Self belief is a wonderful thing.

I know from my own life experiences that whenever I have been filled with dread or doubt I am unable to perform at a satisfactory level. Just the other day I was using a claw hammer and a lever to dismantle a packing crate. At the time I was making quite a noise hammering away when my wife came down to the workshop to see what I was doing.

Jokingly, I quipped: "I haven't hit my fingers with the hammer yet!" Guess what I did within minutes of uttering those words? Yep. Bang. Yeeowch! Actually, I didn't say that. It was something more colorful.

You see, in retrospect, what I did was plant the seed in my mind that I was going to hit my fingers with the hammer. My mind set about fulfilling the thought.

Not only do we become what we think about, we do what we think about. Whether your thoughts are positive or negative your mind will act on them.

If we are directed by our dominating thoughts, why not implant our minds with things that will benefit us? For instance, if you really want to become a pilot then concentrate on that. Become obsessed with it. Learn all you can about it.

Do you think that Michael Jordan became the greatest basket-baller of all time by not thinking about and concentrating on the game of basketball? During his brief sojourn into baseball was he successful? Basketball was his love. He couldn't get it out of his mind. So he returned to basketball to lead the Chicago Bulls for another three years before retiring, making yet another comeback then retiring for good in 2003.

What are your dominating thoughts? Are you thinking about the things that will make you the person that you ultimately want to be? Do you have deep and powerful thoughts about these things?

If the first step to becoming the person that you want to be starts in the mind then set that train in motion.

One thing that can really help you is to sit down and write out your life goals. Take as many pages as you need. After you have crafted your life story and the way that you want it to unfold start summarizing it. Try to get it down to a single page.

Once you have done this you should read it as often as possible. At the bare minimum you should read it at least once a day. Preferably you should do this first thing in the morning and make it the last thing you do before going to bed at night, then as many times in between as you desire. It all depends how strong your desire is.

The more times you read your plan, the more you will implant it into your mind. Remember, your mind cannot discern between reality and fiction. It will simply act on it - just like my mind did when I joked to my wife about not hitting my fingers with the hammer.

Think negative and you will receive negative. Alternatively, think positive and that is what you will receive.

So, do you have a plan? What thoughts are dominating your mind?