Performers in any kind of competition speak of the importance of belief and confidence. The stars who win gold medals often describe how they believed, and even knew, that they would win the event before it started.

Does belief, then, always work? Not always.

I was surprised when I watched one or two episodes of American Idol recently at how many candidates said they believed they could become the next American Idol.

Many were sure of it. They believed they could sing well enough to charm a nation. The same thing happens in Pop Idol, the UK equivalent of American Idol.

Some of these confident people clearly had no hope at all of becoming the next idol as they could not sing in tune and had not given much thought to their appearance or performance skills.

Yet surely if their belief was strong enough, they should at least be able to get through to the next round of the competition?

I began to think that if they are so deluded about what they believe possible and don't realise it, maybe I am just as deluded about what I believe possible for myself.

I have not been too deluded about my singing since I was slung out of the school choir at the age of 8 although I have sometimes questioned that expulsion and considered it a little hasty!

Maybe I am deluded about my ability to write something worth reading? You will have to decide that!

Perhaps the expelled American and UK candidates did not really believe. Maybe they were just hoping? But many of them were really upset and even furious when they were turned down. They really believed they should have been allowed through to the next stage of the competition.

Many of us would have been annoyed at the needlessly rude remarks of Simon Cowell but some candidates were just horribly disappointed anyway when they failed to pass their audition.

Paula Abdul, another judge, tried to let people down lightly. She spoke kindly and wisely to Jonathan who was convinced he could be the next idol.

"Always believe in yourself and you'll make it in something."

Part of the answer to questions about the power of belief can be found in Paula's words. We need to decide carefully which of our talents are worthy of our belief.

Some of the 'singers' who wish to perform in American or UK singing competitions might do better as dancers or actors or fans of those who could sing well.

We should also realize that belief and confidence should be based on reality and regular training.

Sarah Price, the English backstroke swimmer, won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in August 2002. She was asked for the secret of her success and answered that it was caused by the confidence she gained from her systematic training.

Consistent, systematic training means that you must train when you may not feel like training. Regular training is vital whether one feels like it or not.

My favourite quote on consistent training comes from Peter Vidmar, the American gymnast. He speaks of the two secrets which were responsible for his success:

"There’s only two things I had to do to win Olympic gold: train when I wanted to, and train when I didn’t."

Peter won two gold medals and one silver medal in gymnastics at the 1984 Olympics. He later became an inspirational speaker showing people how to apply the lessons he had learned in sport to their lives in business.

Before Sally Gunnell, the UK hurdler, won Olympic and World Championship gold, she oozed confidence and belief in herself. Why?

Because she had a record of success behind her and because she knew she had prepared hard and eaten correctly for months before the championship.

She had not touched chocolate in 6 months! The world was about to become her oyster or chocolate egg instead. She won gold at both meetings.

Athletes who have talent and confidence but who do not train hard and regularly, seldom win the big championships. Many have the talent but are not prepared to pay the price of training when others relax or sleep.

If you do not believe in your ability, start working your way into the necessary belief by preparing hard and training hard. Someone has wisely said:

"It is easier to behave your way into new thinking than to think your way into new behaviour."

Basically, I do think that belief is crucial to success. The eventual winners of the American and UK Idol clearly need to believe in their own talent enough to enter the competition and to keep working away even when they are discouraged by the occasional poor performance.

Sally Gunnell needed to believe in her ability enough to even begin the arduous training and preparation necessary to achieve Olympic gold.

However, your belief must be based on some evidence at least that you can achieve your goal and on hours and hours of hard work and training.

Don't worry too much then about whether you feel you will win or lose or whether you will succeed or fail. Just get going on what you have to do to achieve your goals and let your belief grow along with the work you put in.

Do the work anyway and don't worry about the results. If you do your best the results will usually follow and you will stand out from the majority of people who seldom do their best.

Belief and work have always been the powerful combination recommended by the great religions and by the great self-help gurus.

The harder you work, the greater your belief will be. And the more you believe in yourself, the harder you will work as you begin to accept the possibility that you might actually achieve your most cherished goals.

One of the greatest self-help experts Dr Maxwell Maltz had no doubt about the power of belief:

"Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs."

The power to do the impossible becomes available when we can change our beliefs. However, changing our beliefs might well involve hard work as we develop the skills which will allow us to start believing in our own abilities.

John Watson
http://www.motivationtoday.com/36_laws.php