Day 173: I know I can, I know I can...

I heard something the other day that really resonated with me.  It wasn't that I hadn't heard it before but the way it was said got me thinking.  I'll paraphrase (mostly because my short term memory sucks), it was something along the lines of "if you want to achieve something you have to act like you already have."  I know that sounds kind of simple and I'm sure most of you are saying "Yeah, John, positive thinking.  Been there, heard that."  Yeah, it has something to do with positive thinking but I think it's a lot more.

Ever hear someone say, "Hey, you just have to learn to relax", and they never tell you how?  Sure, we all know we need to relax but most of us don't know how.  The ability to use positive thinking is no different.  We're told to have a positive mental outlook but we're clueless how so we just continue with our paranoia, anxiety and self-defeating methods of dealing with every day life.  Submersing ourselves in the "don't worry, be happy" mantra isn't the answer, although it is a catchy tune.

When the person says you need to "act" like you've already done something, this doesn't mean posturing or bragging. Think about anything you've accomplished in your life.  Not just the act that you performed but think about the feelings you had at that moment.  Think about HOW you felt before, during and after that event.  Through the entire event you probably went through the spectrum of emotions and feelings such as fear, anger, dread, determination, focus, assurance, joy.  The list goes on.  But I would bet that the end result of the entire event was a sense of accomplishment which I believe is the foundation of confidence.  And confidence is a sense of knowing within yourself that you have the capacity to do something even if you've never done it before and even if it scares the hell out of you.

So when the person says you need to "act" like you've done something, draw on the feelings and emotions you know will come when you attempt something new.  Bring yourself to that point where you remember and know what it feels like to have the self-assurance and confidence that comes from doing something.  Even if the thing you're about to attempt now is new to you, still draw on those previous experiences so your mind, body and spirit will remember, feel and believe that what you're attempting now is something you've already done before.  A perfect example is something I use to do back when I was doing triathlons.  Ocean swims ALWAYS freaked the hell out of me but the way I was able to overcome that fear was to mentally put myself back in the pool, to go over in my head all the feelings I had swimming in those lanes, how it felt on my body, how steady my breathing was and how confident I felt going up and down the swim lanes.  You can apply that same practice in anything you do in life.  Bring yourself to a point where you can think and feel confidence and retain that feeling while you're going through this new endeavor.

Remember, the best way to achieve success comes from the belief that what you're attempting now is something you've already accomplished.