“The quality of your thoughts determines the quality of your life.”

Understanding how your mind works is the secret behind why some people live happy, fulfilling lives-a life of their dreams, while others seem to struggle-never quite achieving the life they imagined or dreamed of.

We are all born with greatness in us and along the way, well-meaning people impart their belief systems on us as to what is possible or not.

Belief systems are the programs we are running in our mind, they are what we believe about ourselves, our world, and how everything works, it’s what we think is right or wrong and true or false about life.  Some examples of beliefs are: “I’m smart”, “People like me!”, “I’m too old or too young to start a business”, “I don’t think I can”, “Life is tough”, “You have to work hard to make a living”, It’s always been that way”….   Our beliefs directly impact how we feel about ourselves (our self-esteem) and what we can accomplish in our lives (our self-confidence).

There is no magic behind creating a happy life, achieving your goals, and making your dreams come true – the key difference between happy successful people and the unhappy, struggling people is what they choose to believe about themselves and what is possible for their life.  The happy successful people believe in their heart that good things will come to them and that life is meant to be fun and happy.  The unhappy struggling people often believe that somehow things won’t work out for them and that life is hard. They let fear, past mistakes, and other negative thoughts get in their way.

Let’s have a look at two people who some might have thought had the cards stacked against them right from the beginning….

First, we’ll have a snapshot look at Robyn Rihanna Fenty (Rihanna).  She was born in the Barbados. Her father was addicted to crack and alcohol and would beat her mother and her. So, due to the extreme stress in her household, she suffered from excruciating headaches. The doctors even tested her fearing she had a brain tumor. To escape the mental anguish from her home life she turned to singing. Finally, at age 14, her parents divorced but this didn’t end her suffering. She was bullied at school because of her light complexion and got into fights. She had to take on the extra responsibility of caretaker for her younger brother while her mother worked to support them.  Then, one day on a dare from a friend she entered a beauty contest, which she won singing a Mariah Carey song. She then went on to audition for an American music producer who recognized her talent and still a teenager, she moved to the US to live with him and his wife. Her and her music producer worked hard for the next two years writing music and making demos, and sending them out to record labels, finally she got signed by Jay-Z.  At this point in her life Rihanna, through continuing to overcome her fears and hard work has won nine Grammys, has had 14 number 1 singles in the US, and she has created the “Believe Foundation” to help terminally ill children. Rihanna’s belief is, “When you follow your heart you can never lose.”

Second, let’s look at an NBA(National Basketball Association) player, “Muggsy” Bogues.  He had one major thing that would have made the majority of people give up the idea of being in the NBA even before they even got started…he only grew to 5’3” tall.  This is shorter than most grown men and absolutely about a foot and a half shorter than the average NBA player!  However, Muggsy believed in himself.  He worked hard in high school and college and delivered on the basketball court. The NBA coaches were impressed and after college, he was recruited into the NBA!  He played in the NBA for 16 years and is still the shortest player to have played in the NBA. The fans loved him because he was such a hard worker.  Muggsy once told Sports Illustrated magazine, “I always believed in myself. That’s the type of attitude I always took out on the court, knowing that I belonged; that with my talents, my abilities, there’s a place for me out there.”

Rihanna and Muggsy believed they could create more in their lives.  They saw possibilities for themselves, even when faced with huge obstacles. They wanted more from their life, but more important, they believed they would get it.

While some people understand how belief systems work, most do not!  Most people are never taught about the power of belief systems, thinking in “possibility”, or given the tools to help them achieve their greatest dreams. Instead, limiting beliefs and limited thinking are passed from generation to generation, often without even realizing it.  Remember back when you were a kid. Did you ever daydream?  I know I sure did and still do!  Interestingly, how many of the very things that are destined to help you and humanity such as pursuing what you love and daydream about most, are quite often discouraged by people, especially authority figures. Sometimes it’s by well-meaning authority figures such as a parent, teacher, coach, or school counselor.  An example of one of the more frequent ways you’ll see people discouraging this in others is when they say things like, “Stop daydreaming” or “Get real you’ll never be able to do that.”

We can break that cycle!

Daydreaming is part of human nature. You have something special to offer the world that is buried deep inside of you and getting that out into the world involves using your creativity.  It’s something you know you’re good at and it’s something that makes you unique.  The creativity you possess is the backbone behind what you’ve always dreamed of doing.  All kids have dreams and greatness in them. As they grow, there will be things that get in their way. These will be the same things that will teach them resilience, strength, courage, and the lessons that will breathe life into the remarkable potential that is in them.  What we all want for our children is for them to come through these things with a strong belief that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to.  “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t: you are right!”-Henry Ford

My program offers many tools to help kids and their parents when it comes to figuring out how to deal with: experiencing low self-esteem and self-confidence, feelings of shyness or unworthy, peer pressure, being bullied, bullying others, lying or sneaking, being irresponsible, being disrespectful, lacking self-respect, feeling like a victim, experiencing fear or nervousness, feeling down or sadness, experiencing anger/life’s not fair, feeling moody/grumpy/negative, not achieving goals/lack of direction, experiencing change and fear, overcoming mistakes/failure/disappointments, and feelings of shame/embarrassment.