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The crowd is roaring. The noise from the clapping and stomping is deafening. “De-fense.” De-fense.” The basketball player raises his arms to shoot. The clock is ticking down—five, four, three… The crowd gets even louder. “De-fense. De-fense.” The player shoots the ball. As it soars through the air, the clock runs out. “Beeeeeeeep.” If the ball goes in the basket, his team wins the championship. If it misses, they lose.

Sometimes the difference between winning and losing comes down to a millisecond--or a point, a stroke, a nose, or a dime. As any amateur or professional athlete knows, there is often a thin razor’s edge between victory and defeat.

It’s not only in sports. Surely you’ve caught yourself wondering, as you drive through an affluent neighborhood while admiring the homes, “What do they have that I don’t? How did they get all this? Are these people better than me? Are they more worthy?” The answer is, “No.” Everything they have achieved, you can too.

Bob Proctor writes in You Were Born Rich, “You are every bit as good, or as powerful, as anyone you see, know, or even hear about. Remember, since the difference between them and you is only in the area of accomplishments, and since there is something you can do that will vastly improve the results you are achieving presently, you have the potential to become even more successful than they are.”

What’s the difference, then, between those people who are wildly successful, and those who simply get by? How can you get to the other side of that razor’s edge?

There is an easy five-step plan that, if you follow it, will help you get to the other side. The steps of the plan follow the acronym SHAVE. They are:

Self Image
Have a Goal
Affirmations
Visualize
Effect Change

Self Image

Psychologists for generations have been writing about self-image. What is self-image? Simply put, self-image is the way you see yourself. Do you see yourself as a successful person, or as one who is struggling?

Joan Eleanor Gustafson, author of A Woman Can Do That, offers a very strong link between self-image and success. She states, “Many of us think that others have more self-confidence than we do…After all, other people were born into families with more money, had a better chance for education, and had doting parents. Other women are prettier, they’re taller, they’re shorter, they’re thinner, or have better figures.

They’re married, they’re single, or they have better behaved kids. Maybe their bosses like them better, or they are always at the right time or the right place…The truth is that self-confidence is available to each of us…It doesn’t matter where or when we were born. Our social background does not matter. It does not even matter if we have made huge mistakes in our lives. Each of us can develop the self-confidence needed to succeed.”

How can you develop the self-confidence you need to be successful? Develop a “self-confidence routine” that you can use any time to give yourself a boost. Here are some ideas to include in your self-confidence routine.

1. Wear confidence-boosting clothes. Each of us has “power outfits” that we know we look good in. Whether it be a suit and tie, or a nice pair of jeans, put on clothes that make you feel your best.
2. Put on some lively music. There are some songs that can put you in a good mood anytime you hear them. Queen’s We Are The Champions, Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like A Woman, or Frank Sinatra’s My Way are all examples of music that can change your mood immediately. Compile your own list, and include listening to the songs in your self-confidence routine.
3. Give yourself a pep-talk. Don’t feel silly to do this out loud. Simply find a quiet place and tell yourself, “You can do this! You are strong, and successful, and have what it takes to make this work.”
   

The most important element of the self-confidence routine is to accept your unique talents and skills. Remember that you don’t need to live up to anyone else’s yardstick of what is successful or not. Believing in yourself and knowing that you are uniquely talented is the first step. After this, all other things will follow.

Have A Goal

The second element to getting to the other side of the razor’s edge is having clear goals. Brian Tracy is a world-renowned goal-setting expert. Brian says, “The ability to set goals and make plans for their accomplishment is the ‘master skill’ of success. It is the single most important skill that you can learn and perfect. Goal-setting will do more to help you achieve the things you want in life than will anything else you’ve been exposed to. Becoming an expert at goal-setting and goal-achieving is something that you absolutely must do if you wish to fulfill your potential. Goals enable you to do the work you want to do, to live where you want to live, to be with the people you enjoy, and to become the kind of person you want to become. And there is no limit to the financial rewards you can obtain. All you have to do is to set a goal for financial success, make a plan, and then work the plan until you succeed in that area.” Here are five keys Brian Tracy gives in his book The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success.

1. Get Started. Sometimes, the only difference between a successful person and a failure is that the successful person has the courage to get started. Begin moving toward the accomplishment of a specific goal.
2. Make Opportunity Knock. Successful people do not wait for opportunities to turn their goals into reality; rather, they make their opportunities, because they are perfectly clear about the kind of life they wish to create. Once you have taken the time to decide exactly what you want, you will experience an endless flow of opportunities that will help move you in that direction.
3. Strengthen Your Abilities. Many people hesitate to set high, challenging goals because they lack the ability necessary to turn those goals into reality. But remember that we all lacked knowledge and experience when we started out in our careers or fields of expertise. Since you gain the ability necessary for high achievement through knowledge and experience, if you increase the speed at which you acquire both of those, you increase the speed at which you move ahead.
4. Leadership. Leadership is simply the ability to get results. You begin to get results when you accept full responsibility for yourself, for your job and for the outputs required in your position. You demonstrate leadership when you refuse to make excuses or blame anyone or anything for the problems you are having. The acceptance of the responsibility of leadership enables you to move ahead and take action. When you are not satisfied with your job or income, and you sit down and make a written plan to change it, and then take action on that plan, without waiting for anyone’s approval or permission, you are behaving like a leader.
5. Stay with it. Between you and every goal, there is a series of obstacles, and the bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacles. Your decision to be, have and do something out of the ordinary entails facing difficulties and challenges that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else.
   

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