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Intentional Leadership — D1, W4, M12 — Belief

Reflecting on my childhood today, got me thinking about today’s post. I grew up in Southern California, about 15 minutes away from Disneyland. Talk about an undertaking that required an undeniable belief in one’s dreams!

If you’re not familiar with Walt Disney’s story, and how he built his empire, I recommend you do some reading. The man clearly had a dream — several of them, in fact — and he didn’t let much stand in his way of reaching his goals and bringing his dreams to reality. Disney dropped out of high school, spent some time in France with the Red Cross, returned to the States and sought employment as a newspaper artist. That didn’t work, so he went to work for an art studio, where he met one of his first partners. Their endeavor didn’t last long, however, as Disney was not a good money manager; their studio went bankrupt. Undeterred, he moved to a studio in Hollywood, where he went into cartooning, animation, and story-telling.

Blessed with creativity and imagination, Disney dabbled in a lot of different things before deciding to build a theme park for children. He developed the idea in the late 1940’s, and the park eventually opened in 1955, and as you are surely aware, the Disney empire continues to grow and expand to this day.

Along the way, he faced and overcame numerous obstacles and challenges; faced with the same hardships, many people would likely have given up. Walt Disney had big dreams, however, and a firm belief in his ability to bring his dreams to fruition. For a long list of his accomplishments, you can look any number of places: Wikipedia, The Walt Disney Company, his biography, etc…

The point is, belief will fuel your results.

What results have you achieved because you believed in yourself and your abilities as a leader?

Write it down…

What have I accomplished?

How did my beliefs fuel those accomplishments?

What would I like to accomplish in my future?

How do my current beliefs support those dreams?

What do I need to believe — that I don’t believe today — in order to achieve success in this area?

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W2, M12 — Belief

Today, let’s get specific about what you believe. Write down your top three beliefs, followed by specific actions you take daily that demonstrates your belief. Remember, this isn’t restricted to your work life, consider all facets of your life and how you embody your beliefs in your daily words and actions.

Here’s an example, if you believe staying fit and healthy is critical to success, you might demonstrate that through your eating and exercise habits.

This can be tricky though, like values, the question is – do you simply say you believe certain things, then not back it up through actions, or do you actually live your beliefs. Remember, if I asked you to review your checkbook and your calendar for the last couple of weeks, what stories would they tell about how you invest your time and resources?

Belief #1

Daily actions in support:

Belief #2

Daily actions in support:

Belief #3

Daily actions in support:

As I’m sure you will notice, we strengthen our beliefs through daily actions; just as we live our values through daily actions. If you are aware and mindful of them (both beliefs and values), decision-making will come easier, which allows you to really focus your energy on what matters most. In turn, this behavior can help you achieve your vision.

Be mindful, though, because this works in reverse if your beliefs are negative. It’s a good exercise…so as you did (above) with your positive beliefs, write down three negative beliefs you hold, and how those are demonstrated through your daily actions. Here’s an example, if I don’t believe myself to be worthy of someone’s time and attention, I will behave in such a way as to reinforce that belief to myself, while transmitting a negative frequency to that person, which will lead them to believe it, as well.

Belief #1

Daily actions in support:

Belief #2

Daily actions in support:

Belief #3

Daily actions in support:

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W2, M12 — Belief

How will you reach your vision if you don’t believe?

Belief leads to confidence and you need confidence in order to strive towards achieving any goal.

Think about the people who had such strong beliefs in what they set out to do, ignoring those who said it was a ridiculous idea or could not be done.

Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Many thought him foolish for thinking he could build a successful online bookseller.

Steve Jobs and Apple. Many thought him foolish for thinking he could get any market share against the PC sellers.

Thomas Edison and the light bulb. Many thought him foolish for continuing to try to develop the light bulb after thousands of what others considered failures.

The list could go on and on…in fact, I’m sure you could add stories of your successes and breakthroughs in the face of opposition and adversity. I’m certain you could share countless other stories of people you’ve known who have done the same.

As a leader, it’s critical that you believe in your vision and your ability to achieve it.

Today, give some thought to how that has worked for you. Have your beliefs moved you forward to success or have they held you back?

And, how does that affect your team/organization?

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