The Man Who Thinks He Can

― Walter D. Wintle

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost,
For out in the world we find
Success being with a fellow’s will;
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are:
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.

I am grateful to have been reminded of the power of belief.  On Wednesday, I had the joy of spending the day with Jack Canfield as he shared some of his Success Principles with us.  What I found that was the most helpful was his reminder about the power of our thoughts and our words.  I was surrounded by  200 other people who are  on their own path with a personal mission to make the world a better place.  Many of these committed souls have sacrificed everything in hopes of achieving their dreams.

Shelley Roxanne, aka The Queen of Optimism, encouraged us all to live by The 10 Commandments of Optimism and is about to go on a year long tour spreading optimism across the country.

Kim Boerman,  head party angel, has written a book called, With Love, The New Generation of Party People.  She is impacting the world…one party at a time.   Kim’s passion for entertaining and giving theme-based parties, coupled with the belief that collectively we can change the world one small step at a time, quickly helped develop this vision.  With this book, and accompanying website, hosts are able to present soulful experiences by providing unique and thought-provoking parties touching the hearts and souls of their guests.  The knowledge that each party benefits a select non-profit enriches their lives further and assists in developing a belief system that collectively small contributions amount to substantial results impacting the lives of their fellow human beings.  Making a difference and having fun while doing so!

Rico Racosky,  has used his aviation and art background to write and publish three “visual guidebooks” for young people on positive choice and goal setting (elementary school, middle school, and high school). As Rico sees it, every moment as a “Just 2 Choices Moment”—a new opportunity to make a new and better choice in life—to turn ORDINARY everyday choices into EXTRAORDINARY choices everyday to live an extraordinary life…choice by choice by choice!

Mike Mataluni, aka Kick Ass Dad, has created a site for Passionate Parenting in a Volatile World.  He currently lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife and three children. While living in Oregon he and his wife were foster parents to 8 children over a two year period.  As a result, Mike launched a free podcast in order to engage parents and create a community of like minded people. They are child advocates and passionate about bringing possibility to kids in need. Listen and get inspired.

Master Phil Nguyen, founder of Black Belt Leadership, is the world’s only expert dedicated to Black Belt Leadership. His mission is to help you discover your best self by applying 1,000+ years of martial arts wisdom to face today’s leadership challenge.

The path of idealism can be scary at times, especially when finances seem scarce and the workload feels enormous. Over the past 8 years as I have been on the journey of sharing The Virtues Project with other educators around the world I have had many teachable moments.  One lesson that has been repeating itself has had to do with money, worthiness and boundaries.  I have made a significant investment of time, energy and money in order to get the word out about the transformational power of The Virtues Project.  In doing so, I have taken many leaps of faith and robbed Peter to pay Paul, as the saying goes.

Over the past couple of weeks I have come to the realization that my financial situation no longer has to do with a lack of feeling worthy or a lack of boundaries and everything to do with the virtues of generosity, service, faith and enthusiasm.  What a shift energetically!  Listening to Jack’s teachings reminded me of the intention I set 8 years ago to work with masters in education and spirituality, to create a new educational paradigm one where joy, meaning, purpose and peace were at the heart and to leverage the power of technology to do so. That is exactly what I am doing now! Part of that intention was to travel the world and to do this work with my family.  A couple of months ago I had the honor of working in Brazil and am heading to Japan in January, and possibly back to the Virgin Islands in between.  My husband and children all work with me in different capacities.  The last part of my intention was to make millions so I could give millions away.  All of the other aspects of my intention have come true, so there is no way that this last aspect can’t not come true.

Driving home from New Jersey after being inspired by Jack, I was feeling very hopeful about the abundance that is there in order to sustain my work and the work of other virtues enthusiasts.  As I was sitting in space of hope, my phone rang with an opportunity to facilitate a series of workshops and get paid enough money to pay off the debt I  owe from my investment, pay my other bills and take care of my son’s college tuition for next semester.  What a gift!

As I was walking into my house after the long drive home, I thought to myself, money is going to start coming out of nowhere. While I was unpacking, my 22 year old daughter came to chat with me.  I shared with her the strategy of a God box for turning things over.  I showed her how you write down whatever is weighing on your mind, date it and place the paper into the God box.  So she could see some examples, I pulled out some old papers I had written on and reflected that they were no longer concerns.  Then I looked into the box and there was a $100 bill at the bottom.  Money literally came out of nowhere.  My belief is that this “coincidence” was a confirmation to stay on the path, keep the faith, keep doing the footwork and all of my dreams will be realized.

There is a lot of work these days around the power of belief. World-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck talks about the difference between a “growth” mindset and a “fix” mindset set in her book Mindset – The New Psychology of Success.  Dr. Dweck says that “Mindsets are beliefs—beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities. Think about your intelligence, your talents, your personality. Are these qualities simply fixed traits or are they things you can cultivate throughout your life?

“The growth mindset, the understanding of intelligence and abilities as qualities we can develop, has been shown over and over to have powerful ramifications on student motivation and learning, and school success. When teachers and students focus on improvement rather than on whether they’re smart, kids learn a lot more.” When we use the language of virtues by acknowledging the virtue and providing the evidence we see in students, it helps them to strengthen their growth mindset.

Another very important part of belief has to do with whether or not we believe that all children are loveable, special in their own way and can learn.  If we don’t believe this then chances are our students will not be feel loved, special, nor will they be successful learners.  If we have high expectations for all of our students and believe in them and support them by providing love, skills and strategies, they will be successful.

What is your big dream?  How do you wish to make your mark on the world?  What will give you the courage?  Tell someone, visualize it happening, do the footwork required, ask for help, call on your virtues and watch the miracles happen!

Wishing you much joy, meaning and purpose always and in all ways!

With love, gratitude and enthusiasm,

Dara