Last Thursday I reviewed the 7 steps for creating the life we want. These steps are not necessarily the only way we can achieve the happiness and success we want, but they do provide a good blueprint - a plan to get from point A (where you are now) to point B (the life you want to create).
For now don’t worry about how to get there. The focus of these seven steps isn’t as much as about the “how” as it is the “want”. It’s about wanting a change in your life. It’s about identifying what you want in life without fearing the judgments of others; including yourself! Also, keep in mind these steps are not linear. Finally, you don’t have to start with step 1 and through to step 7. You can work on any step at any time and you can work on multiple steps at the same time.
As we begin a new week, let’s review these steps. The focus each day will be one of these steps:
1.) Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life
2.) Be Clear Why You Are Here
3.) Decide What You Want
4.) Believe It’s Possible
5.) Believe in Yourself
6.) Become an Inverse Paranoid
7.) Unleash the Power of Goal Setting
In my life, I don’t have too look far to see step 5, Believe in Yourself, in action every day. Our son Andrew (15) has embodied this principle since he was old enough to walk and talk. It’s not that Andrew is arrogant or cocky (OK, maybe a little cocky sometimes); but he has an unfaltering belief he can do any thing he sets his mind to do.
When our son was about four-years-old he would go with us to Caitlin’s soccer games. Andrew would take a soccer ball and begin to practice, or mimic, what some of the older, and better, players were doing. At an early age, he figured out that soccer wasn’t just about running up and down the field real fast, it was about putting yourself, or your teammates, in the best possible position to score. He got the concept of finesse and agility. When it was his turn to play soccer, Andrew took that knowledge, and belief in himself, to carry his team to many championships.
A couple of years ago we took a family vacation to Virginia Beach. When planning the trip, Andrew declared he would be surfing before the end of the week. He never surfed before, but by living step 5, Believe in Yourself, he was riding the waves (pictured) all the way to the shore.
Now at 15 (almost 16), Andrew is an outstanding baseball player. Please bear with this flagrant parent bragging I’m doing right now, but he will accomplish this goal too because he doesn’t think he can’t. 
Mary Beth and I didn’t raise Andrew any differently from our other children; he just understood from an early age it would be his belief in himself that would make the most amount of difference in his life. We know Andrew is right.
Believe in yourself beginning today. Start with the small things, first. Start by believing you will receive one compliment at work today, or you will do something that touches your spouse in a meaningful way. Believe you can start planning and living your dream. It just starts with taking the first step from point A to point B. Believe you are worthy of arriving at point B.