When I practiced Tae Kwon Do as a kid, one of the first things we were taught was a saluting phrase when we bowed: pil seung which roughly translates to “faith in certain victory.” While I didn’t think much of it then, the constant drilling of this phrase into the back of our heads as students has certainly served me well beyond martial arts. Mixed with other value systems and oaths I’ve taken, faith has kept me going as well as staved off bitterness, cynicism, and entertaining failure.
Indeed, the concept of faith nowadays seems lost and misunderstood. Whether through weaponization by religious institutions to demand absolute dogmatic loyalty or by self-help gurus who use it synonymously with becoming delusional through “fake it until you make it” thinking, our generation is so tired of feeling stuck in survival mode that we have no time or energy to debate the definition of an abstract concept, let alone its right application.
But faith isn’t something that’s owed to a deity’s mortal followers nor detachment from reality. Faith is, at its core, the essence of the human spirit. It’s perseverance against the odds; it’s being afraid and burdened with uncertainty, but choosing to move forward anyway; it’s letting go of what you can’t control, knowing you’ll come out the other side, having grown from the experience regardless.
This topic may seem like a departure from my usual wheelhouse, however faith has its place in game theory. I’d argue that a degree of faith is necessary to make good calls while managing the elements of luck and uncertainty that are present in every decision we make. After all, the Great Game’s best players are those who know how to harness not just their analytical skills, but how to use faith to buoy them against the randomness inherent in the Game itself.
However, because of the emotional charge the word “faith” carries, I want to disclaim that my goal here is not to indoctrinate you into a specific belief system. While the term might feel monopolized by religion, faith is not exclusive to it. And though I’ve been practicing what I preach by expressing my own vulnerability and struggles as I push forward into the unknown, my goal today is to teach you how to use the same power we all have to build confidence in your own abilities to get things done, regardless of the odds.
In this post, we’ll explore the following…
The importance of words and how we use them, both in conversations with others and ourselves.
How to cultivate faith and courage to act despite fear and factors that aren’t ideal.
How faith grows from continuous practice and alignment with one’s values (and how that, in turn, makes success inevitable).
The Magic and Power of Words
Back in high school, one of my English teachers (or perhaps the whole department) would remind us of a simple truth: “language shapes reality.” This phrase inspired me to begin a career in writing, marketing, and content creation, deriving the next logical jump from it — that if language shapes reality, mastery of language allows you to master the means to shape reality.
Benjamin Lee Whorf, an American linguist from the early 20th century, said the same: “Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.” If you prefer a religious take, Buddha echoes this sentiment: “We are what we think, all that we are arises with our thoughts, with our thoughts, we make the world.”
Language gives shape to faith as well. It forms the stories we tell ourselves and justifies action (and, in some cases, inaction). By practicing language and our means to communicate with ourselves and others, we become better at giving abstract thoughts a tangible outlet.
For instance, how can you believe you’re capable of doing something if you have no words for it? And if you have the words, how does it feel if you don’t believe them? How can you win if you tell yourself you can’t succeed before you even try?
Faith, in turn, is what gives our words gravity and meaning; our (and others’) belief in their meaning gives them power. This is why following through with what we say is so important. If you overpromise and underdeliver, if you lie and are known to manipulate others, faith in your words (and, by extension, faith in you) fails.
However, the opposite is true as well. Be someone who is congruent with their beliefs, that you are honest and means well in all of your actions, and people will see and appreciate your earnestness.
Therefore, it’s important to be the person you say you are and to believe not only in your capacity for success, but that success will find you and you’ll be ready to greet it.
How to Cultivate Faith
While religion, philosophy, and self-help are the usual sources of faith, finding a balance between internal and external influence is important to be mindful of. Too much on the external side and you risk becoming brainwashed and taken advantage of. Too much on the internal side and you risk self-delusion (or, in extreme cases, becoming the cult leader who brainwashes others).
