Imagine this. You are the captain of a Cricket Team that has never participated, much less won in a Super Over.
And suddenly, you end up winning two of them, back-to-back. That too, from a position of most-likely defeat, against solid opposition.
How, in the world, do you explain that?
One word – Belief.
Before we get into it, Would You Please Do This For Me?
I know. I know what you are thinking. Another cliched article talking about some abstract power of belief, saying the same things, which will never help us in real life.
I get it. But don’t dismiss it just yet. Give it a couple of paragraphs more, at least.
You see, even I hate it — someone giving morally superior sounding lectures on topics like Belief, without any sort of substantial logic or practical “I can do this right now” approach.
So, I have tried something different.
Taking inspiration from my favorite book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I have addressed this article to an imaginary friend. A friend, who I really care about and want him to succeed in life. A friend, who like you, wouldn’t tolerate commonplace advice and meaningless platitudes.
The majority of the inspiration, as well as some of the exact quotes and examples mentioned in this article, come from the first chapter of the book “The Magic of Thinking Big” by the author David Schwartz.
This article is my way of distilling the important stuff from there and explaining it to myself, more than anyone else. So, full disclaimer there.
I came upon this book after it was recommended on the Time Ferris Show, which is perhaps The Best Podcast out there on Personal Growth, and my personal favorite.
So, enough build-up. Let me just get into it.
And just reminding you again, give it a couple of paragraphs to change your mind. And then if it doesn’t do anything for you, feel free.
Why In The World Are You Talking To Me About Belief?
Dear friend,
Today I want to talk to you about Belief.
Why Belief?
Because it’s the starting point of everything. The thoughts you’ll have, the actions you’ll take, the decisions you’ll make and the person you’ll become.
Don’t you often feel that there was a guidebook for life — complete with preface, introduction, properly structured chapters and a step-wise plan that showed you exactly what to do in any situation you faced?
So that you’d always have a reference point, that would anchor you in the right direction in this sea of overwhelming information and emotion.
That’s exactly the reason why I brought up the topic of Belief.
Because it’s the preface for this guidebook of life.
Now, I am sure you’ve heard all the quotes.
“Believe and you can move mountains”, “Don’t stop believing”, “You have to believe in yourself”.
And I am also sure that you’ve rolled your eyes at them.
I get that because while they are great sentences that sound totally right, they don’t do much in terms of practically helping you out of a situation.
They don’t tell you “Well, right now, at this moment, do this and it’ll solve your problem.”
But hear me out. And this is important.
Think of belief as something that’ll kick-start a chain of thoughts. Because every thought you have is driven by some sort of fundamental belief.
And this chain of thoughts will kick-start something else — your decisions. Decisions, which will ultimately translate into actions.
And your actions will then determine if you succeed or fail in anything.
No, belief won’t give you an exact solution to your problem.
But it’ll trigger your mind to encourage and stimulate thoughts that’ll help you think about a way, a possibility, a means to solve your problem. It is Belief, that generates the power, skill, and energy needed to come up with a solution.
When you believe I-can-do-it, the how-to-do-it develops.
Are You Still Here? Cool. Try This Thought Experiment
Dear friend,
I don’t want you to get lost in the language or the abstractness of this idea. And that’s why I just want you to try this simple thought experiment.
Try and remember any event in your past when you failed or gave-up. Think really hard about it. Was there some element or version of, “Okay, I’ll give this a try, but I am not sure it’ll work” involved in it?
Maybe you can’t think of something right now. But I am sure you’ve seen this before in friends, family or colleagues. Something like, “To tell you the truth, I don’t think this will work” or “This is pointless. It’s not gonna work.”
Essentially, some version of Disbelief.
When the mind disbelieves or doubts, the mind attracts “reasons” to support the disbelief. Remember, how I told you that belief triggers a chain of thoughts. It’s the same with disbelief too.
That’s why every time there is — doubt, disbelief, the subconscious will to fail, the not really wanting to succeed — it’s responsible for failure.
Think doubt and fail.
Think victory and succeed.
Yo! Belief is Great and All, But Don’t Confuse It With This.
Dear Friend,
True enough, Belief is the thermostat that regulates what we achieve in life.
But do not make the common mistake of confusing Belief with Wishful Thinking.
No, you can’t wish your way out of a problem. Nor can you wish your way to success.
There is a BIG difference between a person who says, “I wish I could do this” and a person who says, “I strongly believe that I can do this.” And it’s not just semantics.
Because Wishful Thinking will never ever allow you to have the thoughts that show you “How-to-do-it”. By definition, your mind will see it and accept it as – a wish, a pipe dream, a false hope.
Here is another concrete example for you to put things in perspective.
The most essential element in our Space Research is the firm, unwavering belief that man can travel in space or that man can establish a colony on Mars. If it were just Wishful Thinking, our scientists would never have the courage, enthusiasm, and energy to make our space dreams a reality.
All That’s Great But What Can I do About This Belief Thing Right Now?
At this point, you must be wondering, “All this is fine. But how do I develop the Power of Belief?”
Here are three things that you need to keep in mind:
- Whenever you face a situation, challenge, problem in life — Think Success. Not Failure. It’s the belief that triggers thoughts, decisions, and actions. Hence, let the master belief, “I will succeed” dominate your thinking.
- Never sell yourself short. Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are. Even if you are not, it’s the “I am better than this” thinking that will drive you to actually figure out ways to get better.
- Don’t be afraid of Thinking Big. It doesn’t cost you anything. You might not have a lot of things in your control, but you do control your beliefs and consequently, your thoughts. Remember, the size of your success is determined by the size of your beliefs.
Dear Friend,
Your mind is a thought factory.
It’s a busy factory producing countless thoughts in a single day. And the Production depends on the raw materials you feed.
I’ll leave you with this final thought experiment.
Say this out loud, “Today is a lousy and a bad day.” Give your mind 5 minutes. And see what it comes up with.
Now, say this out loud.
“Today is a Fantastic and a Wonderful Day.” And see what your mind comes up with it.
Wasn’t There Some Mention of Winning Super Overs, Like a Million Years Ago?
No, I haven’t forgotten about that. And yes, it was a click-bait. Gotchya!
But, seriously, India’s super over win was the first thing that instantly came to my mind while reading this chapter on Belief.
More specifically, when I read this line below
“When you believe I-can-do-it, the how-to-do-it develops. It is Belief, that generates the power, skill, and energy needed to come up with a solution.”
Imagine what would have happened, if the Indian Team lost the belief that they can win from here in the last over by Mohammed Shami or by Shardul Thakur(really, you see the odds we had in this case!).
We would have definitely lost the game.
But there was no disbelief there, no wishful thinking.
Pure hardcore belief in the individual as well the team’s capability to win. And that’s why they create chances and they capitalize on rare opportunities.
Something to think about for all of us. I hope we take inspiration from this article and win those Super Overs that life throws in our way.
