Becoming the "Greatest" Is Within Your Power


“I am the greatest!”
Muhammad Ali

In his book I AM, Howard Falco points out that Muhammad Ali declared himself the greatest boxer before he ever established that fact in the boxing ring. It’s Falco’s theory that Ali became the world’s greatest boxer because he believed himself to be the greatest. And Falco bases this theory in his personal belief that the purpose of the ego is to reinforce- and ultimately make real—whatever we believe about ourselves.

I agree with Falco’s theory. Certainly in my own life, I have become the sum of my thoughts—of my I Am statements—which were too often self-negating. Throughout my life, my brain has been a vast sewer of negative I Am thoughts: I am not good enough, I am ugly, I am boring, I am stupid, I am bad, I am a disgrace, I am unworthy, I am unlovable… The list could go on and on. By the time I entered grade school I was already paralyzed by these thoughts. All of the wonderment, excitement and breath of life had been knocked out of me by what adults told me about myself. I believed what they said, I repeated those beliefs to myself, my ego reinforced them and I became worthless in my own eyes.

This is self-sabotage at it’s most dangerous. Thankfully, in the last 16 years, I’ve been able to reverse much of the damage done by those insidious self-negating beliefs. Over these 16 years of personal redemption, I have reclaimed who I truly am, bit by bit. I have become more and more comfortable with being who I am, and less and less comfortable with being who other people have said I should be, or may still think I should be. It’s been my choice, and as Falco says “The power of choice is the power of the universe that exists within you. If you claim this power through understanding the infinite love and perfection that you are, eternal peace and tranquility will be yours.”

I claim that power NOW. Today I say—and believe—that I am wonderful, I am intelligent, I am handsome, I am spiritually-connected to my soul, I am kind, I am confident, I am worthy of love, I am lovable, I am a great writer, I am great at understanding and empathizing with the human condition… and the list could go on and on. I believe I am the greatest I can be in this present moment, but with each moment that passes, I have opportunities to grow even greater. Believe the same about yourself.

Believe in your own worthiness, lovability and perfection. Correct your negative thinking. Capture the caterpillars within your head, become aware of them and lovingly transform them into butterflies of self-affirmation and self-love. Believe you are the greatest and become just that. You become what you believe—it’s a universal law—and no one can stop you from being the greatest. Every positive I am statement will place you deeper into the proper universal flow of life where you will find peace with yourself and the world around you. Even in the midst of turmoil all will be well as long as you are at peace with yourself.

Comments

  1. E.S. KraayFebruary 7, 2012 at 11:25 AM

    I have been a Muhammad Ali fan since he won the gold medal in Rome in 1960. I was 11-years old, and Ali, then Cassius Clay a mere 18. I even had his 1963 33 1/3 album "I Am the Greatest." Ali believed in himself and in doing so, he influenced many other people to believe in themselves! There is an important distinction in that statement. Yes, they believed in him, but in believing in him, they believed in themselves as well. I have not read Falco's book, so I cannot speak to his theories. I can speak to the Buddha... In the very first lines of the Buddha's words as recorded in the Dhammapada, the Buddha tells us, "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts."

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