What determines whether a man or woman awakes in the morning excited with life, enthusiastic, with a zest for living, or wakes up lethargic, wondering, “What’s the use?”

You may think about this, and answer, “hope”. I believe that you’d be on the right track, but you haven’t dug quite deeply enough. Ask yourself, “What does it take to have hope for a new day?”

The answer, I think, I believe, is just that: belief. If someone looks at their situation in life and holds no hope for its betterment, doesn’t that mean that they don’t believe that things can improve? Conversely, even someone who may be at the bottom of one of life’s troughs can look on the day with hope, knowing that a better future is in store, because they believe that it can be, that it will be.

I have been led to this distinction several times over the last few days. Even though I’ve basically heard it from day one in my quest for personal development knowledge and techniques, it seems to have been bypassed for more flashy, attention-getting material. How to do this, how to do that, raise yourself to success, make more money, get the girls, get the bling.

How-tos are fine, they can be necessary (although I’m no longer convinced that they really are). But if you don’t look at a technique, or an idea, and believe that it’s possible, you’re not even going to try, don’t you think?

The makers of The Secret (a fantabulous feature, by the way) use a quote from W. Clement Stone in the film: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve.” Whether by design, to prove a point, or error, Stone was misquoted. The accurate quote is this:

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

Notice the missing words: and believe. A man can daydream all day, but if he doesn’t believe in his heart that the dream is at least possible, he’ll likely not take any action toward it. In not believing in the possibility, his mind will be closed to guidance. Opportunity will knock, but he won’t be home to answer the door.  • Read the rest of this entry »

“Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right” Henry Ford

What, in reality, makes you any different than any other person in the world? There are physical differences, to be sure, and that could affect your outcomes if physical size is a factor. But beyond that, you, your potential, is no different than any person who has achieved greatness — in business, fitness, philosophy.

All you have to do is believe.

The power of belief

When you truly believe, you will attract to you the qualities, talents, and circumstances necessary for you to accomplish your aims. Self-doubt, uncertainty, negativatiy, lack of focus: all these things will hinder your journey to accomplishment, to greatness. If you let them, they will stop you dead in your tracks.

The more fully you can embrace the concept that you can achieve what you conceive and believe, the quicker it will happen. Your level of belief will manifest itself in your life. Opportunites will be presented to you when you need them. In truth, the opportunities have always been there, but now that you believe, you can see them and use them.

When you know, truly know, that you will achieve your goals somehow, someway, doors will open to you that you may not have even noticed before. Paths will become apparent that you’ve not seen up until now.

Use your imagination

Remember that your mind cannot tell the difference between imagination and reality. When you imagine the accomplishment of your goals, you are telling your mind that you already have them. The more vivid you can imagine living your goals, the more your mind will open up, the more it will believe. You want a new car? Go test drive the car you want. Put pictures of it all over your house. When you brush your teeth, you see your car. When you fix your lunch, you see your car. When you watch your tv, you see your car. Put a picture on the dash of the car you have now. When you drive to work or to the store, you see your new car. You put yourself in your new car while you’re driving. When you test drive it, fix in your mind what it smells like, what the steering wheel feels like, how it rides. Picture what you see when you look out the windows, when you look out the back window. What does it sound like? Close your eyes and drive your car. Be there.

That is how you use your imagination to claim your goals. Do this, and you’ll be amazed at the result.

What is “success”? Earl Nightingale describes success as “the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” You are successful, in other words, if you are making progress in the attainment of your goals. Notice he doesn’t say “the achievement” of a goal, but the “progressive realization”.

Far too many of us attach rules to success that make it improbable or impossible that we will ever achieve it and enjoy the benefits of feeling it!

What are your rules for success? What has to happen in order for you to feel the fulfillment of being successful? Have you really thought about it? It’s a worthwhile excercise.

Take a piece of paper, and write down your answers. Ask yourself a few questions. “When am I sucessful?” “What do I have to do to feel successful?” “Do I have to be perfect to be a ’success’?”

Your answers will give you some insight into your thought process; your rules for feeling a certain feeling. If they’re too restrictive, you may want to change them.