Are We Our Own Worst Enemies?

If we all have the potential for success, why aren't we all
successful?

Do you believe in yourself?

Attitude plays a significant role in determining how well we
do. As Henry Ford said, "Whether you believe you can do a
thing or not, you are right".

Consider the friend, we all have one, who is constantly
putting himself down, constantly bemoaning the fact that he
can't do this or can't do that. The reason he can't do it is
because he doesn't have the confidence to try! His own
negative attitude has defeated him before he even begins.

To some degree that applies to all of us. How many times
have you thought of something you'd really like to do but
convinced yourself you didn't know enough or didn’t have the
skills necessary to actually do it? You could've gained the
knowledge you needed and you probably could've developed
the skills required . . . unless of course you're tone deaf and
want to become a concert pianist! How many of our dreams
die just because we don't have the confidence to go after
them?

We must believe in ourselves and in our abilities if we want to
succeed. If we don't how can we expect anyone else to? We
must believe that we can achieve anything we set our minds
and our hearts to as long as we're willing to work for it.
Without this confidence we'll never progress, never develop
new skills and . . . never succeed.

Is it all "luck"?

You hear friends referring to their "bad luck" as a reason for
failure. Sure, circumstances do play a role in how well we do
but many of them can be manipulated to work in our favor.
If you planned to open an outdoor café it would probably not
be a good idea to build it in the Arctic Circle. However, we do
things that are just as ridiculous all the time. Then we say it
was "bad luck" that prevented our success.

Research and proper planning can lessen the role that "luck"
plays in our lives and in our success. But, how many times
don't we complete these steps? Aren't we just sabotaging our
own goals when we don't?

We see this happen all the time on the Internet. Why do so
many of us fall prey to the "get-rich-quick" scams? Because,
we're so dazzled by the idea of reaping great rewards without
working that we fail to investigate these programs. We don't
use our own good common sense! We just jump in head first
and hope it's going to work. When it doesn't bring us the
riches we hoped for we're disappointed . . . and probably
poorer. But should we be surprised?

How many of us would start off on a camping trip without
checking the weather forecast for our destination? Would we
leave without tents, sleeping bags, bug spray, the proper
clothing or food? Doesn't it seem equally foolish to go into a
business we know nothing about? To a great extent we can
"make" our own luck We must do our research and develop
a plan if we hope to succeed. We can't make bad decisions
and then blame our failure on "bad luck".

Is that all?

There are a lot of things we must do to become successful.
For example, we have to educate ourselves in the areas of
our interests and develop the skills they require. We have to
set goals and create a plan for achieving them.

But for any of these efforts to result in success we must
first believe in ourselves! Without that confidence and the
courage it gives us we're paralyzed, incapable of taking the
steps that will bring us success. In order to succeed we
must first believe we CAN and then go out and do it!

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed
is more important than any other thing."
-Abraham Lincoln