Keys to success #9: Whether you believe you can, or believe you can't, you are correct!

The human mind is a powerful thing. More powerful than people understand.

It appears to me that whatever information our mind is fed, it will take that information and make it a reality somehow.

I have learned from talking to many people, that those who believed they could achieve their goals, focussed and went after them, were able to succeed in achieving them and proving themselves to be correct in their beliefs.

Conversely, those who believed they were unable to better themselves, and believed that were never going to be successful, were also correct!

Interesting eh?

Everyone from both ends of the spectrum and those in the middle were successful and achieved what they truly believed! It is just that they believed in totally different things.... some believed in their success, others in their mediocrity and some believed they would fail, and all were correct!

Maybe, this is why you are an average of your 5 closest friends? Their external influence affects how you think and percieve yourself.

Maybe that is why our parents were concerned about the company we kept when growing up? Bad external influences?

Let's face it, we all know that if we hang around bad crowds, we will get sucked into their bad habits, get dragged down by their bad influence and risk never reaching our true potential.

We can see that what we feed our minds, what or who we allow to influence our thinking, will also influence our outcomes in life.

In other words, if we feed our minds good information, positive thoughts and inputs, and develop good habits, then we will greatly improve our chances at believing we can achieve our desired successes.

Your mind will believe whatever input you feed it, and will then work to make that input a reality.

One of my favourite sayings is "what your mind can conceive, and believe, it can achieve".

Life is easier when you are successful and wealthy. However, that success and that wealth take effort and time, and unfortunately, not many people are willing to commit the time and effort in order to achieve these results.

As such, it isn't very crowded or competetive at the top.

Remember this: "Always go the extra mile, it's never crowded there".

Let me ellaborate...... people, myself included, are fundamentally lazy and like staying within their comfort zone.

The result is that is where the vast majority (over 90%) of people "live", creating mediocrity, and the average person we see today.

Imagine that! Around 90% of the population are mediocre (or worse) people with a mediocre (or worse) mentality. Do you really want to be a part of that?!

If you take this one step further, and consider that for every average (mediocre) job, a person is competing against 90% of the population - that's a lot of competition, and with that competition comes a lower pay acceptance to get the job because there are so many candidates to choose from.

This 90% of the population is relatively financially illiterate and knows little about investing, business, the way the economy works etc. Most believe that if they got a good education they would then get a good job and get paid well - and that is a fallacy.

Since 90% of the people believe the same thing, then everyone chases a degree, and everyone is still competing against the same number of people, for the same job, and with the same qualifications.

Once upon a time, a Degree, was enough to get you a "good job". So everyone chased a Degree. Then the game then changed, and you needed an Honours Degree for that "good job". So people chased the higher, Honours Degree. Now, the game has changed yet again and a good job requires a Masters Degree or even multiple degrees. So where will it stop? When will it be enough?

My guess is NEVER. While the masses continue to chase the same jobs, the requirements will just keep increasing, and people will continue looking for an "edge" or an advantage that will just keep elluding them.

The system isn't rigged this way, it's just the way it has turned out, and eventually the vast majority get disillusioned and give up - they accept mediocrity or worse.

The mediocre will be unable to achieve that "good job" to get "good money", and just cite phrases such as "you need money to make money", "the system isn't fair", "I'm just not cut out for success", "family is more important than success and money" blah, blah, blah.

Not once will they consider the possibility that there may be another way. That maybe, following what the masses do, just puts you amongst the masses.

Those of us who fight our natural lazy tendencies and are willing to push out of our comfort zone,s are the 5% -10% of the population that wants the success they believe they deserve.

We also value family, and believe family is more important than money, but we understand that money can give our family a better life, more choices and more opportunity.

We also believe (and know) that you don't need money to make money, what you need is commitment, perseverance, belief, and above all the guts to step out of the mentality of the mediocre and chase what you believe you deserve.

We too know that life isn't fair. Contrary to the movie where Forrest Gump says "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get", the reality is that life is a bully.

We all know how we must treat a bully. The bully may knock you down, but you have to get up and hit back. Every time that bully knocks you down, get up and hit back again.

However, few people will actually stand up to bullies.

I have always told my kids that life is a bully, and they should treat it as such.

Treat it like you would any bully and hit back. Eventually the bully (life) will give up trying to beat you because you are just too stubborn to stay down. the bully (life) will eventually stop fighting you and will seek easier targets.

Bullies always go for easy targets - the ones that don't hit back, the ones that stay down and accept the situation.

Life doesn't care about your feelings.

Life does not care about what you think is fair.

Life will give you whatever you demand and work for, but it will not give you a free ride.

Life will make a mediocre person of you if you let it - let's face it, if 90% of people are mediocre, then there is a lot of peer pressure to stay within that mediocre crowd. The mediocrity gang will always try to keep you from leaving the gang.

It is only the gutsiest, strongest and most determined people that will break free from the mediocrity of the masses and seek success and wealth.

The difference between every successful person I know and every non-successful person I know, is that the successful people never stopped working for it.

They never stopped believing in their ability.

They never gave up or cheated on their dream.

They NEVER followed the masses.

Think about that for a moment... to have a successful marriage means that you never stop working on the relationship, never stop believing in happiness, never give up or cheat on your spouse - it's no different. So if you believe you have the qualities to for a successful marriage, then you have the qualities to for a successful and wealthy life too - they are the same qualities!

To create a successful life:

• You need to accept and believe you have the qualities required - because you do!

• You need to drop the excuses and realise there are no failures, only setbacks that need to be overcome.

• You need to believe in yourself, back yourself and know that you are no different than me or any other successful person. It's all about self perception.

• If you believe you lack the knowledge to become successful, then go find the knowledge.

• If you believe you have a great idea but no funding, go find the funding. (Read about Colonel Sanders and KFC)

• If you believe that 20 attempts at making somthing happen is enough, think again. (Read about Thomas Edison's attempts and investing a light bulb).

• Do what you need to do to get where you want to be.

• If you believe I am more successful than you, you're correct. If you believe you are my equal, you're correct, and if you believe you will be wealthier than me, then go make it happen because you are correct again.

• Think carefully about what you want to believe, because it will become your reality.

• You may as well shoot for the stars! If you only manage to hit the moon, you've still done wonderfully well !