The Power of Perception

Any person can become a success. They can become as successful, happy, or as educated and wise as they want, no matter how difficult their start is. I speak from experience. I began my educational career in High School in a hole and proceeded to dig it deeper. Even though there are many tools in my tool shed of life, I only knew how to use a shovel. My opinion of where I was going depended on my beliefs. The hole kept getting deeper and deeper. The harder I tried, the “behinder” I got. 

I based my perception of myself on experiences that I interpreted as failures. I had no direction or goals and circled the disappointments with self-doubt and poor self-esteem. Every time I completed this cycle, my confidence sank even lower. I was programming myself with negative thinking. I had a mental virus. Then I discovered that to be a success, I had to program myself for it. I could use the same cognitive processes I had used against myself. But, rather than passively allow me to feel bad, I could intentionally use them to program myself positively for action. 

 There are three essential ingredients I learned to program into myself for a positive mental attitude and continued success. The first and most important is implementing inspiration into action. Inspiration into action means executing our self-motivation or the inner urge that determines the choice which incites us to act.

The second essential element is knowledge. We’ve all heard that knowledge is power and obtaining an education is a lifelong venture. The more we know, the more we realize we need to know. We can acquire knowledge from books, from the experience of others, and from those that are willing to mentor us.

The third element is know-how or “common sense.” Know-how gets things done when others wonder if it can be done. How do we get it? We don’t get it; we accumulate it by doing, action, and experience. It is through knowing how to apply our obtained knowledge that there is real power. Through this process, knowledge grows and becomes wisdom, which is the power of perspective!

 How do you motivate yourself or others into action? There is a secret ingredient, and here is what it looks like. Some time ago, a wealthy cosmetic manufacturer retired. His products were fabulously successful. His friends hounded him for the secret of the cosmetic’s success. He finally told them that in addition to the formulas he used, he never promised that they would make a woman beautiful. But he always gave her hope. Hope is the missing ingredient in the formula of success. Hope is the desire, the belief that the goal is obtainable, and the expectation of reaching it. It is what transforms vision into action. 

 There is a formula for generating that positive mental attitude. Memorize, understand, and repeat frequently: “What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”  It’s a form of self-suggestion and a self-motivator to success. When it becomes a part of us, we dare to aim higher. It has worked for many successful people, including a young boy named Bill Danforth. Bill was a sickly farm boy from rural southeastern Missouri. He was motivated by a dedicated elementary school teacher. The teacher did it with a challenge: “I dare you.”  “I dare you to become the healthiest boy in the school,” the teacher said. Those three words, “I dare you,” became William Danforth’s self-motivator throughout his life. He did become the healthiest boy in his school, and during his long business career, he never lost a day because of illness. “I dare you” motivated him to build one of the largest corporations in the United States, the Ralston Purina Company.

 Other self-motivators will spur us to action. We choose whatever motivators we need. We don’t have to have many. Let’s say that we procrastinate. To cure that bad habit, all we need to do is repeat, “Do it now; do it now; do it now,” every time we are tempted to put something off until later. Finally, it becomes a part of our mental attitude that will flash through our mind when we have the urge to procrastinate, and we will act on the suggestion.

 The three essential ingredients I learned to program into myself for a positive mental attitude and continued success started similarly to Bill Danforth’s “I dare you .” I clearly remember a teacher in college who believed in me even when I didn’t. She saw something in me that I wasn’t seeing and challenged me to look at it. She saw potential and nurtured it until it had grown enough, so I could see and enable it. I’ve cultivated it by taking inspiration and implementing it into action, acquiring knowledge, and being a student of life, seeking to obtain know-how and get things done when others thought they were impossible. I no longer allow others to shape my future. There is hope! The same ingredients to success are available to you. Start today to believe in yourself and take charge of your life. Remember, there is great power in your perspective.

© Daniel W. Trathen Ph.D.