To find the correct balance, you need a healthy amount of self-esteem and belief in yourself while also finding something bigger than you to believe in and serve.
To that first point, you build self-esteem by challenging yourself with things outside of your comfort zone; accepting mistakes and failure as pathways to grow; giving yourself grace and being okay with the awkwardness of learning; maintaining positive mindsets and allowing yourself to feel negative thoughts, accepting that negativity and emotional discomfort as temporary signals to motivate you act; and finding friends you can be vulnerable with and vice versa.
And to the second, things that are bigger than yourself can include your family (blood-related, chosen, or however you define it); a religious institution or organization whose members share similar cultural values; your community; a project that gives back to others; and volunteering with a non-profit organization or philanthropy.
Once you’ve identified some of the examples you vibe with, you can blend them into your own system. For instance, most of my external influence was derived from a mixture of studying various religions and philosophies. I was raised Lutheran, but those beliefs have been augmented by absurdism, deism, and transcendentalism. Moreover, my time as a martial artist and belonging to a fraternity in college further shaped my beliefs that have governed everything I do, both directly and indirectly.
From the way I’ve built my business and chosen my career helping people build their own careers, businesses, and lives in turn; being an advocate for those who feel lonely and overwhelmed; to be strong and capable enough to physically protect others who might not be able to themselves; valuing creativity, empathy, platonic and romantic love, truth, accountability, kindness, and honor; believing in the Universe as a creative entity that works through us and that if prayer is us speaking to our Creator, intuition is our Creator speaking back to us… all of these facets have given my life purpose and meaning in an otherwise indifferent, chaotic world.
And while you don’t have to believe as I do, the point is to build your own system that compels you to serve others as well as provide meaning to your own life. Ideally these beliefs are humanist in nature: that you use your gifts and abilities to help others rather than dominate or harm them. Moreover, that you remain mindful enough to not be blinded by dogma, believing yourself the answer to the world’s problems only to become the villain caught up in your own pride and ego.
But no matter what answers to the above points you choose, faith requires action. Words are easy but following through consistently is a practice you must dedicate yourself to. After all, no kind person is kind solely by virtue of reminding everyone verbally that they’re kind. They simply are; their actions and vibe speak to that truth all their own.
Faith as a Superpower in the Great Game
As you practice being a person of your word and remaining aligned with your values and belief of them, faith will naturally grow from your practice. Relating faith back to game theory and success, it’s faith that makes the inherent randomness easier to deal with. In turn, faith allows you to form deeper connections with other people and the world around you. It adds weight to your words and actions and keeps you calm in the face of uncertainty.
After all, no amount of anxiety over the unknown will change it. And even when you do everything right yet don’t get the ideal outcome, faith gives you the means to rebound quicker, stronger, and even happier. Just like building physical muscle through consistent reps and sets, these abstract challenges we face in life allow us to build inner resilience, our faith a measurement of that strength.
If you’re curious about gauging that strength, see how easy the answer to this question comes to you: if you have nothing to die for, what do you live for? Once that answer becomes automatic and you can say it with your whole chest, very little can get in the way between you and your goals. In a world that too often feels cold and uncaring, the fire you cultivate inside yourself will not only keep you warm and illuminate your path, but do it well enough, and you become a beacon for others, inspiring them to keep their own spark alight.
As someone who does not believe in failure unless we’ve died, the only outcomes we have to worry about are success now or gaining experience to leverage for success later on. What is faith but telling yourself to keep going, no matter how many times you’re knocked down, fighting and even demanding better for yourself and those you fight for?
It all begins by first believing that you can succeed. Find the words, give them power, find something to fight for (which is very different than something to fight against). Besides, how good it is to encounter obstacles because how else can you prove your own capabilities?
No matter what you encounter, in case you need to hear it, I believe in you. I hope you believe in you too.
Game in thumbnail: Total War: Three Kingdoms (Creative Assembly)