Belief is the foundation for producing great results. But this must be an authentic belief. It must be based on reality and something you feel in your gut. So let’s explore how you can clarify your beliefs, translate these into behaviour and deliver brilliant results.
1) You can focus on beliefs.
Belief is the starting point: it is the motor for what we can and can’t achieve. One college educator said, for example:
“I believe I can encourage young people; pass-on my knowledge; help students to find satisfying work; teach them how to make decisions; write books and create a fine web site. I can’t change the education system; fire bad teachers in my college or persuade everybody in the world to do things my way.”
Paradoxically, clarifying what you can’t do can increase your sense of strength. You can then: a) build on what you can do; b) set specific goals; c) work hard and reach your goals. Success breeds self-confidence, which then expands your beliefs about what you can achieve in the future. There are also ways to expand your sense of belief.
Everybody has heard the expression: ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ In other words, if a person has a strong enough will, they will find a way. But you can also change the words around to say: ‘Where there’s a way, there’s a will.’
If a person can see a new way of doing things, they are more likely to develop the will to succeed. This can increase their belief about what it is possible to achieve.
How to discover new ‘ways’? Here are three approaches: a) Sometimes you put on your creative thinking hat and find new ways of doing things; b) Sometimes you seek knowledge from other people who offer tools, models and wisdom; c) Sometimes you throw yourself in the deep-end and learn by doing. Expanding your repertoire can increase your view of what it is possible to achieve.
So let’s take a reality check. Bearing in mind the points we have explored, what do you believe you can do in your life and work? Try completing the following sentence.
2) You can focus on behaviour.
Be selective to be effective. Looking at your beliefs, choose one that you want to concentrate on pursuing. Translate this into specific behaviour you can practice every day. One person said, for example:
“I chose to concentrate on being kinder. Giving to people is really fulfilling. Whether it is offering a cup of tea, helping them to find a solution or simply telling them they have done something well.
“So I made a list of specific things I could do to be kind every day. It even stretched to picking up litter that I would have passed before – though not cleaning the entire street!
“Being kinder is something I want to do during the rest of my life. There will be relapses, of course, but hopefully I can continue to encourage other people.”
Try completing the following sentences.
3) You can focus on brilliant results.
Peak performers often demonstrate three characteristics. First, they have an incredible ‘feeling’ for the field in which they operate. Second, they translate this into crystal-clear goals. Third, they are extremely disciplined – which gets them to 8/10 – then produce a touch of magic that gets them to 10/10. This third aspect is crucial. So how can you make happen?
“Every day after training I stay behind for two hours practicing free kicks,” said one footballer. “Sometimes it is with a goalkeeper. Other times just me and a ‘wall’ of wooden players to bend the ball around into the goal.
“Taking a free kick in a match is simple. No matter what the score, I go into my ‘bubble’ and follow my routine. I take three deep breaths, focus on the goal – not the goalkeeper – and hit the ball towards my selected part of the net. I have done it a million times in my head; hundreds of times on the practice ground; and tens of times in matches.”
How can you follow this path in your own way? How can you keep working hard to reach your goals and then produce that touch of magic? How can you follow your beliefs, translate these into behaviour and deliver brilliant results? Try completing the following sentence.
