What Do You Believe? How Belief Affects What Happens and Where You Go in Life
The incredible story of Émile Coué, a man long before our time
Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash
If you got into an Uber and told the driver you wanted to go to five different places at the same time, where would you end up? Probably nowhere.
That’s how most people live, scattered, conflicted, pulled in too many directions by their own thoughts. What follows is the story of a man who discovered how the mind can steer the body toward health, happiness, and success through belief alone.
Before we dive in, think about this. What’s on your mind before you fall asleep? Are your thoughts mostly positive or negative during the day? And what does your self-talk sound like, encouraging or critical?
What we believe shapes what we think. And what we think shapes what we become. The conscious mind programs the subconscious, and the subconscious runs the show.
Meet Émile Coué
Most people have heard the phrase, “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better.” Few know it came from a quiet French pharmacist who helped millions heal themselves with nothing more than belief. His name was Émile Coué, and his discovery reshaped how the world understands the power of the mind.
Born in 1857 in Troyes, France, Coué began his career behind a pharmacy counter. He noticed something strange. When he told patients, “This medicine works wonders,” they often recovered faster. When he said nothing, the results were mixed. That simple observation changed his life.
Coué realized that suggestion, not the pill, held the real power. “When the imagination and will are in conflict,” he wrote, “it is always the imagination which wins.” He began teaching patients how to use that same power intentionally through what he called conscious autosuggestion, a daily practice of repeating positive thoughts until they took root in the subconscious.
It’s self-hypnosis in a nutshell.
By the early 1900s, Coué’s method spread across Europe and America. People came from every class and background to attend his lectures. He never claimed to be a miracle worker. “I have never cured anyone,” he said. “I have simply shown them how they can cure themselves.”
Science eventually caught up with him. Today, we call it the placebo effect and neuroplasticity. Biologist Bruce H. Lipton would later describe it as epigenetics, also known as the Biology of Belief. It’s the idea that our thoughts and perceptions can alter gene expression and influence health. A century before Lipton, Coué was teaching the same principle in simpler language.
He believed that thoughts were not harmless, passing things, but active forces shaping reality. “Every one of our thoughts becomes concrete, materializes, and becomes, in short, a reality,” he wrote. His daily mantra, “Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better,” became a cultural phenomenon, even as critics dismissed it as naïve optimism.
Yet the science of belief has vindicated him. The brain changes through focused thought. The body responds to expectation. And life bends, quietly but surely, toward the images we hold in mind.
Coué died in 1926, but his insight lives on: what you believe about yourself, your health, and your future matters. Belief is not fantasy. It is biology.
So ask yourself: What do you believe? Where do you want to go? What do you want more than anything else?
Because, as Coué proved long before science did, your answer might just shape your destiny. Choose wisely.
I’m an author, strategic guide, and mentor. Discover the power of the Clarity S.H.I.F.T. Method® for improving your business, career, and life at www.CliffordJones.com.