Many great inventors were ridiculed by the status quo because of their liberal beliefs. His family, of all people, took Marconi, a great inventor of his time, to a psychiatric hospital. Here, he was thoroughly examined. The reason? He announced to the world he believed he could send the human voice through the air, via a system of transmitters and receivers, without wire! They said he was crazy. Of course, this method of communication is a common occurrence today. Even colour pictures are now sent through the air into outer space where they are beamed back to earth via satellites.
As recently as 1950, the Royal Astronomer of Great Britain was asked about the possibility of space travel, to which he replied, "No hope whatsoever, it's an impossibility." When asked whether or not men would ever walk on the surface of the moon, he replied, "Don't you realise a ship would have to accelerate to the speed of seven miles a second just to break out of the earth's gravitational pull? That's impossible!" Notwithstanding, "All things are possible to those who believe!"
As we have discovered, human beings charged with empowering beliefs can accomplish virtually anything, including things others are certain are impossible. This is because belief fortified unlocks the door to expectancy - the birthplace of miracles. In fact, as belief bolsters and evolves into a conviction, it can become strong enough to move a mountain.
Here's how belief works:
Your brain (conscious thoughts) can be compared to the captain of a ship, while your nervous system is like the chief engineer of the same ship who resides down below the waterline. Isn't it true, when the captain of a ship signals the chief engineer in the engine room, "All ahead two-thirds", the chief engineer doesn't question the command by saying, "I think we should go ahead at one-third speed"? While he controls the throttles of those massive engines, he relies solely upon the orders of the captain up on the bridge. So he affirms the command, "Aye, aye, Captain; all ahead two-thirds!" It's the same thing with your mind. First your brain decides, then your nervous system provides. It will not even question the commands it's given; it merely acts according to them.
What sort of commands are you habitually sending to the chief engineer of your ship? "I always screw things up!" "I'll never succeed in my own business." "I'm too dumb." "It's too hard to change when you're my age." "I'm too young, too shy, too bold, too bald, too fat, too skinny, too ugly, too pretty - I could never do it!" How about such nonsensical garbage as, "I am ruined, nobody cares about me", or "I am worthless"?
Consider the ramifications of these direct commands people unwittingly deliver to their inner engineers: "Things never go well for me." "I'm a woman and they never listen to a woman." "My childhood really screwed me up and you can't just walk away from something like that." "I'm nobody." "I'll never get that raise." "I'm just unlucky."
I have a question for you: What sort of beliefs do you currently hold regarding your ability to achieve each of the goals you've just set?
If I could, I would look you square in the eye and tell you right now, "If you don't believe you will achieve them then guess what? You won't!" Why? Simply because your limiting beliefs will sap the energy required to achieve them. If you hold the belief, "I can't quit smoking", or "I can't lose weight", by continuing to confess these self-talk statements, there is no doubt you will find them to be quite correct. Success doesn't come in "cant's" it come in "cans"!
"Whether you believe that you can or whether you believe you can't, you're right!"
- Henry Ford
Simply put, a belief is an emotional state of certainty that brings with it a sense of knowing. My primary point is your beliefs will need to support you if you are going to achieve each of the goals you have set.
Affirmations
To capitalize on the power of belief, create further extensions of your goals. To create powerful affirmations that work, I recommend the following formula: Remodel your goals by writing them in the first person, present tense, as if they have already been achieved.
Using the personal pronoun, "I", restructure them. For example, if the goal reads "I want to weigh 62 kilograms", re-script it to read "I weigh 62 kilograms". Other examples include: "I have $20 000 in the bank" and "I am enjoying Disneyland with my children". Also, "I enjoy arriving on time for appointments."
"Faith calls the things that are not as though they are."
- Romans 4:17
By scripting and affirming affirmations that suggest your goals have already been achieved, you will create a cognitive dissonance. Simply put, your nervous system cannot deal with the dissonance, or the conflict that occurs with two diametrically opposed self-talk statements. For example, two conflicting self-talk statements such as "I weigh 102 kilograms and am fat" and "I weigh 82 kilograms and am fit", when repeated with the same emotional intensity, will cancel each other out (double-mindedness produces nothing). When through repetition and emotional intensity, however, the affirmation "I weigh 82 kilograms and am fit" becomes the stronger of the two simultaneous realities, your nervous system will accept this as truth and will displace the previous. At this point, this present tense statement will alert your chief engineer to cut the thrashers in the fat department.
Script your smart goals to suggest you are already this person and that you have already achieved each of your desired outcomes.