We all want to succeed at something, because success can mean living a happy, wealthy life. But are your chances of succeeding in danger because of how you think?
In the final article of this series I’ll share some of the destructive thinking habits that spoil your chances of success.
It’s amazing how much confidence and success are linked. Think of all the world’s most successful people, they’re never short on confidence are they? Why? Why is confidence such a key ingredient of success?
I’ve found there’s two main reasons. The first, and most important, is that confidence breeds belief. The second, confident people seek out challenges.
First let’s look at why belief is crucial to success. There is a magic to belief. It makes the impossible possible. Think Walt Disney and Disney World, Henry Ford and the V8, just to name a couple. They were told what they were trying to achieve could not be done, that it was impossible. They had no right to succeed. Yet they did. Why? If you follow their stories you can deduce that all they really had was their belief. In the end they succeeded because they believed they could.
Think of someone you know who’s extremely confident. They know they can succeed, no matter what the task or what anyone says. Why? Because they believe they can. It’s there belief that allows them to be confident. If you knew you could achieve something you’d be confident too.
“To do anything, we must first believe it can be done. Believing something can be done sets the mind in motion to find a way to do it” ~ David Schwartz
The second part of how confidence leads to success is a continuation of the first. A confident person will accept challenges. And they accept those challenges because they have faith in their abilities. When you think you can, your mind will find ways to do!! So when you’re confident you can do you accept challenges. And challenges force a person to learn and grow from their victories and failures. The result…a better, smarter, stronger person!!If you think of someone who lacks confidence they reject challenges. Every challenge is met with an “I can’t”. Why is this? Because they have no confidence (belief) in their ability i.e. “I can’t…find a better job, ask that person out, complete that degree, create wealth, etc. It doesn’t matter what follows “I can’t”, it can be anything.
So remind yourself, that you’ll never succeed by playing it safe. The most successful men and women flourish by seeking out and accepting a challenge. They have the confidence to accept the challenge, whether they succeed or fail is irrelevant, either way they’re going to learn something that they didn’t know before.
If this sounds like you, then you may find all you need to improve your life is to improve your confidence.
Step 1. Believe you can achieve and you will succeed. Don’t go in half-hearted either. When your belief is strong, you’re strong. So work on strengthening your belief. With belief you have the encouragement to brave the challenges ahead.
Step 2. Seek out and accept challenges. Challenges force you to grow stronger. Without a challenge you have no reasons to grow. When you’re challenged, find ways why you CAN succeed. Remove “I can’t” from your vocabulary. Remind yourself, if you believe you can, your mind will find ways to do!!
How you think about failure is the difference between temporary and permanent failure. With persistence, temporary failure is just that…temporary! But if you think failure is an indication that you can’t do something, then you’re defeating yourself. You’re allowing temporary failure to become permanent. And something which can be your greatest teacher, becomes your worst enemy.
But you can change your thinking so you won’t be discouraged by failure. When you fail (and everyone does from time to time) remind yourself that failure is a part of success, and not separate to it. The more you fail, and the more you remind yourself that it’s okay to do so, the less afraid of failure you’ll be.
Think about something you were once afraid to do. The more you did it the less afraid you were, right? The fear of failure is no different. Change how you think about failure first. And all you need to combat the fear of failure are your thoughts.
When you fail, help yourself find the silver lining by asking yourself these questions:
- Why did I fail?
- How can I improve?
- What lessons can I take from this to help me succeed next time?
The benefit to viewing failure this way, is you’ll never be discouraged by it again. Your thoughts don’t need to be the reason for your permanent failure.
When you neglect what you think about your thoughts get their sources from elsewhere (the news, internet, other people), and unfortunately these other sources can be damaging to your thinking. So, why risk it?If you only take one thing from these articles let it be this:
You have a choice with how you think. And how you think is too important to leave to chance. You’re the master of your thinking. If you take control of your thinking good things will happen.
- Confidence and success are linked for a reason. So work on improving your confidence to help you succeed.
- How you think about failure is the difference between it being temporary or permanent failure.
- You don’t have to be discouraged by failure.
- How you think is too important to leave to chance. Strive to be a master of your thoughts.
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