I’ve heard many people cry out that they can’t be successful like those that have a lot of money.  They may say that so and so had the advantage because their parents were wealthy.  Or that she is more beautiful or he taller.  No one would think that the son of a illiterate could ever make it big in this world.

The truth is that the great majority of successful people didn’t start out that way.  They weren’t born with a “silver spoon” in their mouth.  They didn’t have a lot of money to begin with.  Think of the greats industrialists of the 19th and 20th Centuries, each started out very poor.  They simply had the attitude that they were going to make it big.  They did what it took to get there.

It was their belief and the actions they took that made it happen.  Abraham Lincoln was also born poor, raised in a log cabin and eventually made it to become the 16th President of the United States of America.  And yet, his life was full of ups and downs.  He spent a year in a sort of rehab from depression and even contemplated suicide.  Many of the top businessmen of the past nearly went bankrupt.  Their determination kept them going.

Ask any Oscar-winning actor and they will tell you that they worked hard in order to make it big.  They studied and took small roles.  They had big dreams and took consistent action through many years of trials and tribulations.  Ask any professional sports star and they will tell you that they put time in when others didn’t.  NFL great Jerry Rice would do more than any other pro during the preseason workouts.

Each successful person fell down many times and got back up.  They learned each and every time as adjustments were made.  And they worked harder and smarter from each fall.  Without those “potholes” on the road to success, they would never have realized their “BIG DREAM!”  So, in a sense, it was those potholes that created the success in their lives.  Embrace each pothole you stumble upon and learn.  Have fun too!