• That won’t work
• You can’t do that
• Dumb idea
• Who would use that

Those are the naysayers.  Unfortunately, those types of comments often come from family or friends you have shared your ideas with.  It’s reasonable to assume that most great entrepreneurs also heard the words of naysayers: Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Aaron Patzer, Sara Blakely and others.

The difference between those people and the entrepreneurs that are still “thinking” about starting a business is they believed in themselves and they turned their belief into action.

The “I Can’t” List

If you are frustrated with lack of progress on a particular item and feel as though you are the only one that believes in it, develop an “I Can’t” list.  Write down all the things you think or someone has told you, you can’t accomplish:

• I can’t start a business
• I can’t become successful
• I can’t be an eloquent, motivating speaker
• I can’t develop passive income streams
• Etc.

Once your “I Can’t” list is complete, burn it, tear it, crumble it or simply rip it up and throw it out.  You can do those things.  As Napoleon Hill put it: “whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”

Eliminate “I Can’t” From Your Vocabulary

The next time someone tells you, you can’t accomplish something, ignore them.

The next time you think you can’t do it, do it anyways.

If you believe in yourself, you can achieve it.  Eliminate “I can’t” from your vocabulary.

photo credit: Davide Rusconi

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Doctors in Texas studying the effect of arthroscopic knee surgery, assigned patients with sore, worn-out knees to one of three surgical procedures: scraping out the knee-joint, washing out the joint, or doing nothing.

During the “nothing” operation, doctors anesthetized the patient, made three incisions in the knee as if to insert their surgical instruments, and then pretended to operate.  Two years after surgery, patients who underwent the pretend surgery reported the same amount of relief from pain and swelling as those who had received the actual treatments.  The brain “expected” the surgery to work and it did.

Overtime, the brain comes to expect outcomes based on the conditions of the situation.  This is apparent in the above story as well as with other similar test in the medical field, like placebo pills.  That is why it is important to have positive expectations for the events of your life.  If you believe it’s possible, your brain will expect you to achieve that outcome.

What are you holding off on because you don’t believe it’s possible?  How would changing your frame of mind change your motivation towards pursuing that opportunity?  Is there harm in believing it is possible?

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The second part to Success Principle 3 is determining your vision. We determined what we wanted earlier with the “I want” lists; clarifying your vision expands on that with detailed descriptions of what the destination looks like.  There are seven categories to use to help clarify your vision:

• work and career
• finances
• recreation and free time
• health and fitness
• relationships
• personal goals and
• contributions to the larger community

What’s the best way to document these?  I set aside an hour several days in a row and visualized where I was going and what I wanted my life to end up looking like.  I took notes, capturing the details of my vision.  I’ve written a narrative that describes in detail my vision for the seven categories.  It would be a long a boring post for me to re-write those visions here, so I won’t do that – at least not all at once.  Canfield suggests sharing your vision however.  He writes:

You might be afraid that your friend will think your vision is too outlandsih, impossible to achieve, too idealistic, or materialistic. Almost all people have these thoughts when they think about sharing their vision. But the truth is, most people deep down in their hearts, want the very same things you want. Everyone wants financial abundance, a comfortable home, meaningful work they enjoy, good health, time to do things they love, nurturing relationships with their family and friends, and an opportunity to make a difference in the world. But too few of us readily admit it.

Over the weekend I will add my vision for the seven categories on this website.  They may come across as materialistic, idealistic, or something else.  It may not align with your life’s vision whatsoever.  As irrelevant as it may seem to you, it’s a vision, something to inspire you to write your vision for your life.

Once your vision is complete – review it everyday.  Keep it active in your conscious and subconscious mind.  Help it manifest.  How will you know when you have arrived if you don’t know where you are going?

Photo Credit: mind_scratch
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