Why Belief Matters

Belief is as vital to success as talent.

Even more so at the higher levels of accomplishment, and especially in sport where the difference between winning and losing is marginal and more often a measure of mental willpower than physical ability.

Nowhere is that more apparent now than Andy Murray’s ascension to the top of men’s tennis.

Seven years after initially rising to second in the world in 2009, Murray achieved the No. 1 ranking at the Paris Masters, becoming the first British male to achieve the top spot since ATP rankings began in 1973.

Murray’s spectacular achievement in dislodging Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, was a lesson in perseverance, determination, courage and especially belief.

His former coach, Brad Gilbert, said belief was the critical factor in Murray’s ascendence.

“It’s taken Murray a long time. Three years ago it was just a hope for Andy but this year it’s been a belief,” Gilbert said in an interview with Reuters.

When belief replaces hope, anything becomes possible. Belief is the ingredient in all major success.

Napoleon Hill wrote in his classic personal development book ‘Think and Grow Rich’ that to succeed, one’s state of mind “must be belief; not mere hope or wish.” He added that “no one is ready to receive a thing until they believe they can acquire it”.

The reason it is so important is that no one can go beyond what they believe is possible. We can hope things go our way or we get lucky, but, ultimately, if we don’t believe in ourself or our ability to make it happen, it won’t.

Mental programming in our subconscious mind will prevent us doing something we believe is not possible. It goes against Nature to achieve a great success that deep inside we do not believe can be ours.

Belief is a place of power, a place to firmly stand and declare that “I will do whatever it takes to succeed because I know I can”. But if there is a trace of doubt in your mind, that will either slow you down in reaching your goal, or more likely stop you from ever attaining it.

Forming a strong belief is a combination of mental strategies; of using reason to understand WHY YOU CAN, perception to see your potential from a different angle to support your goal, commitment to make the effort and coaching to remove doubt and replace it with faith.

Success at the elite level of any sports – and this applies as much to business – is all about the state of mind. When two top athletes face off, the difference between winning and losing is no longer about who is more skilful technically or physically. They are evenly matched. The difference is in the winner’s mentality.

Murray began to believe he could be the top men’s tennis player in the world.

With Grand Slam titles stacking up, Olympic medals won and an historic Davis Cup triumph for Great Britain, the only summit left to conquer was Best in the World, and his previous achievements supported his belief that it could be done.

He and his returning coach, Ivan Lendl, had mapped out a strategy to reach the coveted No. 1 spot – not because he hoped he could, but because he now believed it was possible.

Reaching into ‘Think and Grow Rich’ again, Hill writes that whatever a person's mind can “conceive and believe, it can achieve.” They key word there is believe. Murray could begin to imagine being No. 1, even if he would be the second oldest person to ever reach that spot since computerised rankings began in 1973. What he had to do was find a reason to believe.

William James, often referred to as the father of American psychology, wrote, that “believe … and your belief will create the fact.”

To believe, you have to take time to think, really deeply with focused concentration, and answer the critical question – why do you think you can? There is a technique to help with that. Look only for reasons that support your goal, and instantly dismiss ideas that surface about why you can’t.

The mind cannot hold two opposing thoughts at the same time. This critical insight offers understanding about how the mind works against us or for us. If you allow a negative thought to take hold, the positive ones cannot enter. And likewise, if you concentrate only on a positive thought, negativity will not enter.

We have to be willing to banish doubt. That requires trust and faith. Because our natural human inclination and cultural training is to doubt, and to pay attention to those thoughts. Neurological conditioning requires us to scan for danger and for what might go wrong. It also means we listen to opposing thoughts that arise when we assume a big challenge – because it could be dangerous emotionally, physically or financially.

Our problem then is having the strength of mind to dismiss those qualifying thoughts so they do not interfere with the focus of finding the way to the top. If a mountaineer ascending a summit takes their mind off the goal and their eyes off the rock face, one slip could be fatal.

Likewise, if we following strand of negative thought we could spiral down to a deep, dark place of doubt.

The advice to counter that is this – If you are going to doubt anything, then doubt your doubts.

The courage to believe when others fear is the mental attitude that separates winners from challengers. Challengers hope to win; winners believe they will.

How does Murray’s success translate into business or life? It’s the same mental approach required for success in any field. You must believe you can, and then be willing to train and practice every day until it begins to show up. Your belief creates the thing you imagine, but there is a time lag between seeing it in your mind and realising it in physical reality.

We live on three planes of existence, the imaginary, the mental and the physical. We create the vision first in the imagination and then get inspired to make it happen in the physical by thinking about it and speaking and writing down the goal and reading it.

And then you must act as if you believe in your belief. And the thing gets created in the real world.

Murray performed in the second half of the year as if he believed and like he really wanted it. Winning tournament after tournament. While Djokovic, after achieving his career Grand Slam with French Open victory against Murray in June in Paris, slowed down, lost focus and appetite and relinquished the top ranking to the Brit.

Murray earned it by matching his vision and belief with action on the court, literally.

We need to do the same. See what you want, create from a vision of it, believe it’s possible and take consistent action that suggests you believe. And it will happen.