Volume 1, Issue 3

If you believe you can or can’t – you’re right

I recently played golf in a fundraising tournament. As is the case in most tournaments, the foursomes are made up of individuals with mixed skill sets. Generally speaking, most people don’t care about winning, or even how well they play the game, because these events are about having fun and raising money for a good cause. However, on this sunny day, the youngest member of our team, (we’ll call him Ryan) was clearly uncomfortable about his golf skills, and quickly declared before he struck his first ball, “my game sucks, so don’t expect much from me today.”

Shot after shot, Ryan reminded us and himself just how bad a golfer he was as he “duffed” his way through the round.

We watched with fascination as his game deteriorated through 9 straight holes when, finally, concerned about the long term affects of his verbal flogging, I asked if he talked this way when he plays hockey - he’s a professional hockey player. His immediate response was “absolutely not!” “I’m confident when I play hockey, I know I’m good and I work hard at it.”

I wondered out loud whether his proficiency in hockey would be at the same level if he beat himself up every time he made an error. Again he said he never talked to himself that way about hockey, that he had a “can do” attitude toward the sport he loves so much.

Ryan’s attitude about his golf game was a sharp reminder of how so many of us live our lives. It is unfortunate that we can’t see the connection between what we believe and what we achieve.

So, this month I challenge you to think about how you might be sabotaging your life with your limited beliefs, negative self-talk and “can’t do” attitude.

If you believe you can’t, you’re right. However, if you believe you can, you are also right. The key to accomplishing your goals is to Decide, Believe and Dream.

Tonight, when you are journaling, (and if you don’t journal –this would be a great time to start) identify one thing that you have accomplished that you are most proud of. Whether you knew it or not, to reach that goal you had to:

Make a decision to do so
Believe it was possible
Do what was necessary to support the belief, and
Create a vivid picture of the outcome
Reflect on that accomplishment and spend a couple of minutes writing about how it felt to reach your goal. Really focus on the feeling.

Now, is there something that you’ve wanted to accomplish and have yet to start? If so, take on this challenge. Make a commitment to complete it in the next 30 to 60 days. If you are serious about reaching this goal you must:

Make a decision to reach it
Believe it is possible (You’ve done it before)
Do what is necessary to support your belief. (that means making sure you ACT – make your plan specific, do one thing every day to move you towards your goal) and finally,
Create and hold a vivid picture in your mind of accomplishing your goal.
If you want to achieve, believe.

"To get new results you must take new actions and all actions are fathered by a decision.”-Anthony Robbins