The first skill each and every one of us should learn, if we are to have any chance of bettering our lives and reaching our dreams, is to develop a strong positive belief in ourselves and our capabilities.

The beliefs we have about ourselves are responsible for who we ultimately become and what we eventually achieve in life. Indeed, a positive self-belief is a prerequisite for achieving anything and everything in life.

If you believe that you will fail, you will! If you believe that you will succeed, you will! If you believe you will be rich, you will be rich. If you believe you are destined for poverty, you will never rise above that. It is a fact, that you become like the person you think and believe you are and achieve only what you think and believe you are capable of.

Right from the start, Chuck had to learn this first life skill. He had to believe that he had the capability of making a better life for himself and that he deserved this life before he could even begin to move forward and go after it.

Before we can even begin to imagine what it is we want from life, we first have to believe that we have the capability to achieve great possibilities. Without this belief, we would never even attempt to do anything about our dreams. What's the point of imagining a better life when we have already convinced ourselves that we are incapable of achieving it?

Don't be fooled into believing that "you've either got it or you haven't and there is nothing you can do about it." This is one of the most common misconceptions and is why people do not rise above their situation.

If you do not believe me, I want you to think about those who have yet to be born. They will eventually grab at the very opportunities you missed, rising to the top of their professions, running their own successful companies and enjoying great wealth. Amongst them, will also be those who are going to become the great leaders of tomorrow, Presidents of their nations and athletic stars. I believe that you have an advantage over them as you are alive now and they have yet to be born.

It's easy to say "Believe in yourself and you will succeed," but how do you develop a powerful belief in yourself? Just as Chuck did, you have to ask yourself, "What limiting beliefs do I have?" Then work on getting rid of them and rather focus on uplifting and positive beliefs.

Let's list some of Chuck's limiting beliefs:

• You are either lucky enough to be born into the good life or destined for poverty.
• He should forget about becoming a teacher, as he has no education. 
• He should be satisfied with what he has and stop wishing for more.

Chuck began to rid himself of these limiting beliefs by refusing to accept them. He began to convince himself, that he was destined for better things and could rise above his situation to achieve his dreams.

There is a popular saying that goes, "You create your own ceiling in life!" What it means, is that you unconsciously set your own limits to what you can and cannot do, due to your beliefs about yourself and your capabilities. The more limiting beliefs you have about yourself, the lower your self-created ceiling will be and the less you will achieve. When you start to rid yourself of limiting beliefs, you raise your ceiling and are able to achieve more. In this way Chuck had unknowingly raised the ceiling to his potential.

I have met many successful people in my time. All of them had one very important thing in common - before they succeeded in any way, they first believed they could. They valued themselves highly, choosing to raise their ceiling and refusing to accept any limitations to their potential.

You must learn to believe in yourself and your capabilities. Your beliefs hold great power. They make up the person you become and will influence what you achieve in life. I want you to start believing that you can do anything you truly put your mind to. If you believe you can, you will go to great lengths to prove yourself right. However, if you believe you can't, you will make no effort and you will fail as your ceiling will be so low that you will see no opportunities to better your life at all.

Now I have shared with you the first vital life skill on the road to success. Note it well, for when you start believing you can, the ceiling to your potential will rise a little higher so you can see further and achieve a great deal more. Let me now return to the twins …

This is an excerpt from the new book "Where Has My Ceiling Gone?" by young up-and-coming authors Warren Veenman & Sally Eichhorst. There original bestseller "Unleash Your Full Potential & Live Your Ultimate Life" is now in its 17th printing. For more info visit their site: http://www.motivationquote.com/booka