This post was inspired by another I read this morning by Thom Singer on his blog "Some Assembly Required". Thom was kind enough to highlight Quixoting in his post (Thanks Thom!). But, more importantly, his larger message is one that resonates well here.
His message?
Believe You Can Accomplish Great Things In Life.
I absolutely love that because your ability to make it through the difficulties of life relies upon a confidence built up at some other point in your history. Each victory. Each successful struggle (and often the unsuccessful ones) build character and strength that can be tapped for the rest of your life.
As evidence of that, check out the picture above. Do you recognize the world class athlete pictured above? Probably not, because he's not famous yet.
To save you the suspense, it's me - resting after my January 2007 Orange County Marathon. Don't see the connection? Well, here it is simply.
Do something great in your personal life and you build a general confidence that you can do anything. I trained my tail off for that marathon. I spent hundreds of hours training for the marathon with very few people watching. Sadly, even fewer watched on race day (where was ESPN?).
The point is that I, along with thousands of others that day, set out to do something big. And the large majority of us made it.
So?
On the days when I wonder whether I can do something new in life. For example, start a successful blog, write a book, build an idea website or anything else. I consciously or unconsciously go to the place in my mind that quietly remembers what it felt like the day I crossed the tape with my family cheering me on. It's like an auto-reminder that prevents doubt from seeping into my active thinking.
It manifests into a basic thought:
Yeah, I can do that.
So, if Thom's phrase above isn't an automatic for you. If your brain isn't wired for as much confidence as you would like, go out and do something big in another part of your life.
Everyone needs a great challenge. And the rewards of being in the game are huge . . .
Comments