Henry Ford was convinced that belief in self, whether positive or negative, always showed results. So if you believe you are capable, it’s true for you. Likewise, if you believe you’re incapable, that’s true for you as well.
Ford spoke from experience. For his humble beginnings as an apprentice machinist, when he had nothing with him except his passion for mechanics, to successfully founding the Ford Motor Company, his life was a fine example of belief in self. When Ford was working on designing a gasoline-powered car, his friend, the great Thomas Edison was not convinced about it. But Ford believed in his idea and carried on until he succeeded. A century later, cars still run on gasoline.
It is easy to see how positive beliefs work for us: when we believe we can achieve a goal, we work diligently and do what it takes until it sees the light of day — like Ford did.
There are those who look for reasons why things won’t go their way. And there are others who are only concerned about how they’ll make it work, and they do. This is because self-doubt and self-belief are products of the same mind.
Before 1970, experts believed that a man could not lift more than 500 pounds. Then along came Russian Olympian Vasily Alexeev, who decided to break the 500 pounds barrier. Initially, he could not lift more than 499 pounds. Then one day, his trainers put 501.5 pounds on his par without his knowledge, which he lifted thinking it was 499.
Within a week of Vasily’s record-breaking lift, Serge Redding of Belgium and Ken Patera of USA also lifted more than 500 pounds.
So what was preventing these great weight lifters from crossing the 500-pound mark before 1970? It was their self-limiting belief. Once a new belief replaced the old one, there was no doubt left in their minds about their ability. William Shakespeare said: “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”
Shakespeare uses the word ‘traitors’ to describe our doubts. He knew that despite being created by our own mind, our doubts cripple us, immobilize us and prevent us from reaching our potential. And just as a positive belief works in our favour, doubt — a negative belief — works against us. When you don’t have faith in your abilities, you have little motivation to accomplish your goals. Consequently, you end up putting little, if any, effort towards making them a reality — and your goals never materialize.
Ford and Shakespeare lived a few hundred years apart. Yet, both have the same powerful lesson for us: whether positive or negative, our beliefs about ourselves shape our destiny.
Writer – Manoj Khatri Source – SpeakingTree.in
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