“If you can believe it, you can achieve it.”

Is this just bumper sticker psychology, or is there something to it?

Back in 2016, the sports world was caught up in the story of the World Series, in which the Cleveland Indians played the Chicago Cubs through a grueling, seven-game series. At one point, the Indians were up 3-1 (a lock for the win), yet the Cubs battled back and won the championship in a seventh-game nail-biter on November 2, 2016. What made this series even more memorable was that both teams hadn’t won the world championship in decades. Cleveland’s last title came in 1948, and Chicago last won in 1908.

According to news reports, the victory celebration in Chicago was the seventh largest human gathering in history. Over five million people gathered to celebrate the Cubs’ win – in a city not unaccustomed to winning. After all, the Bears, Blackhawks, and Bulls have all had at least one world/league championship.) So why was this year so different? Why was this team the one that finally broke “the curse?”

The extra ingredients

“Despite your hard work and talent, you’ll struggle to reach your full potential when you’ve got certain thoughts, behaviors, and feelings holding you back.” (“13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do”, Amy Rosin)

As Rosin describes it, hard work and talent alone aren’t enough to reach our full potential. Many talented individuals never win championships, and many hard workers never get promoted. So what are the extra ingredients in that success formula, so to speak? Thoughts, behaviors, and feelings.

There is a close connection between what we think (thoughts), how we feel (feelings), and what we do (behaviors). In short, our thoughts about a certain event or situation cause certain feelings within us. Those feelings lead us to act in certain ways – which tends to reinforce what we believed in the beginning.

For example, if I think that I am a failure, then I may feel discouraged about an upcoming task or opportunity. Because of those feelings, I probably won’t do well in accomplishing the task. This only confirms my initial thoughts that I am, in fact, a failure. In other words, if I believe it, it often comes true.

Breaking “The Curse”

So how does this relate to the Cubs and their success in overcoming a so-called 108-year curse? Over the previous eleven decades, the refrains, “There’s always next year,” and “Lovable Losers” had been an annual part of the Cubs’ story. Their history is full of “almosts” – most notably in 2003 when a fan’s attempt to catch a foul ball cost the Cubs a potential World Series run.

As a result, three or four generations of native Chicagoans had grown up with the annual self-fulfilling prophecy that their hometown team simply couldn’t win “the Big One.” While there have were varying levels of talent and effort on the Cubs’ rosters over the years, most people didn’t believe that the Cubs would ever be world champions.

What a difference winning a World Series makes.

Perhaps the lesson for the rest of us is that, despite what we may have believed about success in life, it really does come down to talent, hard work, and possibility thinking (belief). A lack of talent can be overcome by the other two. Even great talent combined with confidence (and some luck) can result in success, but no amount of talent and hard work can bring ultimate success unless we believe it is, in fact, a real possibility.

In other words, if we believe it, then it’s possible for us to achieve it.

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