Success is possible, when you believe in it

What you focus on expands. You become what you think about. And there are many more phrases that mean the same thing. This core idea, behind many of the motivational figures in history, reverberates as a truth which everyone agrees with but few believe in. What is it that allows someone to go beyond just knowing these truths to being able to utilize them?

I do truly believe we become what we think about, and this is why the world is full of all kinds of people. Every person is shaped by their own beliefs, but their beliefs are not all shaped by them. We are all subject to years of environmental influences that we have little to no control of. It isn’t until a certain age that we begin to truly be capable of thinking “independently”.

For many people, by the time they have developed enough to think “independently”, they have been exposed to certain beliefs and systems for a long time. So long that their own beliefs have crafted themselves to accept where they are at in life. Many times though, their acceptance is thrown off balance by a deep seated desire for something different.

This disconnection between where someone is and where they feel they should be can be seen by a life filled with constant distraction. Distractions including the media, food, or social media. I believe that there is a direct correlation between time spent on distractions and success. As easy as some successful people may make it look, I bet the math adds up.

Though some might look at the distracted majority and throw blame at laziness, I would disagree. I believe that most of the distracted majority are distracted because they don’t know of any other option. Even though they have indeed been given many opportunities, they still stay distracted. I believe that they didn’t truly know that those opportunities were in fact opportunities. Most people don’t believe that success is attainable for them because they’ve never been shown that its possible.

Humans learn from one another utilizing mirror neurons (monkey see monkey do). These mirror neurons are what allow us to learn from our parent’s stories regarding the dangers of the world, without having to actually experience them. This is also why we learn so well from stories, we literally put ourselves into the shoes of the characters.

Having gone through the education system and being nearly prepared for a career, the average american hasn’t heard too many stories of success. Sure they’ve heard stories of successful people, but they haven’t heard the stories of how they became successful. So is it any wonder that so many people don’t believe success to be within their grasp? If they live in a world which to them shows no possible way to be successful, then we would assume they would chalk up success as impossible.

With the advent of the internet and an open world of information, this paradigm is shifting. Now, due to platforms such as social media, blogs, etc. more and more real stories of success are coming out. Even stories of old successes resurface and prove that success is possible. More of us are growing up with the knowledge that all things are possible. I point to the rapid rise of entrepreneurship to help my case.

Anything is possible trust me google it ;)