There is one word that can lead to greatness, one that has led many successful people to where they are today. It may have not always been prevalent in their minds, but once in place it made all the difference. That word is simply 'believe'.

Of all the extraordinary principles to achieve, whether it be as an athlete, business professional, or people in general, is to simply believe you can be successful.

Believing in yourself is the greatest feeling in the world; it gives you great hope and comes with extraordinary achievement.

I feel some athletes in Bermuda adopt a negative thinking pattern and this type of thinking limits their performance and ability to succeed.

I am talking about belief this week because of two young man, Antoine Russell and Cud-joe Mathews, who will be trying out for my professional soccer club, Baltimore Blast, this week.

I need them to believe they can be the best, believe they have what it takes, believe they can be the greatest. They must realise every footprint they leave behind determines who they are.

See, to believe, we must not fear, we must be in control and demand the best out of ourselves; nothing less than 100% will do. And if we understand we will never get rewarded for doing nothing, but only for what we achieved, that will keep us on that path for success.

In life I have realised that success comes with challenges, some will be worse than others, some will have you wanting to walk away from your dreams, some will bring negative attention and some will require you making decisions of a lifetime. But we must not fear of failing, because we all will fail first before we succeed.

Behind all successful people's failures was a successful thinker. They would go out of their way to search for knowledge and other ways of obtaining information to make them great.

I have come across many athletes who give up on their goals before they even reach them because they do not believe in themselves. Many of them possess talents and understanding, but have a big problem with self-confidence and self-motivation.

They fall short due to weak thinking and lack of desire. They become lost in time and end up sitting around using that deadly two letter word 'if', repeating to themselves day to day 'if' I would have worked harder, sacrifice, thought positive and believed, I may be in a better place today.

As we walk through everyday life, doing everyday things, thinking about the days we wanted to give up, the days when we may have felt the world is caving in on us, the days we would do anything just to disappear for a couple of hours trying to escape the misery.

This is the time when our mindset must change, this is the time we have to have positive thoughts, this is the time to reflect on the importance of who we are and what we are about, this is the time we must look at ourselves in the mirror and realise we could achieve greatness if we believe we are great.

So, to Antoine and Cud-joe, you have been selected for a reason, and as you walk into pro tryouts this week understand you have the ability to go as far as you want, trust your instincts, believe in yourself and let nothing hold you back.

I leave you with a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dream".

Until next time!