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Remember the scene of The Matrix where Neo is attempting to jump from one high-rise roof top to another? He's told he can make the jump only if he believes. Neo takes the leap, doubts himself mid-flight, and falls to the concrete below. (Luckily, the concrete was really made of rubber).

I think this scene from The Matrix can teach us all something about how to grow both personally and professionally. In Neo's case, he was learning to believe he was the One, and in yours, you're learning to realize the extent of your capabilities and talents.

In many situations, you need to believe you can succeed or you will fail...and its the very act of believing that leads you to success. Public speakers frequently employ the technique by envisioning their speech being well received before the give it, runners visualize a perfect race, and students the perfect test. Visualizing success tricks the brain into beleiving success is possible, and can actually improve results.

During my first week at Google, I was put in a room full of people smarter than me and told to lead the team on a new feature launch. I was intimidated, and out of my comfort zone. But I pulled through by mimicking the leaders I had observed at earlier Google meetings. I pretended to be someone else above my current skillset, and quickly became that someone. I took the leap.

Place yourself in difficult situations that explore the boundaries of your limits. Make that important phone call, sit on a panel at a big conference, run a marathon. Push yourself, and take the leap of confidence that you can get to the other side. Once at the other side, you'll have discovered something about yourself, picked up a new skill, and you'll be even more ready to take the next leap.

What leaps have you taken recently?