Overheard my neighbor telling his kid to "just believe harder" and it cracked me up

I was out watering my petunias last Tuesday and heard Bob next door telling his 8 year old son that failing a math test means he didn't believe hard enough in himself. Not study more. Not ask for help. Just believe harder. I almost dropped my hose laughing. The kid just stared at him like he grew a second head. Later I saw the boy reading his textbook under a tree with a determined look on his face. I guess Bob's weird pep talk actually worked somehow. Made me think about how we all need a little nonsense motivation sometimes. Anyone else get strange advice that actually ended up helping?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_brown1015d ago

Actually belief matters more than effort sometimes. Weird science backs it up.

elliotm7015d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy Mike spent three years believing he could fix up an old Mustang in his garage. He visualized it every night, told everyone about his plan, really had the faith thing down solid. But you know what happened when he actually popped the hood one weekend? He realized he didn't even know how to change the oil. That car sat under a tarp for another two years before he finally sold it for scrap. Meanwhile, my other friend Sarah just started running every morning before work even though she told nobody about it. She ran that marathon six months later while people were still daydreaming about their own plans. Belief gets you pumped up, but effort is what gets you across the finish line.

lucasjackson15d ago

You said "belief matters more than effort sometimes" but I gotta push back hard on that. I've seen way too many people believe they can do something but never actually put in the real work to make it happen. Belief without effort is just daydreaming with extra steps. You can believe you'll run a marathon all you want, but if you never train you're gonna hit a wall at mile 2. What about all the people who worked their butts off and succeeded even when nobody believed in them? That happens way more often than someone believing their way to the finish line without putting in the hours.