Belief Is The Lead Domino

Toward the end of his introductory press conference in 2008, a reporter asked a young Dabo Swinney if he felt like the administration was taking a gamble on him in hiring him instead of someone else.

“Do you feel like Clemson is taking a gamble on you with your lack of head coaching experience and even coordinator experience?”

Swinney responded.

“No.”

He continued.. 

“I don’t think it’s a gamble at all. If you’re asking me I think it’s a pretty good bet.”

Clemson went on to win two national championships under Swinney in 2016 and 2018. They have won the ACC championship nine times, and Swinney has been selected as the ACC coach of the year twice as well as the AP National Coach of the year once. Under coach Swinney, Clemson has had 71 NFL draft picks including nine in the first round. 

As former Clemson assistant, Billy Napier said “Hope and Belief are powerful.”

Belief is the trust, faith, and confidence in someone or something and serves as the lead domino in achievement. 

If you’re going to move toward a life of purpose and passion, belief must be at the core. This is one of those statements that is easy to say - but can be hard to do.

How do you maintain a sense of self-belief?

How do you ensure your self-belief is rooted in reality?

What can you do, to cultivate belief?

How can you live with the confidence of “If you’re asking me, I think it’s a pretty good bet?”

Those are the vibes we need as we enter the many battlegrounds in the arena of life. 

Let’s take a look at the important things that impact belief

1.) People 

Negative things said from “haters.” Unfair or under thought out critique can have a negative, lingering effect on our belief. Many times, well-meaning people in our lives express critique in ways that they think helps, when in reality it adds a layer of self-doubt. Or at a minimum it adds another layer of “stuff” for us to navigate mentally and emotionally. 

We have a role in how we interact with other people. Our mindset ultimately determines how critique from people lands, but along the way - people can add to or take from our self-belief. Just ask Ohio State freshman - Jeremiah Smith. 

The people you associate with will have a profound impact on your self-belief. Hang out with crabs and you’ll be pulled to the bottom of the barrel any time you try to make a change in your life that aligns with your self-belief.

On the contrary, hang out with “lion-chasers” in life and you’ll experience an impact on your self-belief to the positive. 

Run with people who are purposeful, motivated, and disciplined, and you will become a purposeful, motivated and disciplined person as well.

Your self-belief is going to be influenced by who you associate with - choose wisely.

2.) Process 

If someone is resolute in their self-belief they’re not just expressing personal confidence in themselves, they are ultimately expressing confidence in their process.

Belief is not just a series of “I think I can” statements like Thomas the train.

We need evidence. Not fragile affirmations. Oftentimes the self doubt behind a lack of belief is rooted in a lack of trust in our process. We need a lot of reps to trust our process. 

Our process helps us answer this important question:

Is the collection of daily and weekly activity actually leading to a desired outcome? When the process is sound - the answer is yes. 

When Dabo expresses “I think it’s a pretty good bet.” He’s not just basing that on his perception of his innate potential, but more so because he believes the process he’s going to install, will work.

If you have a faulty process - it doesn’t ultimately matter how much you write down affirmations or stare in the mirror to speak life into yourself.

The process gets results. Belief is not just rooted in the individual, but rather the process.

The question we all should be asking ourselves is.

“Do we feel good about our process?”

3.) Potential

“If you’re asking me, I think it’s a pretty good bet.”

All bets are placed on the idea a potential outcome can happen. It’s never a guarantee. 

Belief is best when it’s not a fleeting thing that comes and goes based on external factors. Belief is best when it’s built.

How do we build belief?

In our How To Flourish framework we break it down in multiple steps, 

Dream (What can be?)

Design an effective process (The plan)

Deploy discipline toward the process (Work)

Develop into the type of person you believe you can be (Lifestyle)

If you are looking to pursue your potential with the right people and process, join our Free Spring Cohort below. We have limited spots available - secure your spot below.

Belief is the lead domino - we can help you get traction on your goals. 

Stay The Course,