“All thoughts which have been emotionalized (given feeling) and mixed with faith begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent or counterpart.” – Napoleon Hill

What are you telling yourself that is stopping you from success?  What are those internally spoken words that you have faith in, that are stopping you from getting through a tough situation?  What if you could change your belief, have faith in yourself; what would you accomplish?  Have you ever stopped to think about this?

This quote takes me back a month or so to when my husband and I did the Spartan Race in Vermont.  The major obstacle was to climb the Killington Mountain Black Diamond 3,000+ feet to the peak.  I’m glad I didn’t know that when we got there.  It took everything I had, or so I thought, to climb to the last plateau.  As we rounded the last curve I realized it was not the last,  There was a vertical climb, straight up to the summit.  I thought we had already reached the summit!  After several hours of climbing already, I had given it all I ad and I didn’t have any more.  I took one look at that vertical insanity and said to my husband, “there is no way I can do that… <short pause> but I WILL!”

It was in that moment I had to flip the switch in my head and change my disbelief to faith, faith in myself, in my body and in my mind.

As I ascended the steep rocky climb to the top, I would tell myself, just take 20 steps then you can rest.  I took 20 and added 10 or more.  My heart was beating through my chest, my body covered in dirt, sweat pouring down my face and my legs were ready to give out from under me. I was more than twice the weight of 95% of the participants.  I would take a break for a few minutes, listening to the encouragement of people as they passed me by.  I knew they could cheer me on all day, that’s not what was going to get me to the top and back to the bottom, it was my own thoughts.  If I didn’t believe I could, I knew I would fail.  The recurring exclamation that I heard was an, “I PAID FOR THIS?”  It wasn’t just me.  Even the athletes were struggling.

I had to dig deep, sometimes with every step, keeping the attitude and faith that I could make it. Not only did I make it to the top, I made the descent, having to crawl backwards down very rocky terrain.  My husband, who is always my biggest supported confided afterwards that once he saw that last climb, straight up, he too thought there was no way I was going to make it to the top. I am not sharing this for the accolades, I am hoping you will draw inspiration from this story.  It was not my physical ability that got me to the top, or back down.  It was nothing more than the belief that I could and one baby step at a time.  That is what drove me.  I If I can do this, with the power of thought, what can you accomplish?  It is as simple as having faith that you can succeed at whatever you set your mind to, whether it be a business venture, a physical adventure, or overcoming something that has struck you down emotionally.  You must have faith in yourself. Perhaps you are not aware of exactly what the path will look like.  It will take planning and effort but you must first believe.  Follow me here as I go into further detail of how to strengthen your beliefs in order to reach your goals. Thank you for stopping in today. Missy Bell