Crowns and Roses
~Yuri~
The First Step

It does not matter what you want in life, what matters is how badly you want it.

Whether it is winning a beauty pageant or a zillion rupees, the first step in getting anything in life is to really want it. And really wanting it does not mean just pining for it. I’ve heard a lot of people say they’d give a right arm to get this or an arm and a leg to get that, but when it comes to working towards it, they wouldn’t make enough effort. Most times this lack of effort comes from the fact that deep inside you, you are not convinced that you are capable of realizing your dreams. Your subconscious is repeatedly telling you that it is not possible. It’s one thing to say you wish you could be in Aishwarya Rai’s shoes, but it’s something else to say, and more importantly believe that you could actually be there ! This belief in yourself is something that will always take you places, the kind of places you would love to be in. It is an important step in the entire process.

Just like any other, winning a beauty pageant is also a process. It is a procedure that can be achieved by those who follow the laid down steps, and the first step is to believe, without a shadow of doubt, that you can do it. Knowingly or unknowingly, successful athletes do it, performers do it, achievers do it. There are very few successful people who do not actually believe they can do whatever they set out to achieve. You may surprise yourself and the others sometimes, but these kind of success stories are rare and hard to come by.

When you start believing in yourself, your thinking and actions undergo a certain change. You start disciplining yourself. You start finding time to do things that will help you achieve what you want. You automatically reduce wasted hours in a day because you are obsessed by your goal. You start being more punctual, you start becoming more and more thorough in whatever you do. You learn more, and without seeming to, slowly but surely, you walk towards your destination.

That’s the one thing that stands out when you talk to any successful person. A few years ago, supermodel Cindy Crawford was in India. During my chat with her, the one thing that stood out was her single minded focus, her sincerity towards what she was doing, and her attention to even the smallest detail. She attributed all that to the fact that if she believed she could do something, according to her, the only way to do it was to do it to the best of her capability. This is the one single habit that drove Cindy Crawford to super stardom.
If you want to win a big pageant some day, start now.

First, assess your positive and negative points. Take the help of sincere friends who would give you an honest critique of your personality and your looks. Take stock of your strengths and weaknesses. Now sit down and make a fair assessment of what you have to do to enhance the strengths and overcome the weaknesses, and then, honestly ask yourself the question : “How badly do I want it ?”

However, be warned about one thing. Self belief does not mean false assurances to yourself. What it means is awareness of your drawbacks and a certain game plan to rid yourself of those shortcomings.

These days many young people want to become famous and they have many of the ingredients that are needed to become stars. They have a great goal, they have the required face and a great body, the intelligence and the charm. They also take the first bold steps towards achieving the goal. Unfortunately, they also have very little self-belief. They can’t see themselves in the role they want to achieve. Their beliefs are like a force hidden deep inside them, holding them back, stunting their progress, preventing them from taking the actions necessary to succeed. Really, at no stage do they really believe they are going to be successful.

Do you have a picture of success in your mind and a feeling that this is meant to be? Take a moment to think back over some of the things you have tried and failed to achieve over the last few years. As you do, ask yourself the question. When you started doing that thing, did you really believe you would succeed?. You will realize that in all these cases you did not.

It is vital that before you start to move towards the crown, take time out now, before you start any other preparation towards a big pageant. See if you believe that you can win, actually believe that you will succeed. Without achieving this first step, jumping to the next steps is not worth the effort.

If you want to ask me anything else about the subject, contact me on yuriyuriyuri@gmail.com