There is always a way to be successful.

(And if you think there isn’t, you’re wrong.)

Doesn’t matter what you are trying to do. If you want to do it, you can.

I love sci-fi. Recently I got into the series The Mandalorian, featuring a rough main character who is constantly getting into trouble.

Yet he gets himself out of impossible situations, time and time again.

What I love most is his motto: “This is the way.”

“This is the Way.”

I have spent my life being afraid. Afraid to succeed, afraid to fail, and generally being inert. Analysis Paralysis is a real thing.

Only as I’ve gotten further and further away from my fearful childhood persona have I dared venture into taking risks.

I’ve literally had to coach myself over and over again that it’s OK to fail. I’ve had to tell myself, “it’s ok if you lose X amount of dollars trying this. I give you permission to totally fail.”

And I’ve discovered that this is the way.

It is only in failing that we succeed. You literally cannot succeed without failure, because failure is the best teacher.

And further than that — I have discovered that absolutely anything is possible if you believe it is.

When I decided to create MIDI faders for a music company I started, I had no idea how to program the units. I kept trying to get things to work, and sometimes was literally in despair over getting the screen and faders to work properly. For sometimes days, even weeks, on end.

Programming is tricky!

So when these huge knotty programming problems came up, I had the choice to give up, or get up.

I chose to get up.

“You Can Do This! One Little Stippy-Step at a Time!”

I told myself, “You can do this! One little stippy-step at a time!”

Yes, it’s a stupid, almost meaningless phrase. But it works for me. I use it to literally hypnotize myself into believing I can figure out the problem.

And you know what?

It works!

Thomas Edison took over 1000 different tries to create the light bulb. When confronted with all these failures, he said, “I didn’t fail. I discovered 1000 different ways how not to create a light bulb.”

There’s always 1000 ways for things to go wrong, for things not to work, and a million ways to fail.

Find them all if you have to.

But just remember: you only need one way to succeed.

All you need to do is believe you can do it, and tell yourself it’s possible — and you know what? It’s possible.

Stepping Out into Thin Air

I had a dream one night. I was standing at the edge of a cliff, and for some reason decided to step off the cliff.

I was expecting to fall to my death in the dream, but somehow, magically, I was walking on air over the edge of the cliff — totally safe!

I was flabberghasted. Looking down hundreds of feet over a beautiful mediterranean water scene, I was floating in the air, completely stable.

How was this possible?

I woke up almost shaking. Because it felt so real, and the relief of not dying as I stepped into thin air shocked me to the core. It even felt kind of fun!

This is what believing in yourself does for you. It creates a way to achieve something that looks impossible, but the way magically appears before you as you take steps towards it.

And this is the key — you have to trust, and believe something is possible so strongly that you start taking steps towards it, even when you don’t see a path, or it looks impossible to get there.

Like the dream that I had, imagine yourself stepping over a cliff, and steps magically appearing under your feet as you walk forward.

This is the magic of self-belief. It creates a way to achieve something where there isn’t one.

Because, as I keep telling you — there is always a way to achieve something you want to achieve.

But only 100% of the time.

All I want for you is to start believing in yourself. Believe that what you want is possible for you.

So what are you telling yourself these days about things you want? Listen to your self-talk. If you’re not succeeding, or making progress, I guarantee your self-talk is negative and sabotaging your success.

Because you know what? When you tell yourself something? You are listening.

No matter what you want, no matter what the goal you set, there is always, always a way to achieve it.

Read that again.

And again. Until you really hear it.

Just remember, as Henry Ford said:

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”

This is the Way.