For some people “seeing is believing” and for others “believing is seeing”. Which group do you belong to? And what difference does it make in your life?
Has a friend, relative or colleague ever told you “I can see you there,” or “I can see you both living together” or “I can see you doing that?” The reason they tell you this is because they know your potential, your will power and what you are capable of achieving. According to this information, they start seeing a picture in their mind about what you want to achieve. For them, it comes naturally without any effort; they just believe in you.
But regardless of what people’s perception of you, what counts is that you see yourself achieving your goal.
The question here is: Do you have to see something to believe in it? Or could you believe in something before literally seeing it?
If you think you belong to the group of people who believe in the notion that “believing is seeing” then you are in the same category with the likes of Marconi, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Steven Spielberg, John Travolta, Oprah Winfrey, Roger Bannister, Mohamed Ali, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Ghandi, The Dalai Lama, Soichiro Honda, Tony Robbins, Bill Gates, Louis Pasteur and more. Can you recognize these names?
Sure you do.
Marconi, the inventor of the radio, believed he could transmit sound waves from one place to another without using wires. He believed so much in his capabilities to achieve such a project that he saw it clearly in his mind before it came to reality. Marconi’s friends were so worried about him talking about his invention that they locked him up in a mental institute to check if he was insane.
The result? Today, in almost every house, office and car in the world we find at least one radio. And without Marconi’s vision we could have never had the television, satellite, radar and lots of other things we now take for granted.
Before 1954, people thought it was impossible for a human being to run the mile in less than four minutes. Roger Bannister achieved the “impossible” not merely by physical practice, but by constantly seeing himself breaking through the four minutes barrier with so much emotional intensity, that he created vivid references that became an unquestioned command to his nervous system to produce the result.
As a child, John Travolta saw a neighbor who had a runway at the back of his house. He was so impressed that he also wanted a runway at the back of his home. Travolta believed so much in his dream that he saw it in his mind before it materialized. Today, John Travolta has a runway long enough for his four engines Boeing 707 and his two Falcon jets behind his home. He flies the planes himself too.
Neil Armstrong believed that he could fly to the moon. His belief was so intense that when he closed his eyes he saw himself walking on the moon surface. In addition to his famous “one small step for Man, one giant leap for mankind” which was aired to million on July 20, 1969, Armstrong also made the curious remark “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky” before re-entering the spaceship. For years, he refused to answer questions about Gorsky’s identity.
On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question. Because Mr. Gorsky had died then, Armstrong felt he could answer. In 1938 as a kid in a small Midwest town, he was playing baseball in the backyard with a friend who hit the ball to the neighbor’s yard, the Gorskys. When he leaned to pick up the ball that landed near the Gorskys’ bedroom, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at her husband, “Sex! You want sex?! You will get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!”
Everyone who believes in himself or herself so much and has the desire to create something sees it first in their mind before it gets materialized.
The other categories of people who believe in “seeing is believing” have to see the money first to believe they can buy the house. They need to see the contract before believing they can get the job. They must meet the right partner before believing they can have a happy marriage.
On the other hand, the group that adheres to the notion of “believing is seeing” believe they can have the house before actually buying the house. They believe they can get the job before signing the contract. They believe they can be happily married before meeting the right partner. And in the end, they do buy the house, get the job and have a happy marriage. They believe they deserve it all, the financial security, the life style and more.
There is nothing wrong if you belong to one category or the other, but it is always good to know, in which category you see yourself.
Karim El-Shakankiry is an internationally renowned life coach, motivator and public speaker. He is the founder of “yesUcan” organization for personal and corporate coaching based in Montreal, Canada. He is the first to introduce life coaching in the Middle East and is the president of the Arab Coaching Federation.
