Keys to Success - Part I
Over the next month, I’ll be posting about the keys to success I discuss in my book, Faith Over Fear. Those keys are Faith, Purpose, Discipline, and Mindset. These are the tools I’ve discovered throughout my life and career that make achieving success inevitable. This week I’ll be diving into faith.
What do I mean by faith? At the bare minimum, this means having faith in yourself and your abilities. It can also mean having faith in the outcome of what you are charging towards or having faith in something greater than yourself. By no means am I prescribing any specific religion or any religion at all. Think of this as me simply encouraging you to open your mind and your heart to believing in yourself as well as something bigger, whatever that may be for you.
Why is faith so important? For starters, without faith in yourself, dealing with the challenges and obstacles that arise on every success path will almost certainly guarantee failure. How can you muster up the strength to overcome when you don’t believe you can? Second, having faith in something outside of yourself - be it God, the Universe, Humanity, what have you - makes it a lot easier to tap into the second key (Purpose).
Let’s start with inner faith. If you have been in a cycle of giving up when the going gets tough or feel like you simply can’t overcome the obstacles that pop up every time you are chasing after a goal, you are likely struggling with faith. When you lack faith or belief in yourself, maintaining self-confidence is impossible. This is where identifying your inner dialogue is critical.
How do you speak to yourself? What are the thoughts that run through your head when you feel overwhelmed or are doubting your abilities? Whether you’ve been paying attention to these thoughts or are going to start after reading this (please do), it is quite likely you will notice how negative they are. Would you let someone else speak to you that way? I sure hope not.
To prevent your mind (whether conscious or subconscious) from keeping you down, you have to identify those negative thoughts that erode your inner faith and self-confidence. Then you have to replace or flip them. Let’s say the thought is something along the lines of not being worthy of whatever you are seeking. Flip it by thinking or even saying out loud “I am worthy”. It may feel silly or out there at first, but eventually you can retrain your subconscious to be more positive, which is key to developing both faith and self-confidence.
As far as the greater faith I mentioned, everyone has their own journey with that if and when they are open to it. My suggestion is to be inquisitive. Think about what you currently do and don’t believe in. Consider exploring both. Be open to changing your mind or finding a new path. If that path is positive and leaves you with a sense of peace, comfort, and greater faith in yourself, then my opinion is that it’s a great path to take.
Now go and believe in yourself my fellow goal-getters! You’ve got this! And if I can help, just reach out.