Achievement Starts with Belief

Photo credit: Scott W. Nichols from the The Webb School

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Who hasn’t been asked that a million times by adults? And when we were little, we would answer that question with whatever felt right to us in the moment:

“Unicorn.”

“Fire fighter.”

“Astronaut.”

"Superhero"

“Ballerina.”

“Doctor.”

"Teacher."

And we knew in our heart that we could be the thing we wanted to be, and more often than not we were encouraged to pursue our dreams. And when our dreams changed, we wholeheartedly pursued the new dream.

And then one day the question became harder to answer. Why?

We live, we learn, and we start to judge what our heart wants as attainable or not based on our beliefs about ourselves and our ability to achieve the dream.

A boy dreaming of being a ballerina might only see pictures of girl ballerinas and develop the belief that boys can’t be ballerinas.

Or a girl might dream of being an astronaut until someone says, “Girls with glasses don’t become astronauts.” Maybe she internalizes it, now believing she can’t do it.

Our belief in ourselves is incredibly powerful and, in fact, determines our behavior and our success. If you think you can do something, you will work at it until you achieve it. When there’s a test coming up and you know you can do well, you study hard to ensure you know the material. And you do well.

And the opposite is also true. If you think you can not do something, it is unlikely that you will be successful at it. That test? If you think you are going to fail it, will you put enough effort into studying? Or will you give up?

This is called self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the belief that we have the ability to accomplish a task. And here’s the kicker: you can change your beliefs about yourself. And when you start to decide what you believe about something, you begin to take charge of your life and do awesome things. Obstacles practically disappear. They are just challenges on the way to the goal. They force you to get creative instead of giving up. Nothing is impossible.

Long ago, someone looking at birds said, “I want to fly.” Other people said, "It can’t be done." But the dream persisted and was passed along from one person to the next. We crafted stories where people flew, with wings, or on broomsticks, or in machines. Our imagination made it possible. And then we started turning that imagination into reality, and now we can fly in our own way.

The Gearticks mentoring Team Technado

There is a dream, there is belief, and then there is the work to achieve the dream. Then success.

That is true for each of us. You can join the robotics club or start your own team. You can design and build a robot. You can make it lift objects and drop them into high goals. It can grow to great heights despite starting out 18”x18”. It can travel over rough terrain. It can sustain collision with other robots. It can travel up and down ramps. It can sense and follow lines, lights, and your programming commands. You dream it, design it, build it, and make it true.

And when you grow up, you can be what you want to be. You can go to college or not. You can stay home with your children. You can travel the world. You can be a teacher and inspire future generations. You can develop a cure for multiple sclerosis. You can solve engineering challenges. You can write recipes. You can develop strategies to address climate change. You can design a better car. You can be a farmer. You can design and sew clothes. You can be a marine veterinarian. You can perform on stage. You can be a great leader. You can. You can. 

Coaches and Mentors can help you to believe in yourself and help you develop self-efficacy. They can help you understand that you are not a fixed being, set in stone, but actually malleable clay with the ability to shift and change. Your circumstances today only partly define you: you have the power to move within your circumstances, until one day when you are finally able to change them to your liking.

Mentors can provide support and encouragement to help you to be patient when needed, and take risks and action when needed. But no one can change your beliefs except you. You are the author of your story, the illustrator of your dreams, and you are also the one to achieve them.

Eleanor Roosevelt said “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” You can do it. Just create the dream and then start believing in your ability to achieve it. And you will.

 

(Read some other great quotes here)