In the 1950's, a rather cruel experiment was conducted at Harvard University...

In the experiment, Dr. Curt Richter (the lead researcher) placed rates in a pool of water to test how long they could treat water...

On average, the rats would give up & sink after about 15 minutes!

After establishing this baseline, Dr. Curt Richter did something different...

He placed more rats back in the water... but right before they going to give up due to exhaustion, the researchers would pluck them out, dry them off, let them rest for a few minutes - & put them back in the water for a second round.

Now, here's the interesting part...

How long do you think they lasted the 2nd time around?

Remember: they had just swam until failure only a few short minutes ago, before being dried off & rested for a few minutes...

...how much longer do you think they would last the 2nd time in the water?

Another 15 minutes?

Maybe 10 minutes?

Or, 5 minutes?

The real answer...
3600 minutes (or, 60 more hours!)

That's not a typo... the rats continued to tread water for 60+ hours!

The conclusion drawn from this cruel experiment was that, since the rats now BELIEVED that they would eventually be rescued... they could push their bodies way past what they previously thought impossible.

...which brings me to the topic for today's email: the power of belief!

Like the rats in this study, our belief affects our performance & success greatly...

The placebo effect is perhaps the most popular example of this; if you believe that something is real, it will create tangible, visible biological / psychological changes in your brain & your body!

(it's why all pharmaceuticals are tested against the placebo affect... with more than a 1/3 of them proving to be no better than power of self-belief alone!)

Your self-belief also affects your motivation...

(as I've shared in the past, it does not matter how much you want to achieve a particular goal... if your brain doesn't believe you can do what's required to get there, you won't be motivated - the solution, of course, is to "hack" your belief...
Lastly, self-belief also greatly affects our "grit", persistence & performance...

Just like the rats, it's only when we truly believe that something good will come from our effort & that we are capable of more, that we are able to stay the course, persist & perform at our best!

So... while quotes like 'never give up' or 'no pain, no gain' can be helpful... the real key to grit & persistence is belief; to raise your level of belief that something good will come from your effort & that you are capable of doing what's required of you!

Here are 3 powerful ways you can do this...


1. Leverage Positive Past Experiences
This is a strategy I first came across inside the hit personal growth book, written by Maxwell Maltz, "Psycho-Cybernetics" (amazing book btw!)

Maxwell Maltz shared that when we remind ourselves of other times in our life in which we also felt doubt, felt fear, or felt a strong sense of disbelief that we would be able to persist... but we ultimately keep doing... & everything works our well...
By reminding ourselves of those positive past experiences - 'wins' & 'successes' - that we've had in the past (or better yet, closing our eyes & re-living these events in our mind) we build up our belief that we can do the same again!

Essentially, think of all of your past successes in life as powerful tools to help you remind your brain that you are more powerful & capable than you think... which in turn, will improve your self-belief, performance & success!


2. Find Inspiration In The Stories Of Others!
Another great strategy for raising your own self-belief is by using the stories & life experiences of other people (it can be people you know, like family... or perhaps role models & inspirational individuals throughout history) -- use their stories as strong reference that whatever obstacle you want to overcome, or goal you want to achieve, truly is possible!

(this is also an amazing way to help you overcome limiting beliefs!)

For example...

If you want to build a business, yet you find yourself procrastinating due to all of these doubts & the excuses in your head, for why you won't succeed...

...a great place to start would be to look for people who also had similar excuses or were lacking similar resources... yet managed to succeed anyway!

By finding these examples & reading these stories, it'll signal to your brain that it is possible for someone to achieve this goal, given the circumstances, therefore raising your belief & motivation to act on your goals automatically!
3. Celebrate Your Successes (& Reinforce Progress)

There you have it... the power of self-belief, as well as 3 strategies you can put into practice right away, to raise your belief, motivation, performance & success!