The Power of Belief!

            You’ve probably heard Henry Ford’s famous observation about belief:  Ford said, and I quote, “If you think you CAN ... or if you think you CAN’T ... you’re right!”

            I love that quote because it sums up the essence of belief.  If you think you can do something, well ... you’re right.  YOU CAN!  But if you think you CAN’T DO THAT VERY SAME THING, guess what?  You can’t! 

            Amazing, isn’t it that more often than not, people will succeed not on the basis of their merits, but on the basis of their belief?

            I’ve always been fascinated by people with an unshakable belief in what they’re doing.  Time and again throughout history, people with a strong belief in themselves and their mission have accomplished amazing feats, despite what the masses of people — and often even the experts — said to the contrary!  Here are four legendary figures who illustrate just what I mean. 

Vincent van Gogh

            Vincent van Gogh sold only two paintings while he was alive — and both of those were to his brother!  Despite savage criticism from fellow artists who said his artistic technique was primitive, van Gogh believed in his talent and his vision.  Ironically, today the hundreds of colorful, vibrant paintings he couldn’t even give away in his lifetime are worth nearly a billion dollars!

Fred Astaire

            At Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the testing director at MGM Studios wrote a short memo to the studio head indicating that Astaire didn’t have what it takes to succeed in motion pictures.  Here’s what the memo said:

            “Can’t act.  Can’t sing.  Can dance a little.” 

            Astaire went on to star in scores of classic song-and-dance movies, and American audiences are forever indebted to Fred Astaire for believing in himself and pursuing his dream.

Margaret Mitchell

            Margaret Mitchell published only one book in her lifetime ... but oh, what a book it was!  Gone with the Wind won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 and became perhaps the most-watched movie in history. 

            What most people don’t know is that Gone with the Wind was turned down by 32 publishers!  Although a very shy, private person, Mrs. Mitchell believed so strongly in her book that she kept knocking on doors until a publisher finally saw what the other 32 publishers missed!

Albert Einstein

            Albert Einstein was such a late bloomer that his teachers thought he was mentally retarded!  Einstein didn’t speak until he was four years old, and couldn’t read until he was seven.  One teacher described him as “mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.”  He was such a lackluster student that he was expelled from one college and refused admission to another!

            Fortunately, Einstein believed more strongly in his own abilities than in all the negative assessments from some of his teachers.  Einstein, of course, developed into one of the great thinkers of the 20th century, and his Theory of Relativity is so intellectually challenging that only a handful of people living today can fully comprehend it!

            When I hear stories like these where people triumphed because they believed in themselves, I always think of Eleanor Roosevelt’s observation that “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”  Certainly, the people in these examples didn’t cave in at the first negative comments from short-sighted critics.  If they had, the world would be a much poorer place.  They “kept on keeping on” because they believed in themselves!

            The great thing about belief is that you don’t have to have the smarts of an Einstein or the talent of Fred Astaire to enjoy the tremendous benefits!  Where is it written that only legends have a lock on the power of belief?  Folks, I’m here to tell you that the simple principle of belief can work wonders for YOU, INC., too!  All you have to do is believe! 

I-Believe-It Box

            Dr. Robert Schuller, in his best-selling book Power Thoughts, talks about a successful executive who keeps an “I-Believe-It” Box on his office desk.  Anytime the executive comes across a project that just won’t move forward — like a stalled sales contract or a difficult proposal — he just tosses it into the I-Believe-It Box, closes the lid and lets it sit there for a couple of days.

            Two days or two weeks after tossing the item into the box, the executive takes a new look at it.  In the executive’s own words, here is how the belief box works:

            “Somehow, when I return to the item a few days later, I see something I didn’t see before.  I think of a new way to attack the problem.  I jot it down, and if it still doesn’t move where I want it to, back in the box it goes.  Amazingly, it always works!  Since I’ve been using the I-Believe-It Box, I haven’t lost one sale, one project or one proposal!”

            This is a great story because it documents the power of belief!  Always remember: “What the mind can conceive ... and the heart can BELIEVE ... you can achieve.”  The I-Believe-It Box is just one person’s way of reminding himself on a regular basis the awesome power inherent in the principle of belief.

The Bible’s Definition of Belief

            Everybody is familiar with the concept of belief, but if pressed to define it, we’d probably struggle a bit.  The best definition of belief I know is the same as the Bible’s definition of faith:  The Book of Hebrews defines faith — or belief — in these words: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for ... the evidence of things not seen.” 

            In other words, you don’t have to “see it to believe it,” as the old saying goes.  When you TRULY believe in something, your belief is evidence enough.  You see the vision in your mind so clearly that you know it’s just a matter of time before it becomes a reality.  That’s what belief is all about.

The Power of the Placebo Effect

            In fact, belief is so powerful; it can actually create an outcome! The medical phenomenon of the placebo effect is the perfect example.  A placebo is a harmless, unmedicated pill used in controlled tests to determine whether or not an experimental medicine works against a specific disease. 

            One group of patients receives doses of the drug being tested.  The other group receives the placebo.  Because both groups believe they are receiving medicine that will cure their illness, the condition of some of the patients who have taken the placebo starts improving. 

            In other words, the placebo effect occurs when a patient believes in a doctor, treatment or medicine so completely that the mind tells the body to heal itself! 

Most doctors will tell you that placebos work for about 35 percent of the patients.  But a recent review of 15 years of medical articles indicates that up to 70 percent of patients in some studies said they had received significant relief from placebos!  Amazing, isn’t it, that people can literally cure themselves of illnesses just through the power of belief!

            In his classic book, The Power of Positive Thinking, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale had this to say about belief: “Change your mental habits into BELIEF instead of DISBELIEF.  In so doing, you bring everything into the realm of possibility.” 

