Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit." To possess any desirable character trait, you must start acting and thinking as if you already have it. When your thoughts and actions align with your ideals, your self-esteem will soar.

If excellence is important to you, pay incredibly close attention to this quote.

Because - if you put this quote into practice - any character trait you wish to possess is within your reach.

The great psychologist, William James, said, "If you want a quality, first act as if you already had it."

Your self beliefs have a huge effect on your thoughts and actions. However, your actions also have a huge effect on your self beliefs.

Therefore - by drastically changing our actions - you can drastically change your beliefs.

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can change the outer aspects of their lives, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds." - William James

That is to say - to be confident - you must start acting and thinking like a confident person.

To be productive, you must start acting and thinking like a go-getter.

When your actions and thoughts align with how you want to see yourself, you will begin to believe you are that person. Your subconscious mind will automatically assume that since you are behaving a certain way, you must be that type of person.

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." - Henry David Thoreau

With repetition, as Aristotle suggests, you can live at your highest standard and begin to produce excellent results.