Well — Do You? My family and I just watched the film, 'The Polar Express' last night with Tom Hanks. It’s a wonderful movie — great story, wonderful animation, and the acting is top notch.

One of the themes is the main character’s ability to ‘Believe’ in the existence of Santa Claus. It’s all focuses on hearing one of the sleighbells from Santa’s sleigh . . . oh . . . I’m getting off-course here.

Do you listen to Radiolab? It’s a radio show and podcast from NPR that delves into the areas where the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. It’s a cool show.

A few months ago, they did a show on how we deceive or lie to ourselves and how that benefits an athlete's performance. Their ‘elite belief’ in a sport requires a mental focus and intensity that is different from the way that many others approach tasks.

So to push themselves — they lie.

In fact, I've seen people become very successful in the business world because of their ability to self-deceive. Their positive attitude and confidence sometimes cloaks their lack of competence, but they can go far if their subordinates perform well and make them look good.

Even in situations where these executives or businesspeople fail, they are more likely to bounce back quickly because they do not dwell on failures and, in fact, do not even recognize they have failed. It's fascinating to watch, and for others, frustrating, because they do not have this trait and too often question their abilities and dwell on setbacks too much (do you do this?).

All this builds up to your ability to believe in your success. Here are some ways you can bridge that gap:

Next time you have that errant negative thought about yourself, an action, a project you’re working on, say to yourself, “Is this negative thinking moving me forward or backward? What thinking will rocket me forward?”
Next time someone says to you, “You can’t do that.” or “That’s not the way we do things around here.”, immediately question their beliefs and motives. I’ve found that THEY are usually WRONG.
Next time you are questioning yourself about an action, just do it. In my 20 years of corporate life and 10 years coaching, I’ve found it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission. Take action.

And BELIEVE in yourself, your abilities, and what you can do. YOU can move MOUNTAINS.

How do you believe in yourself? Do you 'fool' your thinking? What techniques do you use?