Eliminate The 5 Destructive Ds

“Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.”
Robert Collier

The number one reason many people fail to succeed is because they simply do not believe in themselves. They may act like they believe, say they believe, or pretend they believe but deep down inside they question their own abilities. This disbelief makes it impossible for us to progress and reach our goals. Thus, learning to truly believe in ourselves is crucial to success. So what destroys our belief or how can we maintain our confidence? One way is by avoiding the 5 destructive Ds.

Often, in the beginning when we establish goals we may truly believe we can accomplish them. However, as time goes on, things get tough, they do not go as planned, and we begin to lose faith and fall into a destructive pattern that I’ve learned to be called the 5 Destructive Ds. One D often leads to the next D which in turn slowly erodes our ability to believe. When we complete the cycle, we are left in a state of disbelief. Thus, when we feel our belief faltering, it is usually because we have begun to follow the “Destructive D” pattern. And sadly, many of us repeat this cycle time and time again. The Destructive Ds are doubt, discouragement, distraction, lack of diligence, and disbelief.

Doubt is the first D that begins the cycle to disbelief. Once we begin to doubt, our ability to accomplish our goals or what we want in life becomes much more unlikely. Doubt plants the first seeds of failure.

Doubt gives way to discouragement. When we become discouraged, our passion or desire for what it is we are trying to accomplish diminishes, and our ability to be successful decreases.

Once discouraged, it becomes very easy to be distracted. Distraction takes our eyes off the ball and changes our attention from what we want to accomplish to something else. Distraction interrupts our discipline and focus and knocks us off the path—maybe pushing us to an easier more comfortable path.

Distraction leads to a lack of diligence. This lack of diligence and effort completely destroys our faith in our abilities to accomplish what it is we want to accomplish. Once we stop truly trying, this ultimately leads to disbelief.

Disbelief is the final D which destroys our ability to be successful. If we do not believe, we will not succeed.

This is a very common cycle which many people tend to follow. Thus, understanding this pattern can help us recognize when we are heading down the wrong road. Once we’ve identified we are in this cycle, we must stop immediately and get back on track. Breaking out of the cycle immediately can restore our belief, helping us to accomplish our goals.

In the end, without a true lasting belief in oneself, our progression and capacity to be successful at anything is greatly limited. We can choose to overcome and avoid the 5 Destructive Ds with discipline, recognition, and understanding, or we can continue to follow the cycle that leads to failure. Don’t get stuck in this destructive cycle but instead, learn to eliminate disbelief! When we believe, we can achieve anything!