2 - Introductory Plan

This lesson takes you through several steps to help you examine your life and think about the direction it is taking. The key word throughout is Choices. That means things are in your hands. You have the power to use your natural abilities and make life a great experience.

As with all people, when you were born, you had unlimited potential. Much of that potential was programmed out of you at a very early age. You may have grown up in an environment that expected less than the best from you. You may have been told what you could not do. You may have been persuaded by your conditioning to become average or less than average. Even if you believe those messages, that does not diminish the potential that was there in the first place.

You can quit believing in the message, “I can’t.” Make a choice. What incredible roadblocks self-doubts can set up in your life if you let them. These negative ideas stop you, hold you back, and convince you that you are incapable. It is not the rest of the world that prevents you from achieving; it is your own disbelief in yourself. A person’s I CAN is more important than I.Q. Your fortitude and determination to succeed can take you farther than the talents of a bright person who is lazy.

First, take responsibility for your own life and abandon the foolish notion that you are a helpless victim of fate. If you feel you are always mistreated or misunderstood, examine the situation fully from within to see how you are at fault. Establish your own identity. Be in charge of yourself and enjoy the feeling it brings. You are strictly accountable for your own life and for your shortcomings. A person does not need permission to start leading a full life; that signal comes from within us.

Many of the positive and negative ideas you have about yourself are rooted in your history. Think about the following questions.

SELF-QUIZ

You may want to write ideas for yourself on a sheet of loose leaf paper. Sometimes a flash of insight comes as you are physically recording an event or describing an emotion in writing.

Who Are You?

1. When and where were you born?

2. Describe your childhood; think about your family life—your parents, siblings, and grandparents.

3. Who and what influenced you the most?

4. How did you picture yourself when you were growing up—smart, happy, serious?

5. If you could change something about your childhood, what would you change?

What Are Your Goals?

1. What do you want to do for a living?

2. Describe the family life you want to have.

3. What do you want your financial status to be?

4. Where do you want to live?

5. How do you want to spend your spare time?

Sylvester Stallone – Before he became famous for his many movies such as “Rocky” and “Rambo”, he worked at a variety of jobs such as fish salesman, theatre usher, horse trainer, deli worker, bouncer, zoo attendant, and motel superintendent.