At twenty-two Billy found himself flat broke and without hope. Having dropped out of high school to pursue a music career he couldn't find an audience for his songs. Homeless and playing piano in bars, he was unable to cope with the additional breakup with his girlfriend, so he checked into a mental hospital before deciding to commit suicide. Once inside the hospital he saw people with tremendous pain in their lives, giving him a new perspective on his own situation. From that moment on he declared that he would never allow himself to get that low again.
With new determination to live life to the fullest, Billy Joel would go on to have one of the most successful musical careers of the twentieth century and marry the woman of his dreams. When he hit rock bottom he learned the secret to success and turn everything around,belief.
One of the most important keys to fulfillment in life is to havebeliefin one's self. You have to develop an unwavering belief in yourself that acknowledges that you are fearfully and wonderfully made and fully equipped by God to fulfill your destiny. For Billy Joel it took new references about life. It can be the same for you.
Robert Collier wrote, "There are hundreds of millions of stars in the heavens. Do you suppose the Mind which could bring into being worlds without number in such prodigality intended to stint you of the few things necessary to your happiness?"
What stops most people is their negative self talk which enlarges their real and imagined fears. You have to change your internal and external dialogue to make it consistent with belief in yourself. At this moment, begin changing the way you talk to yourself. Ultimate performance coach Joseph McClendon suggests standing in front of the mirror morning, noon and night and shouting, "I freaking rock!" Do whatever it takes to change your beliefs!
Michael Flatley has shown what is achievable when a person follows their dreams. Incredibly he set a world record by tap dancing an astounding 28 taps in one second. I saw an interview in which the journalist told him that was impossible. Flatley just smiled and told him you have to believe.
Whatever you goal is, begin to see yourself as already having reached it and living in that moment. Feel what it would feel like, see what it would look like and begin being the person you see yourself being having already accomplished your goal. The more vividly you can picture it and believe it is already yours the better.
Your goals are within reach; your greatest dreams exist for a reason. They are there for you to pursue them, you just have to believe strongly enough. As Jessie B. Rittenhouse it many years ago:
"I bargained with Life for a penny,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid."
