Who Says You Can't Be Great?

Achieving any dream means you stop listening to the naysayers and move into the future you believe in.

Every dream I’ve ever made happen had a moment where a well-meaning person tried to talk me out of it.  Their comments were usually logical, sometimes emotional, but they were absolutely convinced my dream would end in failure.   

In 1990, I created a deck of cards that taught leadership.  The night before doing my first big presentation, I asked the advice of a corporate trainer.  I took him through a couple of exercises with the cards and he came away with a list of ways to improve his own leadership. 

Before he left, he broke the news. “I don’t want to be a naysayer, but no corporation is going to give their people a deck of cards.  You’ve got good ideas here, but you need to go back to the drawing board.” 

It was discouraging, but I thanked him for the feedback. 

Over the next four years, more than 100 corporations went through our training program with those cards – some training as many as 5,000 of their managers.  It was a huge success that elevated our training company into the Top 10 in our industry. 

But notice this:  That trainer was right when he looked at what had happened up until that point with the training industry.  No one had used a deck of cards to train people in leadership skills. We were the first.  But he was also wrong about what was possible.  He just couldn’t think outside the box.

After having different people put down four separate dreams – all of which became the biggest successes of my life – I came to realize that this experience is just part of the journey. 

You have a dream – something you believe will make a difference in the world.  Those who doubt you are just expressing their own limitations or what hasn’t been possible for them up until that moment.  

Here’s the beauty of this situation: you get to decide which perspective will determine your future!

What about your real limitations?

You might not have a specific education or funding or experience in the field.  Or maybe you’re “too old” or live in the wrong country. 

Whatever the limitation, reframe it.  Maybe that limitation will cause you to discover an innovation no one else could.  Maybe it is the reason you’ll succeed where others failed. 

While thinking of your limitations, compare it to the four people below and their limitations.  As you make that comparison, allow yourself to get unstuck. 

Here’s some true stories of “limited people” who found what would make them great.

A 6’2” woman at 40 years old in the 1950s was laughed at and discouraged by her cooking instructor.  But she loved French cooking, so she spent 10 years writing a book filled with the most tasty of her recipes. 

After being turned down by many publishers, the book was finally published.  To promote the book, she started a zero-budget TV series called “The French Chef” on a small local channel. 

Fast forward a year and the book had become a best seller while the TV series turned into a runaway hit!  With that, she became a TV personality and did shows into her 80’s! 

That was Julia Child!   

A 19-month-old child lost her hearing and eyesight when she caught scarlet fever.  With the help of a tutor, she learned to sign the alphabet.  That gave her access to the language that you and I live with every day. 

She went on to write 14 books, speak in 35 countries, and inspire millions to go beyond their limitations!  

That was Helen Keller.  

A kid was cut from his high school basketball team!  It was tragic for him, but he didn’t give up.  He made the team the next year, but was still considered to be “average.”  Over the next four years, his drive and willingness to master the game brought him to a professional level. 

Ten years later, he led the Chicago Bulls to win six world championships and was voted Most Valuable Player in the NBA!

That was Michael Jordan.  

A boy didn’t learn to read until he was eight years old and had trouble in school.  He was considered “unremarkable” by his high school teachers, but he worked hard and got into Oxford.  At 21, still struggling to find a way to stand out, he was diagnosed with ALS and given two years to live! 

Knowing he didn’t have long, he decided to focus on solving unsolvable problems and had astonishing breakthroughs about black holes!  

He wrote a book called “A Brief History of Time” which sold 25 million copies and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to science!  

That was Stephen Hawking.  

The path to greatness doesn’t begin with being 100% qualified or being the perfect one for the position.  It begins with you choosing to elevate yourself; choosing to learn and do whatever it takes to truly achieve all that is possible for you! 

Use the prompt below to explore some of those possibilities.  Then join us to make it happen!  

PROMPT:  Where in your life could you achieve greatness?

If you’ve ever wondered if there was even a remote chance that you could become great at something, then it is worth giving it a shot.  After all, this is your life.  The critics don’t matter.  What matters is you and who you choose to become! 

Want to know for sure?  Take five minutes to answer some questions and run these A.I. prompts to discover what is really possible for you. 

INSTRUCTIONS:  Fill in short answers to the questions below (background, skills, etc.) and see where you could achieve greatness in your life. 

PROMPT 1:  I’d like to achieve greatness in my life and need to think outside the box to do that.  Here is my [background], [skills/abilities], [accomplishments], [interests], and [ideas] that I’ve worked on in the past.  Can you extrapolate from those what might be possible for me in the future that would be a deeply engaging journey and give me a real chance of achieving greatness in my life?  Give me a list of five possible new directions for my life and why you believe each is a fit for me.

Background =

Skills/abilities =
Accomplishments =
Interests =
Ideas =

PROMPT 2:  Now, can you think beyond that?  Assume it is possible for me to achieve true greatness in a unique way. 

Please give me five new answers to this combined question:

1. What could I do to achieve greatness?   
2. What about me is the seed of that greatness? 

This might be the moment that things change for you and your future. 

Join us at JourneyToGreatness.com to build your future greatness every day! 

You still have the chance to become one of the Founding Members!