It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.

It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself. – Muhammad Ali

Do you lack faith in yourself, or do you believe?

What does that mean?
To me, it talks of one of humankind’s greatest fears, the fear of the new, the unknown.  He talks about people being afraid to meet challenges, and states that he wasn’t. He says that this was because his belief in himself allowed him to take on the challenges.

The fears associated with challenges are many.  It can be a fear of failure, a fear of success, a fear of the unknown, a fear of something new, a fear of being shown to be inadequate, or any number of other fears that haunt humankind.  Ali said he was able to meet challenges because of his faith or belief in himself.

Why is belief in self important?
I think that it is important to point out that belief in self is different from being impervious.  Belief in yourself is being prepared to fail, to dust yourself off, to learn from the experience and to try again.  Belief in self is a certainty that you will put forth your best effort, and expecting nothing less, and nothing more.

If you don’t have a belief in yourself, there is a very unpleasant uncertainty.  Not only are you not sure of what the situation will bring (they aren’t called challenges because they are trivial or familiar), but you are uncertain of your own reaction.

We’ve seen this kind of uncertainty in many movie characters.  There is hesitation when all reason (and most of the audience) urges immediate and decisive action.  Ever feel that way?  I do, and on far too regular a basis.  Let’s see what can be done to change that, at least a little bit, shall we?

Where can I apply this in my life?
What challenges are lurking in your life?  It could be something brand new (like writing a blog for the first time), or something you’ve done before (and failed repeatedly, like writing in High School & College).  Put together a list of a few of them (let’s try to get at least 3).

My list includes this blog, doing some fairly radical modifications to my 69 Chevy Nova and figuring out what to do with all my video footage (digitizing, organizing, editing, sorting, storing etc…).

Each of these is a challenge to me, as I’m not really sure what to do about them. In each case, I am working on methods to move forward, even if it is slowly.  For the blog, I have joined the A-List Blogger Club, both to get mentorship and to follow a proven system.  I’m halfway through the first of about a dozen series of helpful boot-camps, and I’m starting to become more confident in my abilities.

For the Nova, I’m moving the fuel filler, and repairing a ton of rust, customizing the dash (not just the gauges, but the key, the radio, the openings, the pad, speaker locations, the doors, the interior, everything!)  To help with this, I have whole bookcases full of car magazines (with tons of dog-eared pages) and notebooks full of design ideas.

I also have a small network of people I can count on for advice and tips and occasionally some actual help.  This has given me the confidence to move forward up to this point.  Now I’m frozen over a title issue which needs to be resolved (sometime this month, if all goes to plan).

For the video footage, I have everything from VHS-C tape to HD camcorder footage, with several steps in-between.  I have some video editing software that I have been experimenting with, and have gained some familiarity with.  I still need to determine how to import the older tapes (I know it can be done, just not certain about the best method for me).

I have also filled a 1TB hard drive, and have an additional 2TB drive to format and add, but it’s not the highest priority at the moment (which is also part of the problem).  As I gain confidence, my belief in my ability to complete the task goes up dramatically.

Your turn.  Write those three (or more) challenges down.  What about each instills fear or a lack of faith or belief in yourself?  Write it (or them) down, and try to be as specific as possible.  Some may raise several issues, be sure to address them all (like the potential problem with the title for my Nova – would have been smarter to resolve that a few years ago, before it took over the garage, my wallet and hundreds of hours of time!)

Now there should be a fairly large list of things that generate uncertainty (or other undesirable emotions, fear as an example).  Take each and determine what it would take to bring that issue under control.  Is there something you could read that would help (Kustom Kars for Dummies, anyone?)?

How about a person you could talk to (perhaps a local Rod & Kustom shop or a Cruise night)?  Would a class or two help (welding, painting, bodywork)?  There are now tons of places online to pick up information (try looking at 100 Amazing How-To Sites for a starting point, or your favorite search engine).

What if your hangup isn’t lack of knowledge or skill, but fear of the size of the challenge?  Is there anyone who can help you (divide and conquer)?  How about subdividing the challenge into smaller chunks?  For me, the Nova is going to get the title issue cleared, then the rest of the body rust cleared up.

Then the dashboard, wiring and interior.  Then the chassis will be rebuilt, then the body panels attached.  Then final body work and paint.  Smaller steps make it easier for me, as I only need to concentrate on one chunk at a time.  Will that help you in any of your challenges?

You really can do almost anything, if you educate yourself and assemble a good support team.  Keep busy, wisely allocate your resources and learn from things that don’t go according to plan.  Keep smiling and keep at it and eventually it will happen.  Believe in yourself, understand that failure is always an option, and that no failure is permanent unless you quit.

Believe, and you can achieve.  Challenges will fall like Heavy Weight Contenders if you can believe.

From: Twitter, undocumented feed (my bad)
confirmed at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/muhammadal125243.html
Photo by david drexler