The Principles of Success & Personal Awareness: Here's Why You've Gotta Have Faith Career Entrepreneurs

As a coach on the principles of success and personal awareness, I am often asked what the secret to success really is. Is it hard work? Is it persistence? Is it talent? Well, yes ... and no. All of those things are part of the success recipe, but the most important ingredient, the part that makes or breaks your success in any area of your life, is faith.

If you do not have unwavering faith in yourself, you will never succeed – at least not to the level to which you aspire. You might get better at things, make a little more money, run a little faster or lose a little more weight, but you will never hit that mark you truly desire without the belief that you can do it.

Whenever I have failed to reach the level of success that I desired, I take a look back and ask the question: Did you believe? And, if I am being truly honest with myself, the answer is usually: No.

What does it mean to believe? What does it mean to know something so well and so deeply that no outside influence or opinion can make you feel any differently? Faith is the most powerful concept behind your success because when you believe, your self-image changes into a picture of that person you want to become. And then, you become that new person. You succeed.

Belief is a hard idea to really get one’s arms around. So, to help you out on this one, I put together three ways to help you believe in yourself and in your success:

• Fake It ‘Til You Shake It: If at first you really can’t believe that you are capable of achieving your desired goal, what do you do until you raise yourself to the level of belief? Fake it ‘til you shake it, baby! Fake your behavior until you are able to shake that old image of yourself completely. Sometimes, the idea of succeeding at something seems insurmountable. You need to start off by gaining a little confidence. So, start acting like who and what you want to become until the day comes when you believe enough of yourself to trust that it is truth. What does success look like to you? Answer that question and then pretend to be successful. Forward movement is movement regardless of how slowly you are going. Try faking it for a while. It will at least get you moving. But here is the catch, you have to do the work in the next two tips in order for belief to take hold. Because faking it alone will eventually fail you, leaving you like four flat tires will leave a car stranded on the side of the road.

• Mirror Work: Belief means that you know something – you know it down to your core. And your knowing is based upon your thinking. Change your thinking, and over time, you will change your belief. A great way to start shifting your thinking is through mirror work and affirmations. Take some time and write out a list of affirmations about what you want to believe about yourself – about your body, about your finances, about your career, about your success, etc. These affirmations can be anything you want and aspire toward. But everything must be very positive and phrased in the present tense. Remember, these are statements about things you want to start believing about yourself, that you likely don’t believe presently. Start each affirmation with “I am.” I am healthy. I am attractive. I am strong. I am resourceful. I am a leader. I am abundant. Etc., etc. Then, take your list of affirmations over to your mirror and say the affirmations out loud while you look yourself in the eye and smile. Do this every day and you will begin to see changes in yourself that indicate your belief is also changing.

• Visualize: Another way to shift your thinking, and in turn, your belief is through visualization. Start getting a real clear picture in your mind about what you want your life and your success to look like. In other words, if you believed that you could have anything you wanted, what would that look like to you? Make these images really detailed and elaborate. Then all you have to do is sit and let those images play out on the movie projector of your mind. Visualize yourself being that person you want to become. How do you dress, where do you hang out, what do you do on a daily basis? Keep these pictures in the forefront of your mind as often as you can. Revisit them daily.

When you can see yourself doing something in your mind then you will begin to believe you can do it in your heart. And that is the definition of faith.

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