Changing Beliefs

I recall always being good at remembering faces and voices. But for the life of me I could never remember names.
As a stranger was introducing themselves I could almost sense their name go in one ear and out the other.
It became a problem and so I gave it further consideration.
Surely if I can remember a person's face and voice I therefore have the capacity and ability to remember their name I thought?
Plausible I believed. So everyday for a couple of weeks I said to myself
‘I'm really good at remembering people's names’
‘I'm really good at remembering people's names’
‘I'm really good at remembering people's names’
You know, I'm genuinely really good at remembering people's names.

By repeating this over and over I convinced myself I was really good at remembering people's names and before long, I WAS and still am to this day. And I BELIEVE I always will be too.

I smoked for 80% of my life. Everyone who knew me believed I'd never manage to quit.
I tried everything, acupuncture, patches, gum, hypnosis, cold turkey, over and over again and again, but to no success.

My mindset about quitting was very weak after tens if not hundreds of failed attempts to quit.

One day I began to pay close attention to the experience.
I’d ask myself,
Does this taste nice?
Does it satisfy my craving?
Does it feel good?
Do I feel better now I've had one?

The answer was always ‘No’.
From that moment on, every time I had a cigarette I’d ask myself these four questions.
Twenty times a day,

Does this taste nice? - No.
Does it satisfy my craving? - Not particularly no.
Does it feel good? - No.
Do I feel better now I've had one? - No, I feel a bit sluggish now actually.

Within a few days I had cut down to 10 then 5 and then none.
It all came about by repeating the same thing over and over with each cigarette,
changing a belief by saying the same thing repetitively.
Interestingly, most successful quit smoking books do the very same thing, changing beliefs through repetition.