I have several quotations on the wall in my office that I point out to my clients. In my previous two posts I discussed these two:
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” (George Bernard Shaw) and
“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” (Minister Robert S. Schuller)
The gist of the first quote is that few people luckily fall into meaningful work and that you may need to reflect on your values and made conscious choices. The gist of the second quote is that most people sell themselves short trying to “play it safe” and that this has multiple pitfalls that you need to consider.
In this third post in the series, I want to share with you a third quotation on my wall. It is:
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right. (Henry Ford)
If you have (1) evaluated your career choices from the perspective of meaning and have identified something worth pursuing, then (2) evaluated the potential risk and reward which led you to seriously consider pursuing your dreams, do you (3) believe in yourself enough to take serious action toward achieving them?
Without action, your dreams simply remain dreams. Self-actualization requires action! This third quotation strikes at the heart of every endeavor — your level of belief or lack of belief — which can determine whether or not you take meaningful action.
This topic is the heart of the second chapter of my career book Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!). As I mention there,
It is a fairly common that people’s beliefs about what they can and cannot accomplish limit their ability to achieve the career happiness and financial success they desire. To paraphrase a Yogi Berra saying, career success is 90% mental and the other half is all in your head.
Your beliefs affect what you will or won’t do. They also affect how you present yourself, which critical to presenting yourself in the proper way to people who have the power to help you… such as potential employers or investors.
Having a vision isn’t enough. You have to believe from the depths of yourself that you can accomplish what you desire. If you aren’t there yet, you can work on building your confidence in yourself and in your vision. I hope you do!
