Whatever your lot in life, you doubtless consider it to be
a combination of external factors: some positive and others negative.
Doubtless, this is partly true. However, it may surprise you
to know that at any point, barring acts of God, your future is
almost entirely in your own hands.
This may sound like too much to bear or believe. After all, if
it were true, there would be no excuses left. You could not blame
your situation on your parents, the government, your boss, your
husband or wife, your race, or anything else. Hence, most of
us prefer to reject this thought. That leaves us with plenty
of excuses, and a comfortable, if rather mediocre, life.
Napoleon Hill's book "Think & Grow Rich" makes
it clear that Success only comes to those rare few who (a) create
a major definite purpose they burn to achieve in their lives,
and (b) pursue that purpose with total determination and persistence,
to the point of apparent folly in the eyes of others. Interestingly,
the qualification is NOT that you need any prior experience or
talent in that which you seek. Rather, it is the purpose, backed
with the determination to never give up in attaining it, combined
with tapping into the Infinite Intelligence of the universe,
that brings about lasting Success.
However, most of us think differently. You may think that you
cannot succeed because you do not have enough experience, or
because you have little money, or because you are disadvantaged
in some other way. If so, you need to consider the examples of
people like Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. Both of these men had
nothing more than basic schooling. Van Gogh learned to paint
relatively late in life. Stevie Wonder is blind. The world's
leading cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, is in a wheelchair and
cannot even speak without a voice machine. Oprah Winfrey was
born black, dirt-poor, and was abused as a child. Excellent qualifications
for becoming the highest-paid TV personality in America?...
The basic problem that holds the vast majority from achieving
astonishing success is that they lack self-esteem at the very
deepest subconscious level. We place a ceiling on what we are
capable of achieving, because it makes us feel better about ourselves
and our own mediocre achievements. It's better to shield ourselves
with dozens of excuses than to admit to ourselves that we could
have done better, if only we had the guts and the self-belief.
We spend our entire lives crawling around on our knees beneath
this insanely low ceiling we created for ourselves. An absurd
image? That's the way you are probably living your life.
Within certain obvious physical limits (e.g. a 70-year old trying
to win the Olympic 100m), there is almost NOTHING that someone
else has achieved that you could not achieve too, if you had
a burning desire to do it, made this the major definite purpose
of your life, and pursued it with relentless determination. Burn
the ships and the bridges and then head forward. No excuses or
fallbacks. You succeed or you die. That is the only attitude
for achieving the very highest levels of attainment. The artist,
Michelangelo, said he would not be considered a genius if people
only knew how many hours he sweated to achieve it.
The Comfort Zone is the greatest barrier to Success. If you achieve
a certain level of the latter, the temptation to relax and bask
in the weak sunlight of what you've attained can be overwhelming.
A high level of dissatisfaction serves as excellent motivation
to spur you further. That way, you will take risks, which is
the only way to move forward rapidly. If you take NO risks in
life, you may as well be already dead. In fact, the most common
regret of dying people is the things they did NOT do, and the
risks they did NOT take.
Attaining success in any undertaking SHOULD make you feel uncomfortable
and challenged. Things are only totally comfortable when you
are not making any progress. That is why it is called the Comfort
Zone. However, it's that way because nothing is happening. Maybe
a coffin is comfortable too?
However, to succeed in your chosen major definite purpose, you
need to shed the garbage of your upbringing. Examine your beliefs
and values carefully. Where did they come from? Did you think
them up or inherit them? Are there any contradictions there that
hold you back? For instance, if you want to become rich, but
have a deep-seated belief that rich people are crooks, how likely
are you to succeed? Isn't it like driving with the handbrake
on?
Most of the time, this is exactly what you are doing. Another
example. You want to be promoted and given more responsibility
at work? However, when you look within, you don't feel worthy
of it, or even believe that your colleagues are better than you.
Some deep self-examination is necessary. Take time with yourself
and ask yourself what your limiting beliefs are. Working on deepening
your sense of self-esteem is the most important work you can
do. It precedes any external success you may wish for.
Once you have deep self-esteem, you won't "care what the
morons think", as multimillionaire businessman, Dan Pena,
so graphically puts it. If you are afraid of failure, it's almost
certainly because failure is frowned upon in our society. After
all, how will you look to friends and family? "I told you
so" will be the inevitable response. Right?
So what? Why care? Don't bother what the morons think. When Tom
Watson, founder of IBM, was asked by a hungry young executive
how he might progress much faster within the company, Watson
answered, "Double your failure rate."
THAT should teach you how important the opinions of the morons
really are. This is something they don't and can't understand.
That is why they remain exactly where they are. INCREASE your
rate of making mistakes in order to accelerate your successes,
and make them ever more dramatic. It's the only way. However,
you can only do that if you feel good inside about yourself,
and don't care what others think.
In conclusion, external factors have less to do with where you
are at than you may ever have imagined. The main factor for dramatic
success or failure lies within. So, next time you stand in front
of a mirror, ponder the eyes looking back into yours. The answers
to every success in your life, now and in the future, lie right
there... staring back at you. Copyright 2003. Asoka Selvarajah.
All Rights Reserved
Dr. Asoka Selvarajah is the author of
"The 7 Golden Secrets To Knowing Your Higher Self"
course. Asoka's work helps people achieve their full potential,
deepen their understanding of mystical truth, and find joy in
their true soul's purpose. He offers you a FREE 14-Day LifeBreakthrough
e-mail course at: http://www.aksworld.com?MPPO
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by Asoka
Selvarajah