Ed Schipul via Compfight
“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.” ― Stuart Chase
In the classic movie, Indiana Jones, The Last Crusade, Jones played by Harrison Ford is standing at the edge of a deep valley. In order to get to the other side and to the Holy Grail and save his father, he must take a leap of faith as the ancient book in his hand suggests: “only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth.”Jones says out loud: “impossible, nobody can jump this” and “it’s a leap of faith.” As he takes his first step into thin air, a bridge magically appears under him.This small but powerful scene demonstrates the amazing power of belief and taking the first step to the great treasures that lie beyond our immediate reach.
Do you begin a project hoping and expecting the best? But as you move along, do you begin having moments of self-doubt and lack of belief in yourself and your abilities?
Do you allow this lack of self-belief to put the brakes on your expectations and your creative work?
Three ways that you can become aware of the damaging effects of lack of self-belief and poor expectations and action tips that you can implement right away:
1. Belief and expectation in a person can make them perform better
If you do not strongly believe in yourself and your work, you will communicate that energy to the world and sell yourself short. Begin your journey into deep and lasting self-belief by first asserting your importance to yourself. Choose to use kind and empowering language when you speak to yourself.
Take the first step towards believing that you really do matter to this world.
In research done in classrooms by eminent Harvard professor Dr. Robert Rosenthal, students who were expected to perform better by their teachers actually did a lot better when compared to other students.
According to Dr. Rosenthal, coaches who expect their athletes to perform better actually do better. In other words, belief in a person and higher expectations of their performance actually makes them perform better in real life.
This amazing result has been termed: “the Pygmalion effect” by Dr. Rosenthal. For more information, check out this post by NPR.
Questions and Action tips:
Do you believe in yourself and what you do on a regular basis?
Do you expect yourself to succeed?
Do you keep company with people who believe in you and expect you to perform well?
Can you begin to take small steps towards greater self-belief and positive expectations from yourself and your work?
Michelle Dobbins says
I think we can all benefit from more self belief and positive expectation. I think it keeps expanding, if you have some self belief it can lead to success which can lead to more self belief.
Harish says
Hi Michelle,
I think you are right! This does build up on itself. And on the flip side, self-doubt and lack of confidence also have the potential to snowball and build into a big problem. And the successes and failures reinforce some of these beliefs and behaviors.
Thanks for commenting!
Harish