“Beliefs Are Tools, Not Truths”

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Science, Social Sciences, Society & Culture, Education

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2026

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What's standing between you and your goals? Focus? Discipline? Motivation? Nir Eyal points the finger somewhere else. Your beliefs. In his new book, Beyond Belief, he shows you how to trade them in for better ones — and finally get unstuck. The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠podcast@nextbigideaclub.com⁠. Check out Nir’s previous appearance on the show ⁠here⁠. The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off). Sponsored By: Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠⁠ Factor — Head to ⁠⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box Granola — Get three months free at ⁠⁠granola.ai/idea⁠⁠ Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Rufus Griscom and this is the next big idea.
0:04.3	Today, what if you could do what you thought was impossible? My Google Drive is a graveyard of unfinished projects.
0:33.1	Aborted novels, abandoned business ideas, deferred dreams.
0:37.3	Maybe your drive looks the same way, or your filing cabinet, a wood shop in your basement,
0:42.8	wherever it is that your big ideas meet their quiet demise.
0:47.6	If you're anything like me, you give up because at some point in the process, you come
0:51.7	face to face with reality, with hard truths.
0:55.5	You realize, who am I kidding?
0:57.5	I'm not a novelist.
0:58.7	No one would ever fund this.
1:00.5	It's too late.
1:02.4	The thing is, these aren't hard truths.
1:05.9	They aren't even truths at all.
1:07.8	They are beliefs.
1:09.4	A belief is defined as a conviction that is open to revision based on new
1:14.8	evidence. That's Niraeal, author of the new book, Beyond Belief. And the thing about beliefs,
1:21.6	Neer says, is that... Beliefs change. We can use the ones that serve us and discard the ones that hurt us because beliefs are tools not truths. That's the biggest revelation of this book.
1:34.2	Our beliefs about who we are and what we're capable of are malleable and by learning how to update them you can change the course of your life.
1:54.0	Today's episode of the next big idea is sponsored by Fabric, Factor, Granola, and Shopify.
1:58.5	Fabric by Gerber Life is term life insurance that you can get done today.
2:02.9	Apply on minutes at meetfabric.com slash NBI.
2:07.9	Factor is offering listeners of this show 50% off and free breakfast for a year.
	...

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