From Forty Horses to Forty Horsepower

When the United States was a young country, many years ago, the main form of help on the early farms was the horse. It proved to be a reliable, yet slow, way to pull a plow and till a field.

When the first tractor was brought to the Tennessee Valley, it caused quite a sensation. People from all over excitedly came to see this mechanical marvel. There it was – forty horsepower replacing the power of forty horses. A large plough was connected to it and, when the tractor driver put it into gear, the new tractor began to plow.

Everyone watched in amazement as the machine created one furrow, and another and another. The tractor plowed fast and straight. After a couple of hours, the engine suddenly sputtered, coughed and stopped. Every mechanic in the valley was summoned to bring the tractor back to life.

Nothing worked. The new tractor had become a useless lump of metal. When all the efforts had been exhausted, a mechanic from a tractor factory was brought in from a nearby city. Upon his arrival, he examined every inch of the tractor. He finally asked: “Did anyone put in some gasoline?”

He explained to everyone that forty horsepower won’t move if it is not supplied with fuel. Sure enough, one can of fuel solved the problem. The forty horses in the tractor came to life and continued to plow with amazement.

There is a direct correlation between the tractor and human beings. Let’s compare the fuel in the tractor with the confidence we all desire. The lack of fuel in the tractor stopped it in its tracks. The lack of confidence in people can stop us in our tracks.

Just think about the great achievers of our time. Think about the people who are happy because they’re doing what they love doing. Think about people who’ve created wonderful, loving relationships. Think about people who have their priorities straight and their lives balanced.

People like that seem to have a great deal of confidence. They’re guiding their own lives instead of letting their lives run them. So, if you lack the confidence to make important moves in your life, how do we put that fuel into your mind?

Over the years, as a professional speaker, I’ve been in many different speaking situations in front of many different audiences. I can’t tell you how many times insecure thoughts entered my mind before I started to speak.

Thoughts such as, “How do I handle this particular audience? How do I make sure they get my message? How do I get over the lack of confidence?”

The fuel that I put into my mental tank, at such a moment, is the following. I ask myself, “In the past, how many times have I actually bombed as a speaker? How many times have I not been well-received by an audience?” The answer to both questions is always “Rarely.”

Thus, my lack of confidence, or fear, at such moments, is based on false emotions – as are most of the moments in which we lack confidence in life. If you’ve done that which you fear before, how many times did you actually fail? If you’ve never done it before, ask yourself the following question: “What is the worst that could happen?”

If the worst that could happen is failure, so what? Great achievements are usually built on a whole series of failures. Ask the champions. Babe Ruth, while setting a record for baseball home runs, also set a record for the most strike outs. He just simply kept coming up to bat.

Another way to gain confidence is to simply pretend that you have it. Your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between something real and something that you pretend. Say a confidence affirmation, such as the one below, the first thing each morning and the last thing each night.

Just say it. Don’t analyze it. Within 21 days, which is how long it takes to establish a new habit, you’ll suddenly find yourself acting “as if” and you will have made great progress on the road to confidence.

So, if you’re the farmer, and your new tractor has stopped, perhaps some fuel is needed. Get some confidence fuel by interjecting some high octane into your mind in the form of new, positive, confidence building thoughts. There is a good possibility that you could plow a whole fertile new field.

A Daily Confidence Affirmation

I am a very confident person in many different situations. I am a Champion!