“A person cannot cling to anything unless she believes in it; belief always precedes action, therefore a person’s deeds and life are the fruits of her belief.” – Above Life’s Turmoil

While there has been some controversy surrounding Marion Jones, there’s no questioning that she’s one of the fastest women of all time. And Marion has spent her life BELIEVING she would one day become an Olympic Champion. At eight years old she wrote on a chalkboard in her bedroom: “I will be an Olympic champion.” When she was in the sixth grade she wrote the following note (you can see it at http://algonquin.com/marionjones/): “My plans for the future are to be in the 1992 Olympics.” Even though she missed her goal by eight years (she won at the 2000 Olympics), her life has become “the fruits of her belief.”

What can we learn from the belief of an eight-year-old girl?

Since belief always precedes action, simply changing your beliefs can change your actions to those that will result in living our wildest dreams — like being an Olympic Champion.

It’s not as complicated as you might think. In fact, taking these five steps can make anyone a “Gold Medalist” in their chosen endeavor.

1. Prepare to win. Nothing will strengthen your belief system more than knowing you’re prepared. Her training was the key to Marion’s belief that she could achieve her goal. Also in her sixth grade note she wrote, “I’ve been training a lot, and the boys at my school are good practice.”

2. Take control of your thoughts. It’s your choice what you think about. Think success and that’s what you get. Think failure and that’s what you attract. To help in controlling your thoughts, make it a habit to affirm yourself. I had a box of business cards with an old address that I was going to discard. Instead, I flipped them over to the blank side and wrote affirmations on them. I had two identical sets, one for my car and one for my office. Throughout the day I would read my “flash cards” aloud. (If you’re in your car, only read while you’re stopped for a traffic light. 🙂

3. Re-evaluate your situation. One of my mentors, Bob Proctor, teaches that “our belief system is based on our evaluation of something. Frequently when we re-evaluate a situation our belief about that situation will change.” And when you re-evaluate, spend more time looking at the positive side of your circumstances. In Why Some Positive Thinkers Get Positive Results, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale quotes “one of the wisest utterances I have ever heard in my lifetime:” “Never build a case against yourself.”

4. Don’t worry about “how-to-do-it.” One of my early mistakes was trying to figure out how I was going to do something before I’d believe I could do it. Start by believing you can do something and the “how-to” will follow. David Schwartz, author of the classic The Magic of Thinking Big, wrote, “Belief, strong belief, triggers the mind to figuring ways and means and how-to. Those who believe they can move mountains, do. Those who believe they can’t, cannot. Belief triggers the power to do.”

Interestingly, Dr. Schwartz wrote in 1959, “Currently, there is some talk of building a tunnel under the English Channel to connect England with the Continent. Whether this tunnel is ever built depends on whether responsible people believe it can be built.” Even though they had no idea of “how-to-do-it” at the time, enough “responsible people” maintained a belief in this project and we have the famous Chunnel today.

5. Finally, you must act. The New Testament writer said, “Faith without works is dead.” Until you act you’re not committed and belief is not cemented. As world-class mountain climber W.H. Murray wrote, “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.”

I’ll leave you with some counsel from Dr. Maxwell Maltz, the author of another classic, Psycho-Cybernetics: “Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs.”

And that’s worth thinking about.

“As a man thinks, so is he; as he continues to think, so he remains.” – As A Man Thinketh

This is the cornerstone of James Allen’s philosophy and the great masters down through time have all agreed. Earl Nightingale called it “the strangest secret” and Napoleon Hill wrote in Think and Grow Rich that “riches begin with a state of mind.”

Looking deeper at James Allen’s quote, we realize that what we create through our thoughts is a belief system, and that belief system is ultimately what determines whether we live a successful life.

If our belief system says we’re fat because we were constantly told that as a child, or because over time we’ve developed that belief system, no amount of dieting or exercise will work to sustain permanent weight loss. Even though great discipline and sacrifice may shed some pounds, they’ll eventually be regained.

The same goes for any shortcoming. Just pick one. Procrastination, tardiness, lack of follow through, fear of failure; they’re all “qualities” that started in our thoughts, became entrenched in our belief system, and now are obstacles to building a better life.

Obviously the key to changing our belief system is changing our thoughts. Orison Swett Marden wrote in How to Get What You Want, “Stop thinking trouble if you want to attract its opposite; stop thinking poverty if you wish to attract plenty. Refuse to have anything to do with the things you fear, the things you do not want.”

Instead we must think rightly about those things we want to attract. My friend, Mark Shearon, once posed a very enlightening question to a telephone audience, “Are you thinking about what you’re thinking about?” Read that sentence again and read it carefully. It’s not a play on words.

Marden goes on to write this passage about how much our thoughts influence the outcome of our life: “How often do we hear it said of some man, “Everything he undertakes succeeds,” or “Everything he touches turns to gold?” Why? Because the man is constantly picturing to himself the success of his undertakings and he is backing up his vision by his efforts. By clinging to his vision, by vigorous resolution and persistent, determined endeavor he is continually making himself a powerful magnet to draw his own to him. Consciously or unconsciously, he is using the divine intelligence or force by the use of which every human being may mold himself and his environment according to the pattern in his mind.”

