In India, to train elephants, they tie them while still very young to a stake with a thick chain. Of course, it is impossible for such a small calf to snap the chain, break it, or pull the stake from the ground.

At first the little elephant struggles with all its might to get free. It tries again and again, but nothing changes; it cannot win its freedom.

Years pass, and the elephant grows enormous. By now its strength is many times greater than that of the stake and chain that hold it. And yet the elephant never even attempts to break free. It has come to believe that it can never be free — and so what can no longer be broken is not the elephant’s chain, but the elephant’s own belief.