Long have we heard about the power of the human mind. Many believe the power so great that we can even heal ourselves by willing it. Most certainly attribute a wide array of benefits by simply thinking, or visualizing, the desired outcomes; from sports to academics the technique of visualization is widely practiced.
Few things illustrate a point better than a story, or in this case, a joke. As evidence, I give you the following bit of humor called One Marine:
A large group of Taliban soldiers are moving down a road when they hear a voice call from behind a sand-dune. "One Marine is better than ten Taliban". The Taliban commander quickly sends 10 of his best soldiers over the dune whereupon a gun-battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes, then silence.
The voice then calls out "One Marine is better than one hundred Taliban". Furious, the Taliban commander sends his next best 100 troops over the dune and instantly a huge gun fight commences. After 10 minutes of battle, again silence.
The voice calls out again "One Marine is better than one thousand Taliban". The enraged Taliban Commander musters one thousand fighters and sends them across the dune. Cannon, rocket and machine gun fire ring out as a huge battle is fought. Then silence.
Eventually one wounded Taliban fighter crawls back over the dune and with his dying words tells his commander, "Don't send any more men, it's a trap. There's actually two of them."
While this is intended to be humorous, make no mistake that United States Marines believe they are that effective, that fearsome. They work, train and fight with the unshakable conviction that they are an irresistible force. And while many factors contribute to this real ferocity and effectiveness on the field of battle, the belief in themselves, their undeniable certainty in their strength and prowess, is core to the reality they create; namely, that they are the most revered and feared (by their enemies).
This post isn't about the Marine Corps though. It is about the power of belief. Imagine if we successfully instilled such strong convictions in our colleagues in the workplace. Imagine if the people we worked with truly believed they were a force in the marketplace and that they were the very best at what they did.
Imagine the results.
