am only as good as my last game or practice
• My thoughts are trustworthy information
• I am my thoughts, my mind, my emotions
• Comparison is how I determine my value and worth
• Resistance and stress might change the situation in my favor
• My stress, drama, conflict and resistance still have value in my experience 
• My worth is determined by other people’s view and perception of me
• My measurement as a player depends on what everyone else is doing
• My self-worth depends on outcomes, points, comparisons
• My coaches determine how I feel about my game
• My coaches' approval is crucial for my sense of confidence
• The world should be fair 
• The hockey industry owes me something 
• I should get what I deserve in the sport 
• Everything I do is driven by status and self-image
• I allow what coaches, teammates, and other people think, effect how I think of myself and my abilities 
• I work hard as protection for incase i don’t make it I can say I did enough
• Success is only meaningful when recognized by others.
• Other players' opinions define my playing style and abilities.
• I avoid uncertainty
• I will be content only after X and Y happens
• Without sports, my identity and self worth are unclear.
• Fear of injury prevents me from giving my all.
• I conserve my maximum efforts for safety and protection in case I fail
•  Happiness is found through my addiction to stimulation from foods, phones, people
• I search for happiness from other people, my phone, my external situations, my school
• I am afraid of not looking good in front of others
• My feelings are directly influenced by whether I feel I am getting closer to my goals or not

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These are just a few examples of different “truths” that your mind can hold about you and the world, and they influence you whether you realize it or not. They are just lines of code that determine how you think, feel and then behave. All of these truths together write the script for how you live your life.

None of these are inherently good nor bad.  The goodness and badness of them are dependent on how they effect you; if they serve you in any way or not.

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