Perception is Reality

To properly and actively create the life you want, you have to take full responsibility for your actions and results. All of the successes you have had and the failures you have experienced are all because of you. It is interesting how so many people attribute their success to skill, and their failures to luck or chance. The truth is everything you do or don’t do is within your control.

After speaking at a college orientation program about the five pillars discussed in this blog, a young lady who was visibly upset approached me. She let me know she had a problem with my presentation. When I asked why, she said everything I said made sense to her except this one principle. I asked her to explain.

She told me a lot of things have happened and still continue to happen in her life that she has no control over. She then told me her chances of success were limited because she grew up poor. She felt if she only had grown up with a rich family who could afford to pro- vide her more things in her life, she would be better and have different results. She wanted to know how could I stand there and tell her she is responsible for growing up poor and not having the same opportunities as others.

At this point, I stopped and took a moment to think about what she had just said, because I could tell she was swelling with emotion and this was a sensitive topic for her. I then replied by saying, “Yes, you are correct. You had nothing to do with where you were born or who your family is. That was out of your control.” I visibly noticed her sigh a deep breath of relief, since it seemed as if I were letting her off the hook. Then I said, “Let me ask you a question. Have you ever heard of anyone else who grew up poor, in a bad neighborhood, and with little opportunity who became successful?”

She said “Well, yeah, you hear these stories all the time about the American dream, rags to riches stories. What’s your point?”

I then said, “Well, do you think any of those rags-to-riches individuals are better than you? Of course they aren’t. If another person can do something, so can you. If only one other person came from a similar or worse background than you and succeeded, there is no reason you can’t. The only reason you can’t is because you tell yourself you can’t.” Our different backgrounds start all of us out on uneven playing fields, but the one thing we all have access to is the opportunity for change. As Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right!”

You may not be able to change the past, but you can change your future.

You have to just believe what you want to achieve and who you want to be are possible. Motivational speaker Les Brown once said you can say two words to yourself that will keep you going when you feel like quitting — if you say and believe these two words, you are on your way to achieve massive success no matter your background. Those two words are “It’s possible.” When you want something in your life, just say to yourself, “It’s possible.”

As long as you believe it’s possible and you actively move toward your objectives, you will achieve your goals. Taking full responsibility for your life starts with developing a mindset that believes your dreams and aspirations are possible and you will make them come true.

Taking full responsibility for your life means no matter what has happened to you in the past, you are willing to change your future. Taking full responsibility for your life means failure is not an option.

Arel Moodie is widely known as America's Top Young Speaker. He has spoken to over 65,000 students in 39 states and 2 countries on the topics of student success, student leadership and student entrepreneurship. He is a leading authority on helping students of this generation succeed in school and in life. He is also the best selling author of the book Your Starting Point For Student Success. To find out more about Arel's book, go to www.startingpointbook.com. To find out more about Arel's speaking please go to www.arelmoodie.com.