Belief => Actions => Results
A couple of years ago, I started to build a big vision for my business. This led me to think about the importance of believing something is possible in order to realize this big vision.
In other words, why would anyone pursue an ambitious goal if they didn’t think it was possible to achieve it?
And, if someone believes that something is possible, but just requires a certain amount of work, then they have a formula for action that leads to the results they want. So why not pursue it?
This led me to develop a cycle, which I now reflect on regularly and use as a guiding light in anything I’m trying to accomplish:
- Outsized Belief leads you to take…
- Ambitious Actions, which in turn generate…
- Incredible Results, giving you the confidence to have…
From the last bullet point, you simply return to the top.
This cycle of “Belief => Action => Results” is my driving force, but I think it’s generally the way anyone accomplishes an ambitious goal. Let’s dive into it today and talk about how these three elements work together to drive life-altering changes.
Everything Starts With Belief
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.” - J.M. Barrie
I don’t believe in magic, but if I did, the power of believing you can do something would be part of my argument for it. I’ve met people who have done truly extraordinary things simply because they didn’t accept the conventional wisdom that told them those things were impossible.
Similarly, I’ve met people with huge potential who never accomplished anything substantial because they didn’t believe they could really do it.
There’s some science behind this too. In a recent episode of Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia’s Journal Club, they shared a study where smokers were given placebos and told that each had a different nicotene potency. Scientists observed under imaging that their brains reacted like they had received proportional doses of nicotine, even though many had simply received placebos. In other words, the placebo effect not only causes our brains to react like we received a dose of something, but like we receieved a specific amount of something.
If you believe that medicine will work, it improves its efficacy. If you believe you can sell a $10,000 contract, you’re more likely to close it. If you believe you can run a $10,000,000 business, you’re more likely to build it.
Steven Kotler asserts something similar in his research:
“If you’re interested in being your best, your inner monologue needs to support the best you want to be. In fact, when it comes to sustained performance, because doubt and disappointment are constant companions, controlling your thoughts is often the ball game.” - The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer
So, belief is important, but belief on its own is not enough.
If it were, all the dreamers with a Ferrari on their vision board would have one by now. Belief is powerful, but only insofar as it encourages action.
But Actions Must Match Belief
“Faith without works is dead” - The Bible, James 2:17
If you truly believe something you want is attainable and you don’t attain it, it’s either because:
- It wasn’t really possible OR
- You didn’t put in the work to get it.
So, assuming you truly have belief in what you’re doing, the only barrier left to achievement is work, or actions.
I’ll add that not all actions are created equal. Deliberate, focused actions are key. You cannot waste your limited activity on useless actions, but it’s often hard to tell which actions are really useful without hindsight. That said, you can’t get hindsight without trying something, so you might as well just start doing something.
“One thing’s for sure. To be great, you must have a bias towards ACTION. if all else, TAKE ACTION.” - Tom Ferry
Action is where you spend the majority of your time as an entrepreneur.
The breakdown is probably 5% envisioning the end result, 5% measuring and analyzing, and 90% just doing the actions required to get there. This is why a lot of pure visionary entrepreneurs struggle to get beyond the ideation phase. Ideas are a tiny fraction of what makes successful people reach goals, but they’re the place where dreamers love to spend their time.
So, you have to love actions if you want to achieve big things, but there’s one last step. It’s also important to be able to step back and see the results that those actions led to.
Seeing Results Re-Kindles Belief
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” - Colin Powell
There are no bad results from this cycle.
There are results that don’t match your expected outcomes, but any result is equivalent to learning, and learning is how you make your actions more effective.
“The way to measure your progress is backward against where you started, not against your ideal.” — Dan Sullivan, The Gap and the Gain
For example, at the beginning of 2024, I set myself a goal to do 20 pull-ups. At the time, I could do 2, so this was ambitious. But, starting with a big goal, led me to research the way that people who do reach this number approach it. I found programs, realized that I’d need to lose weight and gain muscle, transformed my diet, and started measuring my progress.
11 months later, I’m now able to do 8 pull-ups. I didn’t meet my goal (yet), but I lost 28 lbs of fat, gained 5 lbs of muscle, and have a refined plan for 2025.
Seeing results from your work is a huge part of maintaining motivation. It leads you to believe bigger things are possible, and to put in the work required to make progress towards them.
Conclusion
“To make a goal effective, you’ve got to test its outer-limits. Push it out as far as you can. Only once you make your goal impossible will you stop operating based on your current assumptions and knowledge.” - Dan Sullivan, 10x Is Easier Than 2x
I believe most people need to set bigger goals.
It’s easy to sit back and say, “I just want to run a small business,” or “I’m happy as I am, why change?”
But this is such a shortsighted and potential-limiting outlook.
Small businesses don’t stay small. Without input and work, they die. Stability is only achieved through growth, and that requires personal growth from the founder.
Notice that I didn’t say you have to work more. I didn’t say you have to ignore your family.
You simply have to enter into the Belief => Actions => Results cycle intentionally and regularly.