Believing in myself fashioned my accomplishments

My first step came from believing in myself, and that I could do whatever I fashioned.

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Knowing that if I fell, I would get up on my own and do it again.

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I grew up in an environment where Mentors didn’t exist, at least Mentors who were more interested in helping you only if they were to stand out.

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But, I knew by listening to some, that there is a Santa Klaus, and there were larger and more beautiful places to be explored studied, and appreciated. I wanted to travel, experience other places and cultures of the world, and expand my livelihood.

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I had to put my fears aside and believed in myself to find and enjoy my accomplishments. There was a life to be found, but only my belief in myself would make it come true.

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I joined the US Army, and I asked to go to Japan for cultural gratification and diversity and was promptly sent to France. I got what I asked for a change and an opportunity to explore another culture! And yes, I learned to be explicit if I wanted something specific.

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I received a good education while in the Army, but I was always told what to do. I do not like being told what to do. When my three-year commitment came to an end, I ran.

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When it came time for employment I needed to find employment where I had the freedom to make my own decisions make my own choices.

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After numerous job trials, I found myself in the following situation: I got fired from job after job. This was the fourteenth job that I involuntarily left in twelve years or less, who’s counting?

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My difficulty in keeping a job was to take orders and keep my mouth shut. If I found something out of order, keep quiet, and keep my job. But I couldn’t do that. I am the one to uncover something wrong and find the answer to develop a solution.

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The entrepreneurial lust was rising from within and reached a crescendo so loud it could not be ignored--so loud it could be heard around the world. I had to find a place for myself, my skills, and my education; a place where I would and could be appreciated; a place to explore and conquer; a place where I could grow and be proud of myself.

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I discovered that place was within me! It is I!

This is my time, right now; this place is here within my flesh and bones to be ignored no longer. I have been searching for so long and I have found myself!

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It did not happen all at once. I came to appreciate my skills, creativity, keen understanding of others’ behavior, and my ability to communicate with others. Sometimes not so eloquently but effective. As time went on I became more skilled in the art of creative communication not only using the spoken word but also in print. I became well-oiled and crisp. I learned to be hard, and soft as some would have it yet, skillful and kind.

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I became an artful worrier reaching for the stars and riding them to where they would guide me. I was learning and having fun in a business I didn’t like!

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Yes, I was successful in a business I did not like, a business that allowed me to explore the cultures of people beyond my shores. The world became my teacher and me its student.

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What I have learned during those twenty-seven and one-half years as an entrepreneur is to trust myself! Not to disregard the wisdom of others but… their wisdom was not for me but for themselves. Their advice for me came from a place I never visited, they knew of me not.

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In time I learned what wisdom is!

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Others like to protect those they hold dear to themselves, perhaps keeping them from getting hurt.

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What I discovered is that people project their fears upon others in the guise of needing protection out of ignorance. Well-meaning people whose fears and ignorance dictate their lives as they erroneously feel safe but, they hide those fears from themselves so as not to deal with them less they will need to change their lives.

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And isn’t it the fear of change that governs most people’s decisions?

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Yet, they are the very ones to want something that is new or different.

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Isn’t NEW a CHANGE from something? Different? How does one explain the existence of that dichotomy? I am searching for the answer yet to find it.

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I discovered the value of change; a very exciting and at times provoking and stimulating. Do not fear change rather, we ought to fear NOT to change.

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Think of where we are now in our lives, our world; the essentials that we have, and the wonders that we possess. Think of the turn of the 20th. Century when in the midst of a major change; Horses and automobiles, Telegraphs, and telephones.

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Through the years, think of the NEW and what CHANGES were made to bring us the marvels we have today. If someone chose to protect us from change, where would we be? What would our lives be like?

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Our Moon and Mars would not yet be explored. How much have we accomplished in our lifetime? If others feared change, where would we be today? Would the Hubble Telescope have been invented? ?

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Yes, change is good, positive, stimulating, and necessary for our well-being and our creativity. A stimulus yet to be explored by many.

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Often I set an objective, discover the obstacles in my way and conquer those obstacles by studying processes and discovering the necessary tools to use to make it happen.

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Change was and is stimulating, challenging, and very rewarding. ?I suppose one could say that I am a self-sufficient worrier who loves to be challenged and stimulated; that I find obstacles a challenge not overpowering just simply a learning experience to conquer with success as the reward.

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Fear is what holds one back, discovery is what drives one forward!

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I also have learned to allow myself to enjoy the small rewards or successes rather than hold out for the major successes. The little successes are here now to be appreciated and savored while we anticipate the bigger reward.

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We are teaching ourselves to enjoy each reward as if it were the big one. We deserve it and we have earned it no matter how small. If we learn to appreciate the small rewards we are teaching ourselves to accept the larger rewards. Without the good feelings to savor the small rewards, how will we learn to appreciate and recognize our larger successes?

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Savor reinforcement!

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Essentially, insecurities give way to confidence as you allow yourself the pleasure of acceptance and reinforcement that you have accomplished something. No matter what others may think, you have accomplished something; they did not, you did! How empowering is that?

No one in this world can do as you do. That is neither conceit nor bragging nor is it a put-down to others. It is a simple fact! Others may and can do something similar as you but, no one else is you! ??

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As an entrepreneur, one discovers the meaning of “it is very lonely at the top”. There is no one to make your decisions, no one to set things in motion, no one to call order.

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It is yours and yours alone.

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Learning is to be the deciding factor and earning the praise you deserve comes from the knowledge learned; to be yourself, trust yourself, listening not to those who want to protect you from harm but rather listen to those who wish you well.

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So, what have I discovered by believing in myself? That I alone will climb that mountain, that I alone will create my path to destiny. It is I alone who may falter, it is I alone who shall pick me up.

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The people who released me from their employ so many years ago could not appreciate the opportunity they had before them. Yet, they did me a courtesy. I am a product of my environment. They are a product of their environment.

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Others unknowingly have allowed me to positively contribute to mankind. I thank them very much because, without the changes they made possible,

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I may have never realized or discovered the power of change!

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Thank you all who have been and are a part of my learning and appreciation of mankind! Thank you all for allowing me to contribute to future generations!

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