And that’s worth thinking about.

“People do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.” — As A Man Thinketh

We recently received a very “unusual” email. The subscriber’s question was a simple “What can I do to be successful that doesn’t involve changing anything about who I am or how I think?”

My first response to the question was a hearty chuckle at the seeming naive-ness of the writer. The chuckle turned into sadness as I realized the pain the writer must feel at the thought of changing — wanting success but fearing change.

But the longer I thought about it, I realized that while most of us may never verbalize that question, our actions indicate that we believe that it is possible to achieve the success we desire without going through the necessary changes.

I know so many people who work very hard and diligently and sacrifice greatly in an effort to create wealth. But they haven’t undertaken the personal changes necessary to reach their goal. Until they begin to think and act like wealthy people they’ll never attract the wealth they seek. Wealthy people don’t think and act the way they do because they have wealth. They have wealth because they think and act that way.

The same goes whether the goal is weight loss, physical fitness, quitting smoking, etc. As long as you think and act like a smoker, you’re sure to keep smoking regardless of the patches, hypnosis, drugs or other cures you may seek. I know — I did it for 20+ years.

To put it another way: When you stop working on what it is you’re trying to get, and start working on YOU, only then will you get what it is you want. When you change, your results will change. Simple but true.

It really is very basic when you think about it. Jim Rohn says, “To attract attractive people, you must be attractive. To attract powerful people, you must be powerful. To attract committed people, you must be committed. Instead of going to work on them, you go to work on yourself. If you become, you can attract.”

And that’s worth thinking about.

“Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.” – As A Man Thinketh

The longer I live the more I realize how important it is that I always have a big dream in my life. Dreams are what cause us to bound out of bed in the morning instead of waking with anxiety or, even worse, apathy for the day ahead. When I don’t have a dream in front of me it’s easy to find fault with everything and self-pity comes easily.

There’s an easy explanation for why we’re not at our best when we don’t have a dream – we were created to dream. The Proverbs writer tells us that “without a vision the people perish.”

I’ve always liked a quote that I’ve heard attributed to both Oscar Hammerstein and Walt Disney, “If you don’t have a dream, how are you going to make a dream come true?”

So why is it so hard for some of us to dream? Or so tough to believe that our dream can come true? Perhaps for some of us it’s because we were programmed to “don’t get your hopes up.” While this was told to “protect” us, it had the opposite effect. For many years I wanted to believe in a dream (because I was created that way) but I was afraid of how I’d feel if I didn’t get my dream. I was afraid to “get my hopes up.”

So how do we start dreaming? Or how do we dream bigger? By changing our thoughts of course. Mark Victor Hansen, who says he’s read As A Man Thinketh more than 25 times, writes in his book Dare To Win, “If you know exactly what you want, you can have it…Look around you. The world is filled with abundance.”

A dream is nothing more than a thought or a series of thoughts. And James Allen tells us that “your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal (a dream) and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without.”

And that’s worth thinking about.

“Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose — as he must until weakness is overcome — the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph. ” — As A Man Thinketh

When most young children are given a puzzle to solve or put together that is especially challenging, most will make a good effort at solving it, but if unsuccessful will soon lose interest and abandon it. Some will even become angry at their failure to solve it and may throw a tantrum.

Contrast that with the experienced puzzle player who proceeds to put the puzzle together with an air of certain confidence that they will complete it. They know that they have all of the pieces of the puzzle before them so it is only a matter of finding out which pieces work where and once that’s done the puzzle will be complete. Putting a piece in the wrong place is not a cause for concern, it’s simply another step toward putting all of the pieces in their proper place.

I think of all the times in my life when I acted like a young child in dealing with the current puzzle in my life. Instead of turning over and trying the next piece, I got angry and walked away from the puzzle, seeing the puzzle as a problem instead of as an opportunity.

Napoleon Hill, author of the classic Think and Grow Rich, knew Thomas Edison and Henry Ford personally. He said of both men that the ONLY thing that was different about them from everyone else was their persistence. Which gives rise to an interesting thought. Where would our civilization be today if either man had treated his puzzles like the impatient young child?

If you don’t have all of the pieces of your puzzle on the table, then stop, identify them and get them on the table before proceeding. If, however, you’ve got them on the table, then take the approach of the experienced puzzle player. When they don’t fit — don’t quit — try another piece or move them to another place. While you’re at it, learn another valuable lesson from great puzzle players. They don’t just enjoy completing the puzzle, they delight in putting it together.

Napoleon Hill thought Persistence was a pretty important key to success — he used the word 97 times in Think and Grow Rich and he devoted an entire chapter to it. Some of his wisdom includes, “The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few carry on DESPITE all opposition, until they attain their goal. These few are the Fords, Carnegies, Rockefellers, and Edisons. There may be no heroic connotation to the word “persistence,” but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel.”

And that’s worth thinking about.