EXCERPT FROM THE NATURE OF SUCCESS TITLED: DISCOVER THE POWER OF BELIEF
By Mac Anderson
For more than one hundred years, runners tried to break the four-minute mile. It was considered the "Holy Grail" of track and field. Many said it couldn't be done. In fact, doctors wrote articles in medical journals explaining why the human body could never run a mile in less than four minutes
However, in May 1954, a British medical student named Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3 minutes, 59½ seconds. This was an amazing story and made headlines around the world. Yet what happened afterward is even more amazing. The four-minute mile was broken again the next month...and then again...and again. It has since been broken more than 700 times, sometimes by several people in the same race.
What happened? They weren't training any differently, but for the first time THEY BELIEVED THEY COULD DO IT. The barriers to the mind had come down.
Never underestimate the power of belief when it comes to fulfilling your dreams.
I can say with no hesitation that every person I've ever met who has achieved any degree of success has had one thing in common: THEY BELIEVED WITH ALL THEIR HEART THEY COULD DO IT.
Early in my career, I was the vice president of sales for a food company. One time I was in Detroit hiring a sales person for the market. We had lined up eight appointments for the day, and the morning had been a bust. I looked and my 1 o'clock appointment was standing at the door. He was a tall, good-looking guy, and I remember thinking, "This could be the one."
We talked for about fifteen minutes, and I asked the question I always ask, "What will you be doing five years from now?"
I'll never forget his answer. He said, "Mr. Anderson, the way these appointments have been going, I might still be interviewing!"
Well, that wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. We talked for a few more minutes and I excused him.
Then I looked up and my 2 o'clock was there. He walked over and gave me a confident handshake, and a few minutes later I asked the same question, "What are you going to be doing five years from now?"
He looked me right in the eye and said, "Mr. Anderson, I'm going to be working for you. This job fills my skills and my needs to a tee. I don't just think, I know I can sell your product in this market. And furthermore, if you don't like my performance after thirty days, you don't owe me a cent."
Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather! He had just made me an offer I couldn't refuse. But the offer had nothing to do with the money I might save; it had everything to do with his unwavering passion and belief he could do it. Within a year, Sam was the number one sales person in the company.
YOU SEE, WHETHER YOU THINK YOU CAN, OR YOU THINK YOU CAN'T...YOU'RE RIGHT!
LEARNING POINT
In the world of faith, this principle works with even greater results. The Daishonin believed with his entire being that his exile to Sado Island was only temporary, [while for all who were exiled to Sado it normally was for one's entire life], which is why when he wrote to his disciple, Shijo Kingo, he said, " When I come back to Kamakura, we will meet." He did not say "if I come back."
We empower our prayers when we believe that they will be answered. The Gosho says, "No prayer of the votary of the Lotus Sutra CAN go unanswered." There are many such passages in the Gosho, and the point is to believe in them, and live our lives in such belief without doubting.
By Mac Anderson
For more than one hundred years, runners tried to break the four-minute mile. It was considered the "Holy Grail" of track and field. Many said it couldn't be done. In fact, doctors wrote articles in medical journals explaining why the human body could never run a mile in less than four minutes
However, in May 1954, a British medical student named Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3 minutes, 59½ seconds. This was an amazing story and made headlines around the world. Yet what happened afterward is even more amazing. The four-minute mile was broken again the next month...and then again...and again. It has since been broken more than 700 times, sometimes by several people in the same race.
What happened? They weren't training any differently, but for the first time THEY BELIEVED THEY COULD DO IT. The barriers to the mind had come down.
Never underestimate the power of belief when it comes to fulfilling your dreams.
I can say with no hesitation that every person I've ever met who has achieved any degree of success has had one thing in common: THEY BELIEVED WITH ALL THEIR HEART THEY COULD DO IT.
Early in my career, I was the vice president of sales for a food company. One time I was in Detroit hiring a sales person for the market. We had lined up eight appointments for the day, and the morning had been a bust. I looked and my 1 o'clock appointment was standing at the door. He was a tall, good-looking guy, and I remember thinking, "This could be the one."
We talked for about fifteen minutes, and I asked the question I always ask, "What will you be doing five years from now?"
I'll never forget his answer. He said, "Mr. Anderson, the way these appointments have been going, I might still be interviewing!"
Well, that wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. We talked for a few more minutes and I excused him.
Then I looked up and my 2 o'clock was there. He walked over and gave me a confident handshake, and a few minutes later I asked the same question, "What are you going to be doing five years from now?"
He looked me right in the eye and said, "Mr. Anderson, I'm going to be working for you. This job fills my skills and my needs to a tee. I don't just think, I know I can sell your product in this market. And furthermore, if you don't like my performance after thirty days, you don't owe me a cent."
Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather! He had just made me an offer I couldn't refuse. But the offer had nothing to do with the money I might save; it had everything to do with his unwavering passion and belief he could do it. Within a year, Sam was the number one sales person in the company.
YOU SEE, WHETHER YOU THINK YOU CAN, OR YOU THINK YOU CAN'T...YOU'RE RIGHT!
LEARNING POINT
In the world of faith, this principle works with even greater results. The Daishonin believed with his entire being that his exile to Sado Island was only temporary, [while for all who were exiled to Sado it normally was for one's entire life], which is why when he wrote to his disciple, Shijo Kingo, he said, " When I come back to Kamakura, we will meet." He did not say "if I come back."
We empower our prayers when we believe that they will be answered. The Gosho says, "No prayer of the votary of the Lotus Sutra CAN go unanswered." There are many such passages in the Gosho, and the point is to believe in them, and live our lives in such belief without doubting.
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