Top Myths that Dash the Hopes of Reaching Your Ultimate Potential
“The battle for self-mastery may leave a person a bit bruised and battered, but always a better man or woman. Self-mastery is a rigorous process at best; too many of us want it to be effortless and painless.
Some spurn effort and substitute an alibi. We hear the plea, ‘I was denied the advantages others had in their youth.’ And then we remember the caption that Webster, the cartoonist, placed under a sketch of Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin: ‘Ill-housed, ill-fed, ill-clothed.’
Others say, ‘I am physically limited.’ History is replete with people possessing physical limitations. Homer could have sat at the gates of Athens, being pitied and fed by coins from the rich. He, like Milton, the poet, and Prescott, the historian, had good alibis—they were blind. Demosthenes, greatest of all great orators, had a wonderful alibi—his lungs were weak, his voice hoarse and unmusical, and he stuttered. Beethoven was stone deaf at middle age. They all had good alibis—but they never used them.” – Thomas Monson
Nature vs Nurture, the “haves” vs. the “have-nots”, the debate on opportunity has been around pretty much as long as there have been people to inhabit the earth. Although we have little say in what families we are born to, which country we arrive in, and how rich our predecessors are, it doesn’t mean the game of life is stacked unfairly against us.
In fact, the world loves to spread myths about accepting complacency, keeping our hopes in check, and not believing in ourselves. This article will uncover the top myths and share real life examples of people who have blown them out of the water.
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Myth #1: My Family Wasn’t Rich So I Probably Won’t Be Either
Jim was born to a wonderful woman, Beatrice, who found herself a single mother when he was less than two years old. Working in a laundry mat to support her baby, she met Jim’s step father, Sam, a divorced father of two young daughters who drove the laundry truck. Bea and Sam were married and she and baby Jim moved into Sam’s home. This two bedroom, 800 sq. ft. house was home to six people. In his lifetime, Sam never made more than $63.00 a week.
The family decided that Jim would be the first to graduate from University. They located a distant family member who was able to get him summer jobs in the mines in Canada’s Yukon Territories to earn money for school.
Jim graduated with a double honors degree in mathematics and chemistry and went on to his Master of Science in pure physics. He was on his way to a PhD at MIT when he was hired by IBM and started a successful 25-year career. Leaving IBM as the Practice Leader for the IBM Business Transformation Consulting division, Jim established a very successful management consulting firm which later morphed into The Balanced WorkLife Company.
Jim attributes his lifelong financial and career success to being a natural networker, a visionary planner and setting annual, written business and personal goals.
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Myth #2: I Have a Disability and Should Be Happy Settling For Less
There are an amazing number of people in the world with disabilities that have become highly successful—and in many cases, rich.
Our first case study was diagnosed with Tourette’s and Asperger syndrome as a child. His behavior included grunting and muscle tics. As a young adult, he dropped out of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Despite all this he made several top grossing films including Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Driving Miss Daisy, and Ghostbusters 1 & 2. Dan Akroyd will be known as one of the classic comedians for decades to come.
Our second example was diagnosed using the autistic rating scale, couldn’t speak until he was three years old, wasn’t fluent till nine, and would repeat sentences obsessively at the age of seven. He was obsessive over what he wore on his feet—so much so that he attended his ceremony of induction as an American without socks. He was ill groomed, but well remembered for it. His name was Albert Einstein.
Lastly, at the age of three, this boy became blind in one eye after accidentally stabbing it with a stitching awl. The other eye lost its sight shortly afterward because of sympathetic ophthalmia. At the age of 10 he went to a school where they served him stale bread and water and locked him up as punishment. At 12 he picked up the awl, the same instrument that blinded him, to work on a system of six raised dots to communicate. When he was only15 years old, Louis Braille had invented the Braille writing and reading system for the blind.
Myth #3: I’m Not a College Graduate—Time to Flip Burgers
It might surprise you how many people are successful even without a degree to show for it.
For example, this college dropout left California State University Fullerton to take up street racing. He floated between other jobs including driving trucks and being a janitor at a high school while he studied special effects in between. This passion led him to making movies which earned him several awards and nominations including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Film Editing, and many more. Known as James Cameron, many of his movies like Terminator, Titantic, Aliens, Avatar and more are considered some of the greatest achievements in film of all time.
