I don't know anyone who doesn't want a better life. We'll do almost anything for it: work out at the gym five times a week, spend a fortune on meal-replacement shakes, read all the right books, spend years in college, or work three jobs at once.
Everyone has a dream or something they wanted to be when they grew up.
Brandon Stanton, a New York Times bestselling author, told Time magazine the secret to success is lots of hard work, but there's something more important that comes before that.
For those of us into self-improvement, we'll spend hours journaling and analyzing our emotions with a therapist. After all, mindset is half the battle, right?
Success Stories
Actor and film producer Peter Dinklage has done pretty well for himself. He's starred in films such as X-Men and Ice Age, and recently wowed us all in Game of Thrones. He's even won a few Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. But things were not always this easy for him.
He says he gave himself permission to fail, and encourages others not to always be looking to the future for answers. "The moments that define you have already happened," he said.
Motivational speaker Les Brown specializes in encouraging people to embrace and overcome challenges. He doesn't believe in "practice makes perfect." Brown says that practice makes improvement, because perfection doesn't exist.
"What is it that you looked at, at some point in time and you decided that you couldn't do it?" he said. "Whatever it is, bring it back out there!"
Natalie Portman, an Academy Award-winning actress known for her roles in Black Swan, V for Vandetta, and Star Wars says she's not as confident as she appears. For her part in Black Swan, she realized she wasn't near ready enough to play a professional ballerina. Instead of giving up, Portman went out of her comfort zone and gave a jaw-dropping performance.
"Your inexperience is an asset and will allow you to think in original, unconventional ways," she said.
Ray Lewis, a former American football linebacker for the Ravens, explains it this way: "Time slows down for no man. So the question is: How much time are you going to waste?"
Talk show host Steve Harvey uses an analogy of a bird flying or a parachute opening when he speaks about success. He says the people you see "soaring by" in New York or London have made it big because they took a risk.
"If you do not jump, I promise you one thing...your parachute will never open. You'll be safe, but you'll never soar," he said.
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Self-doubt and lack of confidence can be the killers to our biggest dreams. Based on accounts from these famous people, they didn't have it all figured out. In fact, if you wait until you think you are ready or someone else thinks you are ready, you could miss your chance to live the life you always dreamed of.
You don't have to wait for the perfect moment or until you have more experience. You just have to jump and wait until your parachute opens.
