"Yes I Can!"

So, you're thinking, another bit of advice about how I can achieve success. Next she'll be telling me I need to develop a "positive mental attitude!" Truth is, you DO! In fact, a positive mental attitude is the starting point of all achievement. Yes, positive thinking really does work no matter what you may currently think about it. "Well, it's easier said than done," a college student told me recently. He's in the process of trying to decide what he wants his major to be. Unfortunately, he has a lot of "well-wishers" helping him in this regard--namely, parents and counselors who are trying to tell him what to do. But, at the end of his life, does he really want to spend his time on a career somebody else chose for him? More importantly, do you? Naturally, I understand you need to pay your bills, and you probably think you can't afford to pursue your dreams. After all, how do you know these dreams would ever become a reality anyway? Of course, you don't. No one can guarantee you that they will. But one thing's for sure: if you don't develop a clear-cut idea of what your "dreams" are and come up with a plan to achieve them, you will end your life with most, if not all, of your potential unused. Goethe says, "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." Don't allow yourself to make up a bunch of excuses for why your dreams are impossibilities. You or someone you love or admire--whether it be a parent, spouse, or "dear" friend--will always be able to find reasons for why your dreams are "unrealisitic." Either you're "too old" or you're "too young" or you don't have enough education or talent. You must tune out these well-meaning advisors. Let's face it--you certainly don't want to come to the end up your life with a list of "woulda's, shoulda's, coulda's." And listening to people who *think* they have your best interest at heart but really don't is one way to ensure a lifetime (literally) of regrets.

There is a wonderful book I am re-reading now called _Seeds of Greatness_. It is by the top-notch expert on motivation, Denis Waitley. It deals with the 10 "seeds of success," beginning with the "seed" of self-esteem. Waitley is scarcely a novice on this subject. Indeed, he has counseled everybody from Olympic athletes to Apollo Moon Program astronauts. He was even at one time on the United State Olympic Committee's Sports Medicine Council. He makes it clear, in this book, that success has nothing to do with talent, IQ, birth, race, money or education. It really has to do with how we see ourselves and whether or not we are willing to believe in ourselves and our own inner greatness. For, Waitley writes, "it's not what you are that holds you back. It's what you think you're not."

So, stop saying "I can't do that" or "I can't do this." As Waitley says, "the most important three words you can say to yourself (when it comes to pursuing your dreams) is 'Yes I Can!'" Next time you catch yourself using some excuse in order to avoid doing something you should do, remember these words. And say them out loud!