I am on a journey to radically change my life. And I want to take you on that journey with me. I believe that with the right mindset and smart work, I can achieve whatever I desire. And I believe the same can happen for you. It all comes down to believing that you can achieve. But the phrase “You can do it if you just believe” has become so watered down to the point that people just roll their eyes when they hear it. They’ve tried it and it just doesn’t work for them.
“To succeed, we must first believe that we can.” – Michael Korda; “Your belief determines your action and your action determines your results, but first you have to believe.” -Mark Victor Hansen; “You have to believe in yourself” – Sun Tzu; “Believe that you will succeed, and you will.” – Dale Carnegie
These are just a few quotes on the subject. There are hundreds more. Notice how they are all saying essentially the same thing, that if you believe it, you can do it.
I wholeheartedly agree, but I think they left out one very important part and that is: How do you believe?
It’s not enough to just say “Oh, just believe and it will happen.” I hate with a passion of a thousand suns, advice that’s just given to us without any proper procedures or guidelines to follow on how to implement it. That’s what drove me to write this article. It is a bit lengthy and so I will break it down into 2 parts and I will share part 2 next week.
I think the reason that such people have a hard time believing is because we never really formed our own beliefs. Think about it. Trace back all your beliefs on religion, politics, money, people, society, and the world in general. You’ll find that the root of the majority of your beliefs came from outside of you, whether it was through your parents, friends, or media.
“Don’t talk to strangers. They’re bad.” “Money is the root of all evil.” “If you don’t do well in school, you’ll fail in life.” “You have to go to college to get a good job.”
The majority of people have never really gone through the exercise of creating their own beliefs, because we’ve been spoon fed them from day one. It’s time to take charge of our own beliefs.
In order to learn how to believe, examine with me, the process in which some of the most powerful beliefs in human beings were created; specifically, people’s beliefs in religion and politics. Beliefs rooted in religion and politics are EXTREMELY powerful. Families become divided over them. World wars have been fought over them. Millions of lives are taken because of them. People go so far as to take their own lives because of them. There is no denying the power of people’s beliefs in religion and politics and the effect it has on their lives.
If we can analyze the procedure by which these beliefs are formed and apply that as a blueprint to create our own beliefs, we will be able to achieve anything we want.
How do these beliefs form?
Step 1: State your belief
You must state a specific belief you want to have FIRST in order to truly believe it. It does not matter if you do not believe in it one hundred percent at first. Just take that first step and STATE it.
Choose a belief that is positive. For example: I will earn a minimum of five thousand dollars monthly. Now that you have stated a specific belief, what is the next step?
Step 2: HAMMER that belief into your mind CONTINUOUSLY.
People did not come to believe in a political ideal or religion overnight. It was due to a constant hammering of information over a long period of time. Most people got it when they were young from their parents, friends, religious leaders, teachers, coaches, etc. They heard it at the dinner table, when they went to religious service, on TV, books, magazines, friends, acquaintances, etc.
However, this time, nobody is there to hammer the beliefs in you but you. YOU created your OWN BELIEF and it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to HAMMER it into YOURSELF. It doesn’t matter if your self-talk is negating your belief. A constant hammering will always drive the nail into the wall of your self-talk. Just hammer it in. The nail will always go in the wall if you continuously hammer it in.
This is where 90% of people fail and conclude that the whole “if you believe, you can achieve” idea is utter BS. We live in a society where distractions are rampant. Internet, text messaging, cable TV, email, cell phones etc. We live in an instantaneous society. We want results NOW. We have lost the virtue of patience. It’s so easy to get sucked in and forget about the importance of focusing on continuously hammering in our new beliefs. It’s also easy to become discouraged when we don’t see any quick results from hammering in our own beliefs. We have lost the notion of sticking through with something and not quitting until the goal is achieved, no matter how long it takes.
How can you avoid doing that? By (A) writing your belief down every day. This is one of the most powerful things you can do in order to solidify a belief. Write your belief down on paper or print it out and paste it everywhere you see; on your refrigerator, mirror, door, computer, TV, wall, bathroom, front door, screen door, everywhere. This way, you will drill the belief into yourself even when you are not writing it down.
B) Visualizing your belief already achieved every day. This is another powerful exercise you can do. Your brain does not know the difference between what it sees with your eyes and what you imagine in your mind.
You know what that means? “Things” don’t really exist. What I mean by “things” are the objects you think are real; the pen, the computer, the piece of paper. The reality is that you take in all the information from your environment via your 5 senses and process that in your brain and in there, your experience is created.
Reality lives alone in the brain. And because reality lives alone in the brain, you can create your own reality. So create the reality of already having achieved your belief by visualizing it in order to help hammer the belief into your brain. Visualize every day.
If you do it sporadically, your belief will never take root. Rome was not built in a day. Masterpieces were not created overnight. Anything worth of any significant value was not created instantaneously. Deep down inside, you know it’s true. There are no shortcuts in life. Does this mean it will take years for your beliefs to come true? If you consistently hammer in your beliefs and take the following steps that will be outlined, you will find that your beliefs will come true faster than you realize.
Step 3: Continually associate with those who share your beliefs.
If you look back at how beliefs in religion and politics were formed, you’ll find that continuous association on a regular basis with those who shared the same religion and political affiliations helped enormously in solidifying their respective beliefs.
People did NOT habitually associate with those who did NOT share their beliefs.
Muslims did not habitually associate with Jews. Atheists did not habitually associate with Christians. Hardcore conservatives and liberals did not habitually associate with one another. Each group managed to attract one another and form their own support group.
People who believe the same things will naturally gravitate toward one another. Rich with rich, poor with poor, middle class with middle class. It is an indisputable fact. When the hammering of your belief starts sinking in, you’ll find that you will naturally gravitate towards those who share the same beliefs. If you find yourself doing that, it’s a very good sign you’re going in the right direction and it shows that your belief is getting hammered in. You will find yourself seeking advice and/or support from those who share the same beliefs.
For example, if you constantly hammer in the belief that you are a great public speaker, you will naturally start looking for speech classes, books, and tapes. You will buy the books and listen to the tapes. You will go online and search for the nearest Toastmasters club in your area and join. You’ll take a speech class at the local community college and meet lots of other people there who share the same beliefs. When you habitually associate with those who share the same belief, you hammer your belief in even more.
Read next week for the other steps you must take to solidify your new beliefs.
