Belief

I've been hanging out with Tom Asacker. Who's Tom Asacker? Yes, I said Tom Asacker. For many of you, the idea of me even having a friend might seem a little far fetched. Just kidding. I do have friends and, no, I don't have to pay them.

Tom Asacker is an author and I am hanging out with him during the 8-10 minutes that I eat my breakfast (1.5 cups of Cinnamon Rice Chex with 3/4 cup of Almond Milk, if you care). When eating breakfast at home, I tend to spend my time with authors, a couple pages at a time. In 2014, I spent a whole lot of time with Napoleon Hill. While crunching on my Rice Chex, I powered through Think and Grow Rich twice.

I'm a firm believer in books and the reading of books. They change your life, but only if you read them! It took me 16 years before I finished Think and Grow Rich. It was a gift from owner of the company I proudly work for. The owner is great man, Mr. Mike Olthoff. The company? Nichols. To understand Mike, you only need to take the few minutes to read this article. He is a testament to the power of belief and the power of reading great books.

Which brings me back to my "hanging out" with Tom Asacker. I'd like to share this little section from his book, The Business of Belief.

Believe To Achieve

In 1988, two psychologist published an article making a somewhat disturbing argument. 

The claimed that positive self-deception is a normal and beneficial part of most people's lives.

It turns out that we lie to ourselves about three things.

We view ourselves in implausibly positive ways.

We think we have far more control over our lives than we actually do.

And we believe that the future will be better that the evidence of the present can possibly justify.

These positive illusions help us feel good about ourselves and out decisions.

Just ask Spencer West.

His mind was motivated to ignore his legs.

Or more precisely his lack of legs, which were amputated below the pelvis when he was just five.

Spencer simply wanted to raise funds for a Kenyan charity.

By scaling Africa's highest mountain.

As so, after a year of training, he completed the grueling climb up Mount Kilimanjaro in seven days. 

Using only his hands.

Whether you believe you can or you believe you can't, you're probably right.

Mike Olthoff is a believer of "I can". I am a believer of "I can". I know my wife is a believer of "I can". She's done amazing things... Follow her blogs here and here.

I know that you, too, are a believer. If you say you are, you're probably right. However, have you chosen to believe "I can" or "I can't"? The choice is yours to make.

Start spending time with authors each day. It won't be long before you can state with strong conviction, "I can".