Three male teens, living on an eighty acre farm, were instructed by their grandfather to venture out early the next morning to learn and find out what being a responsible and productive man in society was all about.

So, around five o’clock a.m. the three teen boys set out on their journey. Instead of taking the long winding dirt roads, the oldest of the three strongly recommend that they cut through the tall growing corn field because it would get them to town faster. About ninety minutes later, the boys arrived at the end of their grandfather’s farm only to find an eight foot high, solid wooden fence that appeared to go on forever around the boundary of the farm.

The next to the youngest boy sighed and said, “Come on ya’ll let’s go back. We will never get over this wall together.” The oldest boy mumbled disappointedly, “Hey… at least we can tell granddad we tried.” The youngest of the three teens, took off the hat he was wearing and tossed it over the fence and bellowed, “No! We can’t go back now because we now have to get my hat!” The youngest teen then looked quickly along the fence and found an extra piece of eight foot wooden board on the ground. He yelled out to the other boys, “HEY! Come help me lift this board and put it up against the fence, so we can get over the fence!” The boys did exactly that and all three got over the fence safely. The young man retrieved his hat, and the three boys journeyed to town to fulfill their granddad’s instructions.

The moral: Believe You Can — And Do IT!

The youngest of the three boys “Believed” that he and the other two boys could get over the fence. He just had to quickly create a more pressing reason for them to continue their journey. The tossing of his hat over the fence created, in the moment, a more pressing reason. It caused him and the other boys to “Act” instead of doubting themselves, quitting, and turning back.

It was Norman Vincent Peale who said, “People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.”

Believe You Can — And Do IT!

Let me ask you, right here and now:

Are you a person who stops trying because someone else says it cannot be done?

Are you a person who doubts that IT can be done because many other people have tried it before, and failed?

Are you a person who needs to see four million, as proof, stand before yelling “I did IT! It can be done!” for you to even make a first attempt at IT?

Believing that you can do it will not, in itself, get IT done. Yet believing you cannot do IT will most certainly prevent you from ever making IT happen. So the choice of what to “Believe” is clear. Believe that you can, believe that you will, and you’re well on your way to making IT happen.

What’s your current IT that you want to get done or achieve?

Is IT —
* Better health
* Bringing yourself closer to a Higher Power
* Going back to school to obtain a degree
* Starting a successful business
* Finding a better career
* Becoming debt free
* Buying a home
* Starting over
* Ending a toxic relationship
* Eliminating a toxic habit
* Writing and publishing a book
* Improving some aspect of your family
* Successfully helping a loved one
* Creating and living a more meaningful life

Believe You Can — And Do IT!

Doubt is very easy to maintain, but it won’t get very much done. See how many of your doubts you can replace with positive and empowered beliefs.
If necessary, create your own “hat tossing moment” — and go after IT.

Every moment of every day, your beliefs guide your actions. Believe that you can, believe that you will, and your reality will reward you time and time again.

Believe You Can — And Do IT!

– End –

– Extracted from Ty Howard’s best-selling book A Collection of Daily Inspirational Booster ( Book 1 of a 12-Series Set ). Pub date: January 2001 by Knots Free Publishing, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Copyright © 2001 by Ty Howard. All rights reserved.