Society doesn’t want you to believe it, your friends and family probably don’t want you to believe it, religion certainly doesn’t want you to believe it, but fortunately it is true. You can have whatever you want.

Think about when you were a child or observe any young child, you were bursting with energy, brim full of excitement, seriously curious and you believed that anything was possible for you. You would watch other people doing things and think, “I can do that.”  You would start dreaming of how things were going to be for you when you grew up, what you would make of yourself and who you would become. The sky was the limit for you.

So what went wrong? Where did that energy go? How come you lost your curiosity? What is the reason that you lowered your expectations for what you could achieve?

Has anyone ever said to you “Get real”? Has anyone ever told you that you aren’t good enough? That you are too short or too tall? That you don’t have the right background? That you don’t have enough money? That you are not clever enough? That you are “kidding yourself”?

The inconvenient truth

The thing is that we are all told these things when we are young and because we know no different we believe them. These things become beliefs of ours, we hold them to be true and we pass these beliefs on to other people. They become facts for us. They have become facts of life in most societies in the world and the inconvenient truth is that they are in fact convenient excuses and lies.

Is it easier to work really really hard and become world class at what you do or become mediocre? It is easier and more convenient to become mediocre isn’t it?

Why is it convenient you may ask? Well, if I can do something and achieve it easily then that is convenient for me isn’t it? This encourages me to set targets for myself that are easily achievable.  If I do something and expect to fail, then when I fail it proves my point, makes me feel better, it is convenient for me.

How is it convenient for other people? Well, if as a child I set my sights on becoming a world class swimmer, then what does that entail for Mum and Dad? Lots of trips to the swimming baths is one thing, expense in paying for a coach may be another. Now Mum and Dad love me and so I am sure that they wouldn’t have minded…..however it is more convenient for them for me to lower my expectations.

In addition, people don’t want to see you get hurt. In their conditioned minds you can’t have what you want and so if they hear you say that you want to become an astronaut, then they may become fearful that you are going to be disappointed or hurt when you don’t achieve it.  Better to let you down gently, “that’s nice dear. Why don’t you think about becoming a bank manager instead like your dad, it’s a nice safe career” NOT!

As far as religion is concerned, you having what you want is a threat to their existence isn’t it? If you have everything that you want then why would you need the faith? Sadly this is the limited belief and thinking in some areas of religion and society.

And then we have our friends. Ah, our friends, they don’t want us to get hurt either, they have our best interests at heart but there is something within them that really would love you to have just a bit less than them, to be just a little bit less well off, to have just a slightly less perfect relationship. We are competitive beings after all.  It is convenient for them for you to have just a little bit less of everything.

So, we learn that you can’t have it all, that you should settle for second best, that you should be happy with what you have, that you should aim for the security and familiarity of the middle of the road.

That is where your curiosity and energy went. That is why you need artificial stimulants to excite you. That is why you sometimes feel stuck in a rut.

The inconvenient truth for everyone is that you can have what you want. If you have a strong enough vision, if you have the right attitude of taking responsibility for your results, if you are courageous enough not to listen to people who tell you that you can’t do something, then you will find that you can indeed do and have everything that you want.