Once upon a time, there was a man who always got everything he wanted. Professional opportunities came in abundance, money was overflowing, and dreams were always attainable. Everything came easy for him but more importantly, everything came at some point. Many around him were more than a little jealous of this man and his tendency to live a life beyond normal means. They were further frustrated with the fact that no one had been able to pin point exactly how it was that he was able to get everything he wanted while still being able to make it look like it was nothing.
Over the years, people came up with a lot of the theories as to why he was destined for so much greatness. Some speculated that it was because he was smart and if only they were smarter then they too would have wonderful things come their way. Others attributed his success to his hard working nature and thought that if they worked harder soon they would achieve all the things they wanted as well. Finally, some considered luck. They contemplated that maybe it’s all about being at the right place at the right time and that he was just able to luck into all the great things he had so they spent their time wishing and praying for a little good fortune to come their way. Well after years of theories and possibilities, they still could not have been further away from the truth. Sure intelligence, hard work, and timing are all important factors when attempting to meet your goals or reach your dreams, but the difference between the masses and the aforementioned man was that he believed he would have everything he wanted without a shadow of a doubt. It was that simple.
Ok not that simple but the moral of this story is no matter how much blood, how much sweat or how many tears you put into something, if you still question yourself, your achievements will be questionable. So often we doubt ourselves. We second guess our abilities and the possibility of our dreams actually coming true. The man in this story didn’t. He made up his mind and had 100% unshakable confidence and belief behind it, making it almost impossible for him to not get exactly what he wanted. Ironically, the only area of his life where he lacked success was the only dream he didn’t don’t whole heartedly believe in.
I’ve spent most of my life thinking that great and extraordinary things can happen, just not to me. The only reason I believed that these things were out of my reach was because no matter how much I wanted certain things, they just always seemed to elude my grasp. However, as I struggled to catch the magic in life, I watched others grab it with ease, none more so than the person mentioned in the story above. Ever since I met him, I found myself enamored with his ability to get everything he desired and much like the others around him, I longed to find the answers to his never ending success. I recently finished a book, which made me think of this person and for the first time, I saw that it was the fact that he never doubted himself that gave him an edge when it came to achieving even his wildest dreams.
I doubt myself all the time. I question if I’m doing the right things or if I’m ever going to move forward down the path to achievement rather than just running in circles on the hamster wheel of mediocrity. I wonder what it is that I’m doing wrong. I ask myself if it’s meant to be. I even thought that if I didn’t think about something or thought the opposite then maybe it would happen.
I will admit that the book I was reading was The Secret. It was something I won’t normally read but I wanted to branch out of my normal literary choices so I decided to give it a try. The whole book pretty much states that if you can picture what it is that you want and really believe in it, then those things will come your way. I will admit that I was skeptical but recently, I wrote a post about how if you changed your way of thinking that you will change how you feel and it’s advice inspired by the lessons in this book. By doing this, I’ve seen how my mood can shift so I tried a little experiment. I thought of something I wanted. I pictured the outcome the way I wanted it to be. I felt that it was right in my gut and I believed it completely blocking out all doubt. To be honest the odds of this coming true were really stacked against me but in the end, I got exactly what I wanted.
Now my belief may have had zero effect on the outcome of this particular situation but there is the same amount of proof saying it did have an impact as there is saying that it didn't. The lesson learned here is that we have to believe that things can happen and believe in ourselves. I urge you to try it. Wake up tomorrow morning and tell yourself that it’s going to be a good day. Then believe it without ever questioning it. When that guy cuts you off in traffice on your way to work, tell yourself it’s going to be a wonderful day. When your computer starts acting up, tell yourself it’s going to be a wonderful day. When your boss starts getting your case, tell yourself it’s going to be a wonderful day. Maybe nothing extraordinary will happen but at the end of your day, I bet you’ll be able to say that overall it was a pretty good day or dare I say it, a great day. If it turns out that way, just think what could happen if you had that same unwavering confidence behind everything you did in life. I think you’d be pretty unstoppable.
"Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right." - Henry Ford
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