There are many lies that hold people back.
“I’m too old.”
”I’m too young.”
“They’ll never go for it.”
“I’m not talented enough.”
“Nothing ever works out for me.”
“The world is against me.”
But there may be one possible lie that helps more than it hurts.
Here it is:
You control your own destiny.
Now, before anyone rushes to object, let’s acknowledge something.
This statement may not be entirely true.
None of us controls everything.
We don’t control the economy.
We don’t control the weather.
We don’t control other people’s choices.
We don’t control where we were born, the family we came from, or many of the events that shape our lives.
So, strictly speaking, the statement isn’t completely accurate.
Yet I would argue that you are still better off believing it.
Why?
Because the alternative is often far worse.
When people stop believing they have meaningful influence over their lives, they tend to surrender responsibility.
They wait.
They blame.
They complain.
They explain.
They rationalize.
They become spectators in their own story.
Believing that you control your destiny encourages a very different response.
It encourages accountability.
It encourages initiative.
It encourages resilience.
It encourages action.
When you believe your future is largely in your hands, you start looking for what you can do instead of dwelling on what you can’t.
You begin asking better questions.
What action can I take?
Is there anything more I can do?
What skill can I develop?
What relationship can I improve?
What opportunity can I create?
How can I make things better from here?
These questions are powerful because they direct attention toward possibility rather than limitation.
Of course, reality eventually reminds us that we don’t control everything.
Life has surprises.
Setbacks occur.
Unexpected events interrupt our plans.
But even then, the belief retains its value.
You may not control every circumstance, but you can control many of your responses.
And those responses often shape the quality of your future.
So perhaps the statement isn’t perfectly true.
Perhaps none of us fully controls our destiny.
But if the choice is between believing you have substantial influence over your future or believing you have very little, I know which belief I would choose.
One belief creates action.
The other creates excuses.
One belief expands possibility.
The other shrinks it.
One belief helps people move upward.
And sometimes that is reason enough to believe it.
Aspire.
Come Upwards with Us™
