Felix Dennis, the publishing Tycoon reckons that to be rich you need confidence and unshakeable belief. It also helps to have tunnel vision, a thick skin, stamina and a capacity for hard work.

So why is it that there are individuals who from an early age possess these qualities when most others do not? All these qualities or the opposite develop in childhood. Here are some statements I hear. “I am useless at sport.” “I am not artistic.” “I cannot do that.”

The feeling of insecurity so many people carry through life was developed in childhood. Lay the blame at the door of parents who knows little or nothing of child psychology. People who go through life as failures have failure instinct instilled in their minds when they were children. When a child comes into being, it is like a piece of clay placed in the hands of parents to mould as they wish. What that child will be as an adult depends largely on the input of parents. You are fortunate if your parents instilled into you self belief and a positive mental attitude that you are capable of achieving anything you put your mind to.

What about schools? They are great for the intellectual teenagers. The educational system inspires vision that nurtures their natural talents creating the environment to excel. It does not provide the same opportunities for the non-intellectuals. Many do not reach the academic level expected by the school and are deemed failures.

The fact is every individual with failure deeply ingrained in their subconscious mind can change and become the success they always wanted. Ben Sweetland said, “A man may plod along for years without accomplishment when sometime unexpectedly a powerful thought will seep into consciousness and a leader is born.”

If you believe you are a failure, how will you be successful? Some individuals do not believe they deserve success. Failure has become a habit. Remember the old adage, “Habit is a cable. We weave a thread each day and at last we cannot break it.” Do not believe this. It is nonsense. Change your belief and change your life.

Some individuals believe in luck. “With my luck, it will never happen.” Thomas Jefferson said, “I am a great believer in luck and the harder I work the more I have of it.”

The difference between success and failure is a state of mind. W. Clement Stone with $100 built a personal fortune of $100million. The great man believed in positive mental attitude. He said, “There is little difference in people but that little difference makes a big difference. That little difference is attitude. The big difference whether it is positive or negative.”

There is no point re-inventing the wheel. Follow the path of the great and successful icons past and present. Thomas Alva Edison never saw failure as an option. In his quest to develop the light bulb, he said, “I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that did not work.”

In the heavyweight arena, a young man burst unto the scene shouting, “I’m the greatest. I’m the greatest.” Cassius Clay, now Mohamed Ali was unknown. He had a powerful and positive belief. I'm the greatest was chiselled into his subconscious mind. He not only became the greatest boxer that ever lived but was voted the greatest athlete of the twentieth century. Did he ever have thoughts of failure? I doubt it.

Have belief. Use a positive belief system as the cornerstone to propel you to where you want to be.

Visualise what you want to do or be. Create motivation that stimulates momentum. Then take action. Success will be your. The stronger your belief, the greater will be your success.

Always keep Napolean Hill’s statement at the forefront of your mind, “Anything the mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve.”