Mohammed Ali is considered to be one of the greatest boxers of our time. Whenever he was going into the ring he used say certain positive affirmations, “I am the greatest… I am the best… I am the greatest and I am the best!”. He used to look his opponent in the eye and say, “You have the belt, but I am the champion”.

Why did Mohammed Ali used to say these things before he entered the ring? We can say it was his way of thinking positive and keeping himself upbeat for the match. He was a champion outside the ring even before he went into the ring. So, the question arises: is positive thinking important to be successful? The very simple answer is yes. But positive thinking alone isn’t enough.

Yes, it is important to have positive thinking, but it’s not good enough on its own to ensure success. No matter how positive I am, I am not a surgeon and will not be able to do a successful operation on a patient. No matter how positive I think, I cannot make the patient survive the surgery.

This is what I have learnt from my experience: positive thinking + positive effort + positive actions = increased probability of success.

Before Mohammad Ali went into the ring he was not eating popcorn and watching TV. He was practicing with his trainer. He was in the gym lifting weights and punching the bag. So, he was exercising positive effort and carrying out positive actions and, as a result, he was one of the greatest boxers of our time.

Whatever you do – whether it’s working in direct sales, building a team or growing your organisation – my advice is to think positively, but back it up with positive effort and put in the positive actions so that you will be the next Mohammed Ali in our direct sales industry.

Vishnu Annapareddy is an Organisational Head with SALESWORKS GROUP ASIA & the Country Head of Philippines.

To find out more about Vishnu Annapareddy and SALESWORKS GROUP ASIA, please visit the SALESWORKS GROUP ASIA website.