How Your Beliefs Control What You See, Feel, and Do with Nir Eyal | TGLP #305

You are not experiencing reality exactly as it is. You are experiencing the version of reality your beliefs have trained you to notice. In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good sits down with Nir Eyal, New York Times bestselling author of Hooked, Indistractable, and Beyond Belief, to examine the hidden psychology behind motivation, behavior change, performance, and personal agency. Most behavior-change advice focuses on two questions: What should you do, and why should you do it? But Nir argues that there is a third—and often overlooked—question: Do you believe your actions can actually produce the outcome you want? Without that belief, more information, inspiration, and willpower are unlikely to create lasting change. Charles and Nir also discuss why beliefs should be treated as tools rather than unquestionable truths, how expectations create self-reinforcing experience loops, why empty positive thinking can weaken action, and how small mastery experiences help build hope. NIR EYAL is a globally recognized authority on behavior change and human potential. His frameworks have empowered millions to build better habits, enhance focus, and unlock greater agency in their lives and work. He is the New York Times bestselling author of the international bestsellers ⁠Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products ⁠and ⁠Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life⁠, which have sold over one million copies in more than 30 languages. Hooked was a finalist for the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards. Indistractable won the 2019 Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award and was named one of the Best Business & Leadership Books of the Year by Amazon, Audible, and The Globe and Mail. His third book, ⁠Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results⁠, became an instant New York Times best-seller and reveals how to identify and replace the hidden beliefs that define our limits. His writing has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, and Psychology Today. You will learn: • Why knowing what to do rarely guarantees that you will do it • How beliefs filter your perception of people, opportunities, and setbacks • Why motivation often depends on believing that effort will matter • How expectations can change performance and subjective experience • The difference between healthy agency and unrealistic optimism • Why labels and nocebo effects can unintentionally reduce capability • How mental contrasting turns aspirations into preparation • A practical process for identifying and changing limiting beliefs The goal is not to replace negative beliefs with comforting fantasies. It is to build reality-tested beliefs that help you act, learn, adapt, and remain open to new evidence. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Beliefs and Human Performance 01:07 Nir Eyal’s Background and Work 02:12 From Habits to Behavior Change 03:38 Why We Don’t Do What We Know 05:03 Beliefs as the Linchpin of Motivation 06:55 What Is a Belief? Fact, Faith, or Tool? 07:49 The Three Powers of Belief 09:16 Beliefs Filter Our Reality 11:09 Seeing Through the Lens of Beliefs 13:01 Beliefs and the Perception of Opportunities 16:34 Anticipation and Experience Loops 20:25 The Power of Expectation in Experience 25:39 Beliefs and Behavior: Building Hope 28:37 The Role of Limiting and Liberating Beliefs 30:22 The Impact of Beliefs on Performance 34:58 Pain, Discomfort, and Growth 36:56 The Problem With Positive Thinking 38:24 Mental Contrasting and Preparing for Obstacles 40:06 The Dark Side of Labels and Nocebos 42:00 The Power of Expectations and Placebos 44:08 Changing Limiting Beliefs for Empowerment 45:18 Actionable Steps to Re-Engineer Beliefs What is one belief about yourself, your work, or your future that may no longer be serving you? Share it in the comments. Subscribe to The Good Leadership Podcast for more conversations with leading thinkers exploring leadership, behavioral science, learning, performance, and the future of work. #NirEyal #BeyondBelief #BehaviorChange #Psychology #Leadership #Motivation #Mindset #HumanPerformance #PersonalGrowth #GoodLeadershipPodcast