"Ya Gotta Believe"
Tug McGraw's "Ya Gotta Believe!" was the rallying cry of the 1973 New York Mets. It was born at a July 9th team meeting where Mets Board Chairman M. Donald Grant was trying to encourage the team. McGraw shouted the words, "Ya Gotta Believe." He said the famous phrase when maybe only he believed the Mets could actually get to the World Series.
While the phrase was first used in 1973, its meaning is important to each one of us today beyond its original intent.
How many of you remember that scene from Star Wars when Yoda, with the sheer strength of his mind - you know, "the force" - raises Luke's star fighter from the swamp. In complete and total amazement young Luke remarks, "I can't believe it." And Yoda in his unique style responds (as only Yoda could), "That is why you fail." Luke did not believe in himself.
All of us have within us many skills and abilities that represent our full capabilities. For most, these capabilities are either untapped or only partially used. Why? Because we make the choice to have it this way. Our minds are the most powerful tool we have. What it depends upon most for it to guide us effectively is the input we provide it. In my many presentations, I refer to this input process as "interior decorating". Each day, each one of us has the choice (and opportunity) on how we want to decorate our minds. We can choose negative, limiting, or self doubt beliefs, which will affect our actions or behaviors (and performance) in a certain way. Or we can decorate our mind with positive thoughts focusing on our belief in ourselves and our abilities which, as you might guess, would have a dramatically different effect on our performance. The choice is yours.
I constantly shake my head when I hear business people talk about how they are "hoping" for a particular outcome when faced with a challenging situation. "Hoping" means that you are waiting for something to happen. You will never achieve success by waiting for it. Rather you have to have faith in your abilities to experience success. In other words, "ya gotta believe" in your abilities to make something happen!
There is a short poem in the classic book "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill entitled "It's All in Your State of Mind". The last verse of the poem captures the essence of believing in yourself:
"Life's battles don't always go,
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man - WHO THINKS HE CAN"
So, here's the bottom line. First: why would expect others to belief in you (and your abilities) if you don't believe in yourself first? Second: why would you expect to achieve a positive outcome if you don't believe it's possible? Think about it; the choice is yours.