What do you believe about your life now? What do you think about your potential now? If you reflect on the number of recent tasks, projects or goals you have started, how many have you completed? How many on that list did you start with and then put aside, thinking there wasn’t enough time, resources, support, or too many barriers to overcome?

If you have a history of not completing projects or tasks, do you hold yourself accountable or is it always a matter of external conditions, be it people or something else? These are important questions to consider as you begin to contemplate what it means to achieve what is important and meaningful in your life. This is especially true for goals. If you have set goals for yourself, it means that there is some result that you hope to achieve, something or some condition that you aspire to complete, which often results in a change in your life.

As you continue your reflection on task or goal completion, consider something even more important: What did you believe about yourself and your ability at the time you set your tasks, projects, and goals? Did you stop to think about whether or not you were capable of achieving what you had planned? Or did you just set up something you thought would be possible and started with a sense of hope? This is usually how goals are formed, perhaps even with a sense of optimism.

The excitement of starting something new can last for a short period of time, until the hard work begins and it becomes necessary to maintain that initial momentum or excitement. If you haven’t established a supporting belief system, the momentum can quickly fade and the project or goal can stall. That’s when the task goes from being enjoyable to becoming a monumental task, and the negative self-talk begins.

What is the missing element? They are the beliefs you have. If you start out believing that you can accomplish anything you decide to do, then keeping the momentum going won’t be that hard. The premise is simple: you become what you believe. I will share with you some ideas to improve your belief system, so that you can start better and work to complete your projects and goals.

Why do beliefs matter?

Beliefs are important because you always have thoughts in your mind and you can choose what your internal dialogue consists of each day. Now, if you’ve gotten used to listening to negative self talk, it will take some practice to change this habit. For example, if you always criticize yourself for past mistakes, remind yourself of past failures, and continually point out flaws, trying to establish positive beliefs will be challenging at first. Your working conditions can also reinforce a negative attitude, especially if you have a manager who always focuses on what he perceives to be your flaws and never notices your strengths or contributions to the organization.

However, you are in control of your thoughts and this is something you can learn to change over time. It is a practiced habit, and like all habits, it can be corrected. It’s a matter of finding a new set point, or learning to disconnect from anything that may be detrimental to your well-being, and stopping to think about those thoughts that help you get up. Everyone has flaws, and everyone has areas of development. However, this does not have to be your focal point at all times. A positive frame of reference is how you become a better person and how you work on your areas of development. It all has to do with developing a positive or supportive self-confidence system.

Develop a positive self-confidence system

There are strategies that I have developed over time and shared with my students that I also recommend for you. These methods will help you learn to better tune into those thoughts behind you and your efforts to develop new goals, projects, and tasks, and sustain those efforts, even when work becomes challenging. I use the acronym BELIEF.

B.Become your own sponsor: You have to trust yourself to support you, even when there are times when you feel challenged by your goals, life, work, or whatever else comes up. If you start thinking negative thoughts, you will see your whole life this way and you will not be able to respond in a way that is beneficial to you. You think and act better when you are self-sufficient.

meLift Yourself Up: As you learn to be self-reliant, you can lift yourself up by believing in yourself, despite natural doubts and questions. There is no such thing as a perfect person, and you should never accept that you are expected to be perfect. Who you are is exactly who you are supposed to be, someone who is learning and growing every day. You have the ability to continue to grow.

LFeel like you: It is important for your well-being that you like the person you see in the mirror. Your entire disposition will change if you make a conscious decision that you are perfectly acceptable, even if you decide that there are flaws. The imperfections you have make you perfect. When you like yourself, you are affirming that you also believe in yourself. The two go hand in hand. You can like yourself without having to ask anyone’s permission. This is your decision, and yours alone.

meTry to stay positive: There will be days when you feel down, challenged, and not at your peak. All this is part of life. What you can do is intend to maintain your positive disposition, for the sake of maintaining your self-resilience and determination to do your best no matter the conditions. This does not mean that you have a happy face, but rather that your perspective is hopeful and that you will find a way to continue to believe in the best perspective. You will find it easier to get through those tough days, when you have a positive disposition.

meCommit to beliefs that challenge you: You may be holding on to existing beliefs that are not serving you well right now as you are thinking about aspects of your life that have not happened the way you expected. If so, now is the time to commit to those beliefs, to determine not why they developed, but to determine if you still need to hold on to them. Now that you’re thinking of a new method of developing beliefs, it’s time to start letting go of old beliefs, especially those that don’t serve you well. It will take practice, but those old beliefs are likely keeping you stuck in the past.

Fbarley New Positive Beliefs: If you need help feeling better about yourself, now is the time to forge your new beliefs. You can do this by relating these beliefs to the new goals you have set. For example, if you have a goal related to your wellness, decide what it will take to reach or achieve that goal. Consider possible obstacles or barriers along the way. Then write down the beliefs you will need to support the goal as well. Now practice those affirmative beliefs. You will now be ready to work on your goal and will have supporting beliefs to guide you.

It’s all about focus

What you choose to focus on is important to your well-being. If you have a negative idea, it can turn into a worrying state of mind. You can also start with an affirmative idea, allowing it to continue until it feels good. You have the ability to think and feel better. This is the formula for beliefs as well. It’s about thinking and what you focus on. You are the sum of what you are thinking right now, which means you are the sum of what you believe about yourself. You can train yourself to think the best of yourself, which in turn means that you believe the best of yourself. If you want to make changes in your life, start a new goal, or accomplish something you’ve dreamed of doing, develop a positive disposition and a supportive belief system. What you believe about yourself, you will become through the actions you take. You control your life, through the power of your thoughts.