Our next young lady loved baking as a child. With her first job she used her $5 a week pay to buy butter, milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla to make cookies. She married at 19 and was a housekeeper, but always found it difficult at social gatherings when friends would ask what she was doing for a career. This inspired her to open a cookie shop.
When she didn’t make a single sale half way through her first day, she decided to just give away the cookies outside the store’s front door. People started lining up to get more and her store quickly became the talk of the town. Her cookie shops weren’t the only success in her life, however. She went on to write the first cook book to ever make the top of the New York Times best seller list. Mrs. Debbi Fields’ talents have been baked into our homes, even without a college degree.
Myth #4: I’m Not Old Enough to Be Successful
It’s a popular notion these days for people to believe they can’t be successful till they are well up the ladder in their careers. Several young people, however, are experiencing incredible success without taking decades to get there.
One example many people may not know of is Glenn Allsopp. He’s a 20-year-old college dropout who makes five figures a month online.
He tells his story. “At 15 I built my first website using Lycos Tripod which was the best site builder available online. I became so in love with building sites that I eventually purchased my own domain and created MyDJSpace. At 16 years old I grew this website to over 10,000 active users and was even featured in the book ‘DJ’ing for Dummies’.
At 17 I was making thousands of dollars per month offering internet marketing services before moving to Cape Town, South Africa, where I was the social media manager for brands like Land Rover, Nissan and Hewlett Packard. Hopefully you can see now that I’m nothing like those other guys.
While working for these large clients, I built up a number of affiliate websites on the site that started making me a lot of money. In fact, they were doing so well that I was able to quit my job, and I’ve been travelling the world thanks to my internet income ever since. In my “free time” I have built the 10th biggest personal development blog in the world, this large internet marketing blog that you’re reading now, and some of the most profitable websites on the internet.”
Glenn is just one example of thousands of successful young people. Talent often comes at a young age and technology is now allowing those talents to produce profits earlier than ever before.
Myth #5: I’m Too Old Now to Reach My Ultimate Potential
This myth covers the other side of the spectrum and also shares one of my favorite success stories.
This gentleman studied law, was a railroad fireman, sold insurance, operated steamboats, sold tires and more before he finally settled on his true passion—cooking. When he was 40 he started cooking for travelers at a service station he operated. Over time customers were coming for the cooking more than the gas or supplies. He decided to move across the street and serve his meals from a motel and restaurant seating 142 people.
However, in the 50’s a new highway bypassed his operations in Corbin and he was forced to auction off his business. This left him living off Social Security checks at $105 a month.
Still he didn’t give up on his passion. He started traveling from restaurant to restaurant cooking up his specialty. They all loved it and eventually, he was given a deal of one nickel for each piece of chicken the restaurant sold.
At 74, Colonel Harland Sanders’ chicken gained a remarkable reputation and spread to over 600 franchises. He was able to retire comfortably on the $2 million dollars he made when he sold the company.
Every one of the people above had at least one valid reason, excuse, or alibi to explain why they wouldn’t be able to succeed, yet not one used them.
3 Things to Do Next
- Comment: Are there some other big myths out there? What are your thoughts? Discuss in the comments below.
- Share: If you found this article interesting share our link to it Personal Growth Myths.
- Send Us Your Stories: Are you a success story despite those myths we hear about? We love hearing those, email me bchristiansen@balancedworklife.com and we’d be happy to share them on our blog at some point.
References:
http://www.jonathans-stories.com/non-fiction/undiagnosing.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Braille#Development_of_the_Braille_System
http://www.financial-inspiration.com/Debbi-Fields-biography.html
http://www.ronford.net/ui/kfc3/Townsquare/colonel/colhistory1.htm
http://www.viperchill.com/cloud-living/
http://www.ronford.net/ui/kfc3/Townsquare/colonel/colhistory1.htm
Hi Bryce,
This is a fantastic article! A lot of meaty goodness here. I love that you used the word “myth.” Often we are the person that gets in our own way. I would say that at this point in my life #5 resonates with me the most — I am not ready to let the dreams of my younger years fade away.
I appreciate the compliment. It was really fun creating this article. #5 is a big one for many people. The one thing none of us can get back is our youth. However, that doesn't mean we can't succeed.
Thanks for the comment. I hope to see you again sometime.