Preconceived Notions

Think of young children just starting to learn how to walk. Children have no preconceived notion that they cannot walk on their first few attempts. Imagine what would happen if we said, "Don't try to walk, you will fall". Sounds silly doesn't it?

As adults, though, we often send ourselves failure messages due to our preconceived notions. We don't take advantage of opportunities because we're afraid we won't succeed.

People who say, "I'd do it but I don't have the time", or "I don't have the money", are only making excuses. What they really don't have is determination.

Imagine how different our lives would be if we were to rid our minds of thoughts of failure or lame excuses, and, instead, attempted things with an "I will succeed" conviction. We need to re-develop the same basic instinct children have when they first attempt to walk!

Reflect on the following words of wisdom from Charles F. Kettering: "It's amazing what ordinary people can do if they set out without preconceived notions."

Words of wisdom to reflect on:
"Your perception goes a long way in determining what your life is like. Is the glass half empty or is the glass half full." Russ Stiffler

"Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture... Do not build up obstacles in your imagination." Norman Vincent Peale

"Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you." Denis Waitley

"What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it." Alexander Graham Bell

"The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed." Richard B. Sheridan

"Do what you can,
with what you have,
where you are." Theodore Roosevelt