A belief is an idea that is accepted to be true. It can be a fact, a guiding principle, an opinion or faith in someone or something. We can have faith in our teacher, parents or doctor, in the value of being honest or good, in the value of exercise for good health, in our ability to succeed, or in value of reading newspaper, magazine or books. The strongest factor for success is self esteem: believing you can do it, believing you deserve it and believing you will get it. Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs, the future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so.

Now, here are a few examples that illustrate how belief affects our performance:

1. How some new world records were created

I n the first half of century, athletes and trainees believed that humans could not run a mile in 4 minutes. Then, in 1954, one runner ran a mile in less than 4 minutes. In June, the same year, another person did it again. Since then, innumerable people have run a mile in less than four minutes.

2. The magic of sugar tablets

The magic of sugar tablets (also called the PLACEBO effect) is  well known to doctors. In some PLACEBO studies, patients were given sugar tablets that contained no medicine. But they were told that they were medicated. Many people were cured by sugar tablets itself. They got well believing that they were on real medication.

3. Students get high marks because of teachers beliefs

In a study, educational researchers divided students of equal IQ into two groups. Teachers were told that one group had a high IQ and should get high marks while the others had a low IQ and should get low marks. What, do you think, was the result? Students believed to get high marks, by teachers, got high marks in vice versa.

Many people mistakenly believe that they have to earn or prove their worth by achieving a certain number of external goals, like having an impressive career, large house and acceptable body shape. The truth is you were born inherently worthy and enough. You will never truly be happy or successful if you go after goals because you feel incomplete. Step one of a successful life is to love yourself and feeling whole and complete just as you are.

Hence one may conclude that we should get inspiration from these interesting examples and believe in positive attitude for success in life. In any field, the most important factor is the belief in success. Without faith, success is impossible and our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act . There is no other route to success.