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We attended an industry trade show in Las Vegas in January and visited a tattoo booth.
Let me clarify, this factory created temporary tattoos.
The manufacturer offered for us to take some samples away.
One of the samples I picked up (truth be told I took a small stack) was a tattoo that said, “no excuses”.
One of the things you will notice about a successful person is that they often overcome great obstacles to achieve success.
The “no excuses” tattoo stood out because it’s too easy to blame circumstances or other people when life doesn’t deliver.
Stuff happens to everyone, but it doesn’t affect everyone in the same way.
Bill Gates’ first company, Traf-O-Data, failed miserably.
Albert Einstein didn’t speak until he was four year old and his teachers thought he was a dud.
Jim Carrey dropped out of school at 15 to support his family.
Stephen King’s first novel was rejected 30 times.
Oprah Winfrey’s tragic start includes being repeatedly molested by her cousin, uncle and family friend. She ran away at 14.
And of course there are the stories of Helen Keller, J.K. Rowling, and Stephen Hawking.
The difference with these individuals and other successful individuals is that they didn’t allow themselves to be victimized by circumstances.
They accepted them and kept moving forward.
Aha – “Circumstances don’t make a person, they reveal him.” ~ Richard Carlson, PhD.
A multitude of circumstances present themselves every minute of every day.
Let’s ask, is it the circumstances themselves, or the attitude of the individual, that create the success?
Reality is, the facts don’t change. They are what they are.
You can blame them – hand over your power to circumstances – or you can use them to fuel your dreams.
“With complaining out of the way, you’ll create the space for an explosion of creativity and brilliance.” Says Dr. Carlson.
Taking responsibility for your results might seem unfair or unrealistic but it’s truly liberating.
You may not be able to change circumstances but you can most certainly change your attitude about them.
That’s where your true super-power is revealed.
Where there’s a will there’s a way!