What Separates Successful People From Everyone Else Is The Incredible Faith They Have

I cracked myself up yesterday. I was at the bodega grabbing some overpriced coconut water, taking a break from work, when I realized that I’m doing it all over again.

I seem to have this tendency of jumping into endeavors that are entirely foreign to me – often quite literally. So far I’ve gone from dancer to restaurateur, to writer, to mining executive, to the CEO of a content site. And now… now I decided to look into the investment banking industry.

Why? Well, that’s just it. I don’t really have a good reason why. My reasoning is: Why not? Most people would be deterred from taking on such daunting tasks. How can someone with no experience in an industry decide to hop into it all willy-nilly? I’m not insane. I have faith.

Once you have faith in yourself, the world changes in front of your eyes. I’m never afraid to take on anything because I know that I will succeed.

That’s the difference between winners and losers – winners know they’re going to win before they enter a race, while losers get struck with fear at the starting line. If you want to win in life then you have to have faith in yourself. The truth is that you’re really the only being worth having faith in.

1. Once you know that success is inevitable, you stop worrying about failure – and worrying about failure is what usually kills our chances.

Having faith is understanding that no matter what happens, no matter what difficulties come your way, you will come out on top. How could you possibly know that you’ll succeed in life?

Because you have faith that you will – you can feel it in your bones. Having faith gives us courage and convinces us that we are unbeatable. Most people fail in life because they see failure as not only an option, but the inevitable outcome.

If you approach anything in life with the notion that you will fail, then I promise you that you will be correct. Winning isn’t about coming out victorious from every battle; it’s about emerging victorious from the war. You can’t win a war if you do not have faith in your own strength and abilities.

2. Having faith in yourself brings a new meaning to "the world is your oyster."

Many people claim that the world is theirs for the taking, but few actually believe it. As we get older, we lose faith in ourselves and faith in our future.

We begin to question ourselves, question our actions, our goals, our beliefs. As time goes on and we realize that we are still miles away from our goals, we begin to lose faith. We begin to accept defeat and we stop living. The world is yours for the taking – but don’t assume that it will be handed to you on a platter.

Having faith in yourself gives you courage to try new things, to explore the world and life itself. Having faith in yourself allows you to leave your comfort zone and try new things, have new experiences.

It opens your eyes to other realities. There are billions of versions of the world that we all live in. If you have faith in yourself, you can taste a good amount of them.

3. Although you will fail plenty of times, it won’t faze you.

Failing is inevitable. But failure isn’t an option. Failing is losing, and the fact is that sometimes we will lose – no matter how hard we try for it to be otherwise. You can’t win every single time – it’s impossible. Have faith in yourself, however, and losses don’t feel like losses. They feel like a step in the right direction.

Loss after loss, after loss and you will make it to the top. It’s not those who know how to win who succeed, but those who know how to lose. Winning is easy. Losing is difficult. The only way to lose with a smile on your face is to have faith that you will eventually come out a winner.

4. You will find a newfound love for yourself.

There are plenty of people in the world that don’t love themselves. It’s a crazy thought, but it’s the reality we live in. If you don’t love yourself then how can you expect anyone else to love you? And if others do love you, then why is it that you can’t find a reason to love yourself?

Faith is a form of love – it’s loving something that has yet to come into existence. If you can love the person you will one day be then you must love the person you are now.

Logically, you cannot become that person without first being the person you are at the moment. Never regret the things you have done or the person you are because it’s necessary in order for you to become the person you know you must be.

5. The way that you see and interact with the world will change for the better.

When you have faith in your abilities, you develop a tendency of trying new things. You see the world differently. Roadblocks become possibilities. Problems become challenges.

Ugliness becomes potential beauty. Not until you have faith in yourself will you be capable of creating lasting, meaningful change in the world. To be capable of change is to have power. You can’t have power if you don’t believe yourself to be powerful.

6. You will respect yourself more than you have ever done so before.

Why? Because you have finally learned your true value. It’s not possible to have faith in something you deem to be meaningless. To have faith is to bestow value onto it. How valuable are you? How much intrinsic worth do you believe yourself to possess?

Too many people in the world have little respect for themselves because they were taught that they are worthless. They were taught that they have no rights and have no place in this world. To have faith in yourself is to have respect for yourself. No one will ever respect you if you don’t first respect yourself.

7. You will appreciate life more than ever before.

Not just your life, but life itself. Different individuals give life different value. Some find it priceless. Others find it worthless. To live life the right way is to be free – to be free from self-loathing. To be free from self-judgment and torment. To be free from the oppression of others.

Having faith in yourself is the only way to protect yourself from the harsh world outside. Others will try to hurt you; they’ll try to slow you down, trick you and abuse you.

They will try to enslave you to the systems and rules that they have put in place – rules that benefit them and them alone. Freedom cannot be given. It is taken. And it all starts with having faith.

Photo via The Aviator

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