If you think you can, you can.
If you think you can’t, you can’t.

When you take the above core belief (if you think you can, you can) and mix it with a fear of failure, it’s almost the perfect recipe for success. Sounds a bit crazy? It’s not, because when you choose to believe the above, the only way to fail is to stop trying because you think you can’t.

Little kids fail when they think they can’t, and they’re too scared to keep trying. And let’s face it, on an emotional level, not having a go because you think you can’t is really a childish way to fail. So for me, failing because I stopped believing I can is far worse than having another go.

Jim Collins makes it clear in Good to Great, that consistently having a go is one of the primary differences between the worlds best (in sport, politics and pretty much any other specialty) and the rest of the population who end up wishing they were the best. The main gist of it is that the worlds best are capable of pursuing their dreams for longer and with more focus than everybody else.

Now that you know the above, you can choose to use this information to turn any fear of moving forward, or fear of failure, into really useful drivers. Any time you want to stop because you think you are failing, you simply need to remember that the biggest fear of failure comes from the simple act of stopping (like a child would).

As an aside, we’ve worked out a statement that is a clean driver and keeps us even more on track and pursuing our dreams – we hope this tweak and the above information is useful to you!

If you feel you can, you can.
If you feel you can’t you can’t.

Want to find out more about the difference between thinking and feeling… click here.