Paralympic Role Models

I felt compelled to put \’pen to paper\’ (perhaps \’finger to keyboard\’ is more appropriate) about the Paralympic Games opening in London today.

The recent London Olympics was a thrilling, entertaining and spectacular showcase of the world\’s finest athletes and sportspeople.

But, in terms of sheer inspiration, the Paralympics – denoting Parallel Olympics and not Paraplegic Olympics as many of us might believe – surely has to take centre stage.

[box type=\”shadow\”]\”Live out of your imagination, not your history.\”

– Stephen R. Covey[/box]

A degree of fascination

I confess to having a degree of fascination about why people hold back from doing things that, deep down, they feel they would love to do.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday poring over the results of a survey we run at New Insights. Those who request from us information about following a career in life coaching, are surveyed some time after the request, to determine what may be holding them back from pursuing a career they have shown interest in.

Of course – as you might imagine – the information we get from the survey is helpful in understanding how we can improve our communication, marketing, product and services.

An issue of self belief

But, more often than not, our research turns up the fact that in general, people are pleased or satisfied with the information they receive. The issue is one of self belief.

\”I\’m not sure I have it in me to be a life coach.\”
\”I\’m worried that I won\’t be able to get enough clients.\”
\”I\’m still thinking about whether I could really do this.\”

These are among the most frequent comments that people use to describe what is holding them back from taking further action.

While I was mulling this over yesterday, my mind turned to the Paralympic Games. I couldn\’t help wondering why these athletes – all with disabilities or impairments (some quite severe) – have such amazing levels of self belief.

Programmed, learnt … or from within?

Is self belief something that is genetically programmed, is it something that is learnt or is it something that comes from within?

Personally, I think self belief is something that we all have. It\’s inherently part of our make up. You only have to look at young children to know that we were all born with boundless levels of self belief!

If this is the case, then why does self belief desert so many of us as we grow older and what can we do about it?

The scarcity mentality

Quite ironically, I believe that part of the problem lies in the fierce levels of competition that we as humans are exposed to.

Thanks to the distortion caused by human greed and corruption, we have lost sight of the fact that this is a naturally abundant universe.

We have been programmed by the media and our education systems to believe that there is only so much to go around. The scarcity mentality that has been instilled in us has caused us great anxiety about whether we have what it takes to cut it in such a competitive world.

Answers lie \’out there\’?

While our inner beings appeal to us to look within for the solution, they are overwhelmed by our rational, conscious minds. We have been taught, and we have confirmed through our experiences, that we are insignificant in the overall scheme of things and that the answers must lie \’out there\’.

Instead of enjoying a deep and intimate belief in our own inherent strengths and capabilities and applying these to overcome the challenges we face, we look outside – to other people, money, material possessions and various imagined \’silver bullets\’ for strength.

As we do so and as we succumb to the scarcity mentality and dog eat dog world, our self belief steadily erodes.

Strength comes from within

We need to take close heed of those models of inspiration, the Paralympic athletes. They are shining examples of people who have embraced the knowledge that strength comes from within and that just about anything is possible if you harness it.

As you look to the external world for resources to assure your success keep in perspective that, whereas there are many good products and services out there that can help you get to where you want to be, the ultimate determinant of your success is you and what you do with those products or services.

Look within!

Look within for self belief. Look within for the courage to take action. Look within for guarantees of your success. Indeed, look within for your own definition of success!