The great Walt Disney once said, “First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. And finally, dare.”
When we were all kids, we thought about what our lives would be like when we were “grown ups.” We thought about what it would be like when we were finally old enough to walk home alone, or to be able to pay for something ourselves, or to be able to drive. We all imagined what life would be like when we were older. We always wanted to grow up. We always wanted this crazy, amazing life for ourselves. Maybe you pictured yourself walking on the moon in a spacesuit one day? Or, maybe you pictured yourself playing dunking a basketball with Lebron James by your side? Or, like me, maybe you pictured yourself staring in a hit TV-show, wearing all of the latest fashion trends... (haha).
Whatever your dream was, the point is, there was no doubt in our minds that we were going to be that. We didn’t have any doubts. As a kid, we never said, “Well, I don’t think i’m gonna be good enough” or, “I don’t have enough money to do that.” Because, we didn’t think about that. We knew what we wanted and we weren’t going to let anything stand in our way. This way of thinking changed somewhere along the way. Somewhere along the way we grew up and started to become more realistic.
We learned about money, and we learned about where we stood on the social and economic ladder. We learned about our reality. And somewhere along the way, our dreams got, well, minimized. We no longer wanted to be astronauts and chose something more realistic for our dreams. I'm not saying realism is a bad thing. I’m just saying that when you sacrifice doing something you love because you “don’t think you can do it,” you need to sit down and reevaluate your situation. With that being said, here are some ways to be successful in your own life.
Alright, So…success. Success can be translated a million different ways. It can be translated as being happy, making a lot of money, achieving your dreams, or anything that you consider being successful. Achieving success is far from easy. In most cases, it takes determination, strength, willpower, and focus. All of these things come together to help you achieve what you want. But also, in order to be successful you’re going to have to sacrifice some things. Most of the time, the thing or things you want aren’t in your life yet because the money isn’t there. So, what do you do? Do you just give up and say, “Ahh, no I can’t do it.” No! You work your ass off for it!
Say you’re a marketing or business major, and want to make a lot of money someday, and work your way up in the corporate ladder. You have to do whatever it takes. If you want this badly enough, you are going to have to give up things in your life to get it. If you want to make a lot of money, it’s not just going to fall into your hands. It doesn’t make any sense to sit and complain about all of the debt that you’re going to have, or how you don’t think you’re going to be able to get a well-paying job, if you aren’t giving it your all. Here’s a zinger: If you think you aren't trying hard enough, you aren't.
You have to get out yourself out there, go to job interviews, take every stinking opportunity you have. Don’t let any one opportunity slip. My whole life, I’ve never felt like I would be good enough for what i’m doing. But, I tried really hard not to let that show. Which is something that everyone should practice. You may feel under-qualified, you may feel nervous, and you may feel like there’s no way you’re going to get it, but, don’t let any of that show; at all.
In order to get what you want in life, no matter what, you’re going to have to impress some people. And in order to impress people, you might have to kiss some ass. Here’s another truth, some people are sexist, racist, biased or whatever. But, if they’re your boss, it doesn’t matter. You have to do what they want you do and say and wear and feel. I’ve learned throughout my 20 short years that that’s life. You gotta just suck it up and move on. If you get yelled at in front of your co-workers, classmates, friends, whoever, if you need to cry, that’s fine, just don’t let anyone see you do it. You have to be stronger. Don’t cry to give up, cry to keep going. You’re already in pain, you’re already hurt, get a reward from it.
For the most part, life isn’t fair. And that’s probably never going to change. But, just because it’s not fair doesn’t mean that you have to be on the unfair side of it. This life we live in is crazy, the big-time is insanely fast paced, and there’s not stopping for breaks in the corporate world. There’s no stopping for breaks if you want to be rich. You may tell yourself that you want it really bad — success. But most of you don’t want success as bad as you wanna sleep, as bad as you wanna party, as bad as you want to breathe. You have to want it as bad as you want to breathe. Better yourself to get what you want. Successful people live by rules in their lives. They don’t take no for an answer. Here are some things successful people do differently than non-successful people.
They: Act on things even if they're scared. Think big. Know how to manage money. Think of obstacles as opportunities. Compliment others. Have a sense of gratitude. Forgive others. Continuously learn. Embrace Change. Talk about ideas. Exude Joy. Work as hard as they can.
Success is something that everyone can achieve, no matter how big or how small they may be in the world. It’s not an easy thing to achieve, but it can be done. Next time you try to tell yourself that you won’t be able to handle that extra class or take on that extra job, try again. If you want it badly enough, work as hard as you can, treat others nicely, and forgive yourself and others, success will come. Don’t let anything or anyone stand in your way.
