Creative Guidance-IASbaba, Inspirational & Educative Articles
Belief Vs Effort:
A lot of times we have heard people talk about how one should believe in their dreams to be able to realize them. Belief is put on a pedestal much above all other qualities necessary for success. “Believe in Yourself” is a common mantra prescribed by many, but how much of this “Believe in yourself” jazz is real and how much of it is just another way of saying, just keep at it.
It takes a lot more than belief even to ride a bicycle. It takes knowledge, method and right approach to learn how to ride a bicycle. More importantly it takes effort and perseverance. If you actually think about it, it takes quite a bit of courage to ride a bicycle for the first time. You have to risk something to be able to learn how to ride a bicycle. Belief is just a starting point; it is not the end of the process.
This is where a lot of people live in blind belief. Just because they can believe, they believe that they can do anything. Very few reflect on the sheer amount of effort it takes to try and achieve something very few have. We tend to forget that the greater the dream, the more effort and sacrifice it takes to get there.
At the end of the day, success in anything is very simple. Success is deferred gratification. If you can put aside all your momentary pleasures and work towards something, the rewards of which are somewhere very far in the future, then you will be giving yourself the best possible chance of succeeding.
Belief is necessary, but then it is not very different from let’s say time. We all know that it takes time to accomplish something, but there is very little we can do about time. Time is a constant, everybody has just about the same amount of it, so it is simply out of the equation. Belief is not very different from this.
In the first place if you don’t believe that you can accomplish something, you will not even be trying. If you don’t even believe that you can ride a bicycle, then why would you try riding one? The very fact that you are making an attempt means that you believe that you can do it. In this sense everybody who is attempting to accomplish something believes that he/she can do it.
There is absolutely nothing great about your belief. It is a neutral quality given equally to all who are trying. You would not get any special benefits out of believing. You cannot increase your chances of success just by believing a little more. Belief is a basic necessity it is not a differentiator.
The key differentiator is effort. The sheer amount of effort you are willing to put in makes all the difference. How many of your worldly pleasures are you willing to sacrifice? How many of your daily impulses are you willing to control and direct towards a higher goal is all that matters. One pointed focus and effort in the right direction is what makes a difference, not just believing that you can do it. You can believe all you want, if you don’t know how to swim, you will drown.
“This article is a part of the creative endeavor of Inner Revolution and IASBABA.”
