Want a certain quality? Believe you already have it….

If you want a certain quality like intelligence, beauty, wisdom, good judgment, etc., you can bring it about by believing that you already have it. Seems hard to believe, doesn’t it? But many people have verified this countless times.

“When you realize that inventors, artists, scientists, architects, and builders of great companies all must employ their imagination, you get some idea of its magnitude. Shakespeare said, “Assume a virtue if you have it not.” Let’s follow some of the implications of this great advice. In assuming a virtue, you are assuming it via your imagination. To become the person you would like to be, you must create a mental picture of your newly conceived self, and if you continue to hold it, the day will come when you are that person in reality. So it is with the accomplishment of desires.” The Magic of Believing by Claude Bristol. Page 155

Shakespeare was a very wise man. He found that if a person lacked a virtue, they could pretend to have it, tell themselves they had it, and soon they would have it. I’m not saying that is always easy, but I know it is true. Many modern day psychologists and success coaches spend a lot of time teaching this concept.

It is amazing what the imagination can do. It is reported that some people, believing that an ordinary postage stamp placed on the skin of patients who believed that they were small mustard plasters had blisters develop under the stamps. A man died of hypothermia in a refrigerator truck after he was accidentally locked into it overnight. He believed the refrigerator was on, when in fact it was not, but by believing strongly that he would die of the cold, he did.

Belief is very powerful. If we believe something to be true about ourselves, we will begin to have that attribute.

I have mentioned a famous study by Rosenthal, a Harvard Psychologist who showed that if teachers are told their students are smart, the students make better grades just because the teacher believed they are smart. Tell a person he is smart and if he believes it he will begin to behave in a more intelligent manner.

Women who tell themselves they are beautiful every day tend to act more beautiful and begin to be perceived as beautiful.

The mind is far more powerful than most people realize and can do much more than anyone knows is possible.

Here is an affirmation to say every day: “I am happy, healthy, wealthy, wise and good looking.”