Born to be a ten
Have you ever wondered what you think about who you are? Many of us have been taught that all of our self-worth is based on achievement and that our value in life is due to the contributions we make to society. When we get it right, we’re amazing; when that doesn’t happen are we losers?
Is it any wonder that a college-educated executive working in a high-rise building earning a six-figure income feels like he’s on top of the world and a homeless man who doesn’t know where his next meal is coming from is seen by many as worthless? Is our human value so tied to our achievements that when you fail to achieve it, you are considered a failure?
This “achievement-based self-worth” mentality. In the movie “Trading Places” with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy, Dan plays a wealthy Wall Street investment specialist who works on Wall Street and enjoys the best money he has to offer. A good place to live, good clothes, good job and friends from society. His self-esteem centers on his job and his job accomplishments. Eