Belief that it can be done must precede doing it

I've never been able to play a musical instrument.

My mum can. My brother can. They make it look effortless—fingers dancing across keys, melodies emerging from nowhere. But me? Every attempt has ended in failure, and I have tried a lot of instruments. Then, somewhere along the way, I stopped trying. Not because I couldn't learn, but because I stopped believing I could.

This is the trap I'm caught in as 2026 begins.I keep repeating a single phrase to myself: Belief that it can be done must precede doing it.

It sounds simple. It feels impossible.I first encountered this idea not in scripture - I probably should have - but in the golf writings of psychologist Bob Rotella. He insisted that belief must come first—that you cannot succeed at anything without first believing you can.

Everything in me resists this. I want proof before an attempt. I want to have done something well before I dare believe I'm capable of it. Show me the evidence, then I'll commit. Where does confidence come from when you haven't earned it yet?

But the longer I sit with this truth, the more I see it everywhere: in golf, in leadership, in life with God.

Consider this: we would accomplish nothing if we demanded success before attempting it. Yet as babies, we walked—having never done it before. We learned to read. We jumped. We blew raspberries with our mouths, delighted by sounds we'd never made.

We believed we could before we knew we could.

But then we grow up. We accumulate failures. And slowly, insidiously, we begin to believe a lie: If I haven't done it before, I never will.

This is where I live now. The instrument I've never learned haunts me. The belief that I can't shapes how I try—which means I barely try at all. My attitude weakens. My effort diminishes. And I get exactly the result I expected: failure.

The prophecy fulfils itself.

What we believe shapes what we do and how we do it. Belief isn't just a nice idea—it's the foundation everything else is built on.

So here's my challenge to you, and to myself, in 2026. And, how I’m fighting for belief.

Believe before you do.

Not just in words. Not as positive thinking or wishful hoping. But in your heart, your attitude, your drive, your hope.

Believe with everything you have.

This year, I'm not settling for vague aspirations like "a more fulfilled life." I'm listening for specific calls. Like, God asking me to propose a multi-nation art project and get many churches involved.

I've never done this before. I have a hard time believing it's possible.

But I'm also convinced God is calling me to it.

So here's what I'm doing:

I'm praying for help in my unbelief. I'm asking God to give me belief—real, deep conviction that God and I together can do this. Not God alone. Not me alone. Both of us, needed.

I'm holding this belief as I do the work. In meetings. In preparation sketches. In moments when I want to quit because I've never delivered something like this before.

I'm taking action with full belief. Not half-hearted. Not hoping for lucky accidents. Full-on, all-in belief that this will work.

I'm checking my belief along the way. Asking: Do I still believe? Or do I need to pray for more belief?

And when something is accomplished—when belief becomes reality—I'm giving thanks. Because when I needed God, prayed for belief, and saw it come to pass, there's nothing left to do but give praise.

God was in it.