What’s the hardest thing for most people to believe about themselves? It’s this – That really good things can happen to them.
Sounds a little absurd doesn’t it? Yet, many people go thru life in total disbelief that good fortune can come their way. In fact, some people even indulge themselves in this disbelief over and over, as if it were some form of security blanket. A blanket of denial.
They watch other people become successful but convince themselves that deep down, they’ll never win.
They see other people taking the trips that they want to take, living in the house they want and associating with the people they admire — and despite knowing that anything is possible — they don’t think any of this is possible for them.
Why is this?
It’s because they’ve been programmed to accept that success is not possible for them. I know what you may be thinking – “did he just say they are programmed?”
Yes, I did.
From an early age, the people around us, and to some extent our environment, tell us where our boundaries are. What we can do and what we can’t. The limits of what we can become. This is done by something I call NO programming.
It’s estimated that we hear over 60,000 NO’s within the first ten years of our life. No. No. No. Over and over and over again. Make no mistake about it, this “programming” establishes the limits of what we can accomplish. It establishes what’s possible and also what’s inevitable.
That is, until or unless, you decide to push past these artificial limits.
Unfortunately most people can’t and they give up. They accept what they’ve been told about how their life will unfold and they leave their dreams unrealized. They join the mediocre majority and crawl thru life.
But some people do break free. They reject what they’ve been taught is impossible. They bust thru the barriers in their minds and they create a new normal for themselves.
Like this guy.
How do they do it?
Simple. They do it by taking everything that was on the outside of their circle of possibility and they drag it back into the inside of the circle.
Every dream that they once had as a child…
Every hope for success…
Every wish for a better life…
They pulled back into the inside of the circle of possibility.
Why is this important?
Because when something is outside your circle of possibility, you can’t see it. Literally you can’t see it. And let me tell you this about success – you will never accomplish anything you can’t first see yourself accomplishing. Never.
As James Allen said, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”
Where do your thoughts take you? Do they take you right up to the edge of your circle of possibility, but no further? Or are you willing to go past the boundary?
From the time you were born, you’ve received both positive and negative messages from your surroundings. All those messages, indelibly programmed into your subconscious to create what you believe you can do. They became the filters through which you have created your current reality.
I know this all too well. You see, the messages from my early surroundings were of poverty and lack.
And that would have been my reality, if I would have let it.
But I didn’t. I broke free. And you can too.
How?
By expanding your circle of possibility. And here’s an exercise to do just that:
Close your eyes and imagine this scenario – What would your life look like if you were guaranteed that you would not fail? What would you go after? Anything that you want, you could have. All of its possible. Think like a child here on Christmas morning. Anything. Write down at least ten things that you would most want in your life. Be absolutely creative here and don’t limit yourself to present circumstances.
Once you’ve made your list, draw a big circle around it. At the top, label it “What’s Possible For Me, If I Do The Necessary Work”. This circle. That list. This is your new reality.
But know this – Being determined to break out of your limits doesn’t just happen out of nowhere. It comes from a strength of character that you build to succeed. You must harness the personal power that allows you to become the successful, self-empowered person you are intended to be. The type of person that creates his own breakthroughs, that allows you to move beyond your fears and limiting beliefs, turning your dreams into reality.
You become the person you think you are. If you think you’re someone who will never amount to anything… guess what? You’re right.
If you think that financial freedom is impossible for you, you’re right.
If you think the good life is reserved for only a select group of people that doesn’t include you, you’re right.
You’re right because these perceptions of life make you the person you believe you are. Your quality of life is based largely on these perceptions. They give you your identity. They make you who you think you are. You will always be the person your perceptions have created. Always.
As Gandhi said:
“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
Don’t limit yourself to preconceived notions of what is or isn’t possible. Rather, design an ideal lifestyle for yourself. Figure out what you need to accomplish to obtain that lifestyle and then work backwards from that to create a plan to get from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be).
The question to ask yourself is not, “What are my limits?” but rather, “What do I have the freedom to be?”
Before you can accomplish anything worthwhile, understand that you will need to get there mentally before you can get there physically.
You can have everything you want if you just expand your circle of possibilities. Never put anything on the outside of that circle. Never.
Be free. Nothing else is worth it.
