We are born with a clean slate with the possibility to become anything that we want to be. Along the path of life we try, succeed and fail until we become the person that we are destined to be. However, I do not believe that that destiny is pre-ordained. While there are aspects of our life that are pre-determined, our parents for example, the person that we ultimately become is the person that we decide to be.

There are often people who believe that they have been dealt a bad hand in life. The world is out to get them, they got all the bad cards and the world just has not been fair. Usually, their predicament and situation is everyone else’s fault. Then on the flip side you see people who have been dealt every adversity that could possible come their way and somehow they find the way to persevere and succeed. They take control of the situation and decide their own destiny. What is it that makes the two so different?

People who have come from bad situations have gone on to be great. No matter what was thrown at them, they find a way to deal and move on, often achieving amazing things. The people who have found this ability all seem to have the same magic ingredient. They believed in themselves enough to put in the work necessary to become the person they desired to be and therefore created the path for their own destiny. They did not let life determine that path for them.

I knew all throughout high school that my path was to graduate and go to college. That was what I was supposed to do. I took life’s lead and went off to my first year of college. Despite graduating in the top group of my class in High School, I failed miserably my first year of college and did not go back. Suddenly, I was faced with the big question of what to do next. I decided to give the military a try and did four years in the Air Force. That was not the answer either. It was only when I took my life into my own hands that I finally was in control of my own destiny and went on to finish college and my MBA. At this point I did not do it because I was “supposed to”, I did it because I wanted to. That set the stage for the road that my life was supposed to take.

My hope for you is that at this point you have found the destiny that you have created for yourself. If not, it is never too late to change to the destiny you desire rather than that which was expected of you. As Emerson said, “the only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

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