Internationally acclaimed dancer Michael Flatley holds the world record for the fastest tap dance at 28 taps a second. I remember watching an interviewer tell him, “That’s impossible.” Flatley replied that nothing is impossible if you believe. As incredible as this feat is, a hummingbird beats its wings some 80 times per second. And though it is hard to fathom, mosquitoes beat their wings an amazing 600 times per second.

In Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece Alice through the Looking Glass, Alice says “One can’t believe in impossible things.” The White Queen replies, “I daresay you haven’t had much practice. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

There is an old tale about an avid duck hunter who was in the market for a new bird dog. To his great surprise he found a dog that could actually walk on water to retrieve a duck. Certain his buddies would never believe him, he decided to invite a pessimist friend along on his next hunt.

Before long several ducks soar over the water where the two hunters are waiting. They fire off a shot and a duck falls into the lake. Immediately the dog jumps into the water and walks across it to retrieve the bird, never getting more than his feet wet.

The friend saw everything but didn’t say a word. On the drive home, the hunter asked his friend, “Did you notice anything unusual about my new dog?”

“I sure did,” responded his friend. “He can’t swim.”

Optimum success coach Joseph McClendon shares, “Most of our lives are governed by beliefs about possibility or success or happiness we’ve picked up unconsciously over the years.” Sadly, many like the pessimist miss what is right in front of their eyes because they are held back by their beliefs.

The key to true fulfillment is consciously evaluating the habitual belief patterns you have practiced and removing the beliefs that are not effective or fail to take you closer to your goals.

For instance, people who are broke constantly talk about how much money they don’t have. Their thoughts are continually about living a life of scarcity, and so they continue to produce the very thing they are trying to avoid. It is true that what you focus on you feel. It works the same way in relationships, people who have unfulfilling ones always talk about how bad their relationship is, and they continue to reproduce the very thing that dominates their thoughts.

On the flip side, people with passionate relationships and financial success have certain beliefs about what is possible in those areas that other people don’t.

This is why it is important once old beliefs are abandoned that you replace them with empowering thoughts that lead you in the direction of your true potential. You can find new beliefs by seeking out someone who is already achieving the results you want in a certain area and finding out what their habitual beliefs are, and then simply emulate their thoughts. In short, if you model their belief structure then you will automatically move closer to your desired outcome.

This is why it is imperative to make conscious what often is done automatically in our thoughts. It is true that we must guard the entrance to our mind. It is also true that we must ensure that our new beliefs are in line with our highest values.