Success Requires Faith
Everything I've written about mindset has led up to this one truth:
Success requires faith.
It's an extension - or cousin, if you will - of this other quote from earlier, that success is 80% mindset and only 20% skills and strategy.
In this chapter, we'll look at what faith is, why it's required, and how to gain more faith as you move forward in building a six-figure creative business.
Faith is Belief + Action
This is the best definition I've been able to come up with to describe faith.
There are many scriptural definitions that could also work, but for those that didn't grow up studying scriptures, the leap may be too great to use those definitions here.
(Though, if you want a deep dive on faith, you can read this chapter in a book of scripture called The Book of Mormon)
Faith, in the scriptures, is what leads to miracles. There is immense power in faith.
What we want to do is channel that faith into action that benefits our clients and customers as well as our business.
Replace your limiting beliefs with empowering beliefs
We need to look deeper at the two parts of that definition of faith.
Belief is a feeling of certainty or confidence about something, an acceptance that something is true.
Beliefs, unlike facts, don't need to have any tangible evidence or proof in order to be held.
You can believe in ghosts, or aliens, or conspiracy theories, or God, or any number of things.
But, for our purposes, we need to look at the beliefs that you hold about yourself and your business.
Sitting here now, reading this book, do you believe that you will succeed?
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your level of certainty or confidence?
Until you are at an 8 or above in your belief, your disbelief in yourself is going to be a major obstacle.
Similar to how you learned how to ride a bike, at some point, you had to believe that the weird combination of balance and momentum would prevent you from falling over, so you kept trying and trying until you succeeded.
But until you had that belief, you would fall and feel frustrated or stuck.
There is no evidence at the start that your business is going to work. There is no guarantee. In fact, most businesses fail.
But if you believe that your business is like most, then you're not only going to have to work hard to succeed, but you'll have to work against your own limiting beliefs.
You have to give them up and let them go. (Or, if you prefer a more intense visual, burn them to the ground!)
You're a smart person, as evidenced by the fact that you are reading this book.
And as we've proven in previous chapters, you can change your focus, your language, and your emotion in a moment.
So why would you continue on believing that you aren't going to succeed?
Are you waiting for someone else to have that belief for you? Because that's not going to happen. (When has it ever?)
Are you waiting for some proof or evidence that you are going to succeed? Because that doesn't exist either.
Every day of your business is going to take faith that comes from the beliefs that you will succeed despite all odds, and that you are the person to lead this business to that success.
What beliefs would help you do better work every day, would help you feel more confident about your work and would motivate you to keep pushing forward?
Why not switch out the limiting beliefs for those awesome beliefs?
You have about as much evidence or proof for either one, so why not choose beliefs that will help you succeed?
That's literally all it takes.
Try it now. Think of the most limiting belief you have.
Generally, it starts with "I can't because..."
When you're at your parents' or in-law's house, and they ask how things are going, and you say, "well, it's going ok, but I can't X because...", that's the belief I want you to think about.
Now, ask yourself: is that really true?
Then, if you still believe that it is, ask this follow-up: what evidence do you have to support it?
And if you can't find any evidence, then why would you continue to believe that limiting belief?
Now you can finally release yourself from being held back by that belief and replace that thought with a new, empowering belief.
Try it now! Take one of the new beliefs that would help motivate and inspire you and repeat it aloud, write it down, repeat it multiple times a day until it becomes your new default answer.
"My business is going great because [new belief]!"
Doesn't that feel so much better?
Beliefs without action will get you nowhere
Now that we have these empowering beliefs, we need to turn them into action.
Derek Sivers, a man whose books have mentored me in ways that I will never be able to thank him enough, wrote an incredible blog post about this topic, which you should read, called Ideas are just a multiplier of execution.
In it, he shows that even the best ideas (or beliefs) matched with weak are no execution have nothing on a weak idea matched with brilliant execution.
The best combination, however, is to pair the most empowering beliefs with brilliant execution which will inevitably succeed.
The reason I add inevitably is that if you choose to be resourceful, determined, and never give up, that in and of itself is a success.
"One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat"
~ Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich
99% of people either never try (lack of action) or give up at the first sign of defeat (lack of empowering beliefs).
That's why these two together are so important.
Belief + action = faith
And faith is what is required to succeed.
Do this today - change your beliefs to empowering ones, and commit to taking action no matter what. Keep going, make progress every day on your goals and your business, and you will inevitably succeed.
Start each day with faith - use your morning routine to reinforce those beliefs and give you the momentum to take action every day, and you'll see how dramatic an impact it makes on your progress and your growth.
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