Lies, Damn Lies and . . . beliefs!

Lets look at some of the similarities between beliefs in sport and beliefs in business...

  • During his career Mohammad Ali predicted the outcome of 21 of his fights.
    He was correct on no less than 17 occasions
  • When asked how he could be so accurate at spot kicking, Johnny Wilkinson said
    "I decide where it is going (the ball) and put it there; end of story."
  • Mathew Pinsent was asked how he and his crew set their goals to win an Olympic medal.
    He said the process took just three seconds. They would sit down four years before the Olympics and say "We are going to win the gold medal" and then they went away and did it.

What do all three of these examples have in common? When they made the statements, they were all telling lies! They had absolutely no proof that their predictions or bold statements would come to fruition...BUT...their level of self-belief was such that they knew they would be correct.

Now, I know that some of you are reading this and thinking "But Ali got it wrong four times and Johnny Wilkinson doesn't score every goal or penalty he takes." Well, you are absolutely right...BUT...do you know HOW they could get their predictions right every time? Easy...just reverse the prediction and announce they will be beaten or they will miss their targets! You see,

positive predictions sometimes work
but negative predictions invariably always work!

So what are your beliefs telling you about your business?

Are you confident of success like our three examples or are you hedging your predictions by using phrases like "We might get the order" or one that never fails to amuse me when I hear it "Don't count your chickens before they hatch!" Go ahead...count them...decide how many chickens you will have...and then protect those eggs with your life!

Be aware, though, that believing you will be successful is not enough. Ali used to say that his fights were won in the gym. Johnny says that his goals are scored on the training pitch and Mathew won his gold medals by training every day for four years. The race, the kick and the fight were the end product of an enormous amount of preparation and training before the big moment. You see positive thinking and empowering beliefs are similar in that they are both rubbish. In fact I would go as far as to say that they are a waste of time...without positive or empowering action to make them a reality.

Here are a couple of questions for you.

  • What do you believe that you can achieve in the next six months?
    I don't mean think you can achieve, ok, I mean really believe that you can achieve.
  • What positive and empowering action do you need to take
    to give yourself the greatest chance of success?

So, when are you going to start to take the action that you have decided you need to take to achieve your beliefs?

How about RIGHT NOW!?!?!