Hey Reader,

About a week ago, two men ran a 26.2-mile London marathon in less than two hours.

It was the first time in history that happened in an official race.

Before the race, someone asked one of them, “Do you think you can break two hours?”

He said yes.

There wasn’t any “yeah, I think maybe if conditions are right and everything lines up” kind of thing.

He believed he could do it even before he did.

And the guy who came second also broke two hours in his first-ever marathon.

I was watching this on a treadmill in Texas at some silly hour, and I got goosebumps.

It reminded me so much of the power of self-belief.

🧠 The image of disbelief

The mind can work against you just as powerfully as it can work for you.

Most of us don’t walk around thinking we don’t believe in ourselves.

That’s really not how doubt works.

All that waiting for the perfect time, to feel prepared, and to feel ready, means you don’t trust yourself to do it just yet.

So you wait.

And wait.

And no matter how good you are, the intrusive thoughts will always find their way.

You start to have doubts, like “Could anyone really do it? Is it even possible?”

That thought could linger and sabotage your progress.

But there’s someone who’s more mentally ready to do something even harder.

They’re not better than you.

They just trust themselves a little more.

❤️ The power of self-belief

When you believe you can do something, you become capable of behaving as you believe.

Then taking action becomes less scary.

We’re in a golden age of what’s possible right now.

People are doing things that weren’t imaginable five years ago.

And a big part of that isn’t just the training or the shoes or the science.

It’s belief compounding on belief.

Focusing and believing in something before it happens in order for it to happen.

Like, there’s so much mental strength you can draw from visualizing all the things that could go wrong, and then how you deal with them.

You’re actually visualizing how you’re dealing with every possible circumstance.

That’s you trusting you can deal with these outcomes.

And that already makes you feel ready a little before you’re ready.

So what’s something you’ve been telling yourself you could do?

But still letting the intrusive thoughts hold you back?

What if you just did it anyway?

Like, just take the first tiny step.

You’re not supposed to feel completely ready.

I say this all the time, the goal that scares you a little is usually the one you should pursue harder.

The only way to find out what you’re actually capable of is to stop waiting to feel certain and just go do it.

As Steve Jobs once said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Do it.

With appreciation,

Huw

PS. We talked about the power of self-belief and a whole lot of great topics in this week’s pod.

Worth a listen.​

Huw Edwards Founder & CEO, h3.xyz​

Our next episode drops on Tuesday

You can get the link here so you don’t miss it next week