Have you ever known someone who didn’t buy a car because they failed to pass their driving test? Or someone who tried to learn how to drive, then totally gave up driving after failing several times?

That scenario is unlikely. Almost everyone who starts the process of learning how to drive ends up being able to drive. Although not everyone becomes a driving expert, still, everyone who tries eventually learns the basics of this complex skill.

The question is, why? Why has almost everyone succeeded in driving and not done so well in achieving their other goals? How come you succeeded in learning how to drive yet you have given up achieving some of your other goals?
The answer is very simple: It is because you believed you were going to be able to drive long before you sat in that driver’s seat.

You saw everyone around you succeed in doing it and you were convinced that there’s nothing to it, even though it really is a complicated skill.

Believing you can do something is the first step in achieving it

Billions of people in this world fail to live the life they have always wished to live. They fail to realize their ambitions and give up on their dreams, big and small, as soon as they encounter the obstacles that inevitably come with life. One of the main causes for this failure is that people do not believe in themselves.

Believing in yourself is all about being sure you are going to do whatever you set out to do against all odds; even the discouraging views of others. Usually, when you decide to take on a big challenge or try to do something that others have failed to do; you will find that not everyone is as optimistic as you are. Under the pressure of this negativity, many of us begin to doubt their own abilities and eventually give up. The few who believe in themselves and who continue upon the path they have chosen are the ones who succeed. Look at these examples:

• John Grisham, the American lawyer turned author, who loved to write, took 3 years to write his first book, A Time to Kill . The book was rejected by publishers 28 times until he got one yes for a 5,000 copy print. He has since sold over 250,000,000 total copies of his books.

• Multiple academy award winning director, Steven Spielberg applied to the prestigious University of Southern film school and was denied two times. He persevered in his dream and went on to direct some of the biggest movie blockbusters in history. In 2015 he was worth $3.7 billion and in 1994 got an honorary degree from the film school that rejected him twice.

• Alex Haley the author of the fantastic book ‘Roots’ received 200 rejections before it was published. When it was published it rose to the top of the best seller’s lists and has since been published 37 languages, won the Pulitzer Prize and became an award-winning television mini-series.

The same also holds true even when doing what you believe in, goes against the tide.
During the Dot Com boom, practically everyone was into buying internet stocks as they were the in thing. One of the few people, who could have bought, but who didn’t buy was Warren Buffet. At the time, everyone criticized Warren for his extreme skepticism and caution when dealing with these new stocks. A few years later, after the Dot Com bubble burst, the ‘crowd’ lost a lot of money, while Warren Buffet came out unscathed and is among the top 5 richest people in the world!
These examples are not of people with extraordinary abilities: No! They were just normal people like yourself; the only difference is that they believed in themselves and therefore succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. If you want to be like these people and if you want to learn to believe in yourself, then read on.