I Believe...

“You can be anything you want to be.” When you were younger, do you remember hearing those words on a regular basis from teachers and family? You can be a firefighter! You can be an astronaut! You can be a professional athlete! You can be the President of the United States! Granted, some of us got this type of encouragement and some didn’t.

But somehow as we got older, we heard these words less frequently and less often. We stopped believing we could be anything we wanted to be. It was all a bit soul crushing to realize I wouldn’t be a professional athlete. I wouldn’t be an astronaut. I wouldn’t be an award-winning novelist.

But why wouldn’t I be those things? Because I wasn’t capable of being those things? Or because I believed I wasn’t capable of being those things? As I’ve gotten older (and hopefully wiser – or is it wise asser? More wise ass?), I’ve realized it’s the latter.

At the risk of getting a bit spiritual, we are not on a course of predestination or predetermination. Adaptability is one of our greatest human strengths. We can – literally – be anything we want to be…no matter our age…if we believe we can. Of course, we have to work hard at doing the thing/being the thing — but belief is the necessary first step. The entire world is in front of us. We all have the capacity to learn new skills, to change directions in our lives, to end a journey and begin a new journey, and to pursue new interests. I’ll share a couple of examples.

Julia Child didn’t get her first cookbook published until age 50. Joseph Campbell developed his first condensed soup at 78. Lauren Ingalls Wilder didn’t write Little House in the Big Woods until she was in her 60’s. Fauja Singh ran his first marathon at the age of 89. 89!

Our limitations are usually self-imposed. We begin to believe we’ll never do that thing (and so we won’t). We begin to think we’ll never be good enough to do that (and so we don’t). We begin to believe we’re too old to pursue this, that, or the other (and so we stop).

Belief is a superpower (and a very human superpower). And it’s this superpower that helps us achieve great things, helps us solve problems, helps us overcome challenges, helps us face our fears, change directions, pursue new careers, and move forward. And no one can take that superpower away from us — unless we let them.

Is there something you always wanted to do or be, but you feel it’s too late? Here’s the thing…it’s not. It’s never too late.

As Neil Gaiman said: “You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen.”

Embrace your human ability to believe. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Until next week.

Cheers,

Andy