The Power of Positive Thinking

            Dr. Peale knew firsthand what he was talking about, for his own life served as living proof that positive thinking can work wonders.  Peale lived to the ripe old age of 95 ... and up until the age of 93, he was delivering more than 100 speeches a year to audiences around the country. 

            For 54 years he hosted a weekly radio program, and he authored 46 books and delivered a sermon every Sunday for more than 50 years.  Ironically, as a young man Peale suffered from what he called “the worst inferiority complex of all,” and he originally developed his positive thinking philosophy to help himself!

            Evidently, millions of people from all over the world are eager to learn about Dr. Peale’s empowering I CAN message because his book, The Power of Positive Thinking, has sold more than 20 million copies in 41 languages since it was first published in 1952!  My greatest wish is that the rest of the world’s four billion-plus people could hear Dr. Peale’s inspiring message about approaching life with an I CAN attitude, instead of an I CAN’T attitude!

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

            Unfortunately, the opposite happens when people think negative thoughts ... when they take an I CAN’T approach to life.  Recent scientific research proves that negative beliefs can, in fact, cause negative consequences!  For instance, researchers in England reported that the risk of being involved in an automobile accident went up as much as 52 percent on Friday the 13th!  The scientists proved what I’ve been saying all along — that beliefs can be so strong  they become self-fulfilling!

I Can vs. I Can’t

            Have you noticed there’s a lot more I CAN’T thinking (I prefer to call it “stinkin’ thinkin’”) going on than I CAN thinking?  Certainly there are a lot more negative stories on TV and in the newspapers than positive ones.  I don’t pretend to know all the reasons people are attracted to negativity.  Maybe it’s human nature.  Maybe it’s the fact we hear the word NO about seven times more often than we hear the word YES. 

            All I know is, there are a lot more pessimistic people in this world than optimistic people.  There are a lot more people who believe they CAN’T do something than people who believe they CAN.  And that, my friends, is unacceptable!

            So how do we go about taking Dr. Peale’s advice and “Change your mental habits into belief, instead of disbelief?”  The answer is, we start with ourselves ... we start by working on the belief system of YOU, INC., instead of blaming all of our woes on THEY, INC.  We start by getting I CAN’T thinking out of our lives and replacing it with I CAN thinking!  And there’s no better time to replace I CAN’T thinking with positive thinking than today ... right now ... right this moment!

A Funeral for I Can’t

My favorite story about replacing I CAN’T thinking with I CAN thinking comes from the book Teacher Talk by Chick Moorman.  The story concerns a fourth grade teacher named Donna who devised a creative way for her students to stop thinking in terms of I CAN’T and start thinking in terms of I CAN.

            One morning early in the school year, Donna asked her class of 31 students to take out a clean sheet of paper and write the words I CAN’T in big capital letters at the very top of the page.  Then she asked the students to make a list of all the things they couldn’t do.  Here’s what some of them wrote:

            “I can’t do 10 push-ups.”

            “I can’t eat only one cookie.”

            “I can’t do long division with more than three numerals.”

            “I can’t get Debbie to like me.”

            While the students labored away on their lists, the teacher was busy making her own list, such as:

            “I can’t get Alan to use his words instead of his fists.”

            “I can’t get John’s mother to come in for a teacher conference.”

            When the lists were completed, Donna asked the students to fold them in half and drop them in the empty shoe box on her desk.  Once all the papers were collected, Donna put the lid on the box, tucked it under her arm, and instructed the students to follow her out the door.  On the way down the hall, Donna stopped at the custodian’s room and grabbed a shovel, and then led her students out the door and onto the playground.

            Donna marched the students to the farthest corner of the playground.  Turning toward them with a solemn expression, Donna announced, “Children, we are gathered here today for a very serious occasion.  We are going to bury I CAN’T.” 

            She then proceeded to dig a hole in the ground.  The digging took 10 minutes because all of the kids wanted to have a turn.  By the time each child had dug out a shovel-full of dirt, the hole was three feet deep.  Donna gently placed the box of I CAN’Ts into the bottom of the freshly dug grave. 

A Eulogy for I Can’t

            Then she turned to her students and asked them to form a circle around the grave, join hands and bow their heads.  Here is the unforgettable eulogy Donna delivered:

            “Friends, we gather today to honor the memory of I CAN’T.  While he was with us on earth, he touched the lives of everyone ... some, more than others.  His name, unfortunately, has been spoken in every public building — schools, city halls, state capitols and, yes, even our White House.

            “Today we have provided I CAN’T with a final resting place.  He is survived by his brothers and sisters — I CAN ... I WILL ... and I’M GOING TO RIGHT AWAY.  They are not as well known as their famous relative ... and are not as strong and powerful yet.  Perhaps someday, with your help, they will make an even bigger mark on the world.

            “May I CAN’T rest in peace ... and may everyone present pick up their lives and move forward in his absence.  Amen.”

            Then Donna and her students filled in the fresh grave before returning to the classroom, where they celebrated the passing of I CAN’T.  As part of the celebration, Donna cut out a large tombstone from butcher paper and wrote in big, black letters these words:

I CAN’T

MAY HE REST IN PEACE

MARCH 28, 1980

            This paper tombstone hung in Donna’s classroom for the rest of the year.  Whenever one of her students forgot and said “I CAN’T,” Donna would point to the tombstone.  More often than not, the student would smile and rephrase the statement.

            Now I ask you, isn’t that a delightful story?  You know, I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting the teacher in this story, but I guarantee you, I’d enroll my children in her class in a heartbeat if she were teaching at the local elementary school!

            Just think how much people could accomplish if they’d hold a mental funeral for all their I CAN’Ts!  I’m telling you, if that happened, you’d see a dramatic increase in the stock of every YOU, INC. in the world!!