Have you ever felt like you’re getting the same message over and over again from disparate sources? I had that experience this summer while reading three books from different genres and it made me stand up and pay attention. Take a look at these quotes:

What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. – Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill

Our beliefs about what we are and what we can be precisely determine what we will be. If we believe in magic, we’ll live a magical life. – Unlimited Power, Anthony Robbins

Hope looks forward. Faith knows it has already received and acts accordingly. – Your Word is Your Wand, Florence Scovel Shinn

What this tells me is that belief and faith in self are absolutely essential to success. On one hand, those words feel a little simplistic or trite. On the other hand, they are pure power. I prefer to go with the latter outlook, in my own life and with my clients. I encourage them to put their faith down on paper. If they write a clear, ambitious vision of what their life looks like with their goals achieved, that tells me they think those things are possible, even probable. Now that’s what a life coach wants to hear!

The word “faith” also came up in another area of my life. Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Tami Agassi, a breast cancer survivor who at age 35 is the executive director of the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. An amiable and engaging woman, she was in town to see brother Andre in the U.S. Open and we met to talk about a celebrity cookbook she has co-authored to raise money for cancer research. “I feel like you set any goal with perseverance and dedication and you can get to that goal. But there’s always the element of the unknown and a lot of the unknown is just relying on faith,” Agassi said. Her final product, Star Palate, is a glowing testimonial to what that kind of faith can produce. It’s a powerful message.

So how much more convincing do you need to challenge yourself to elevate your thinking? If you believe you can get your book published, you will. If you believe you can land a role on a television series, you will. If you believe you always draw bad luck, you will. If you believe it’s time to do what you were put on earth to do, THEN IT IS. What are you waiting for? I’m handing you the “magic” formula here. You can keep doing what you’re doing. Or you can pay attention. Your choice.