Whenever possible I like to use analogies when I write because I believe they can build a picture in your mind of what it is I’m trying to get across and hopefully help you with.

In doing so I hope it gives me a better chance of helping you find a way to overcome any limiting situation in your life by either changing a negative picture to positive or reinforcing an already positive picture.

So what do I mean when I say – When Life Seems All Uphill?

Have you had times in your life when there are challenges that you need to deal with but find that you just can’t summon up the energy or belief to overcome them?

I know I have and it used to struggle to find a solution.

But then one day the answer came to me in the strangest of ways.

I am what I think you might call a recreational cyclist.

What do I mean by that?

Well I love to get out on my bike, not to compete in races or even to cycle with a group but just to get out there a couple of times a week on my own – usually on Saturday or Sunday – and just enjoy the ride. Travel at my pace. Stop if  want to. Take in the beauty of nature. And most important to think.

One day I found myself on a new route I hadn’t tried before. It all went well until I turned down lovely country lane. It started all nice and flat. But suddenly when I came around the corner there was short but really steep climb ahead of me.

I hit the bottom of the hill full of energy – as I thought – but as I climbed it got harder and harder and harder until in the end, halfway up, I got off and walked the rest of the way.

I had given up. Not a nice feeling.

Now let’s relate that to life – isn’t that what we sometimes do in life we get halfway through a project and give up.

But in those instances the reality is slightly different to my analogy. Because we don’t decide to progress slower in life – walk rather than pedal – instead there is a tendency turn round and take the easy route back down to the bottom of the hill and decide to go a completely different way.

That’s called giving up on your dreams and goals. Not a nice feeling either.

Going back to my cycle ride. At the top of the hill I got back on my bike and started to pedal my way home.

But as I said earlier cycling for me is a great thinking time and as I made my way home a powerful quotation by the great Henry Ford kept coming into my mind.

“If you think you can or you think you can’t you are right”

But as I pedaled along I changed the words a little bit to my own way of thinking. And it became, and for me will always remain…

“I you believe you can or believe you can’t you are right”

I chose these words because to me believing is a much stronger emotion than thinking hence my little modification.

So with my new mindset I set of the next day to cycle the same route. But this time as I hit the bottom of the hill I started to repeat out loud – I believe I can, I believe I can, I believe I can.

And I kept it going until I hit the top of the hill. I made it. Yes!!

Every time I cycled that route I went through the same process until one day I realized I had made it to the top of the hill without saying the words out loud. I was now just saying the words to myself. Quietly but with belief.

Then one day I realized I wasn’t say the words at all.

So what had happened?

The belief that I can get up that hill had become firmly programmed into my subconscious mind and I knew instinctively that as I reached the bottom of the hill I was able to achieve the climb.

I truly believe I can get up the hill.

From that day on I realized the mindset change I had achieved on what I now call my ‘I Can Hill’ is a technique I could use every day in my life. The words ‘I Believe I Can’ are now a habit in my life.

Whenever the task ahead seems daunting or I lose focus on a goal I have set I take few moments to remind myself – I Believe I Can – and that carries me onward to success.

Sometimes it takes more effort than others but I believe these four words will always get me through when Life Seems All Uphill.

Why not find yourself some quiet time and picture my analogy
and then picture yourself making those four words a habit in your life – when it seems all uphill.

I would love you to give it a try and see how it can make a difference in your life. As I so often say – What have you got to lose?

Make it a habit in your life and always believe you can.

“Your Habits Control Your Life – But You Control Your Habits
You Can Take Back Control of Your Life”

Filed under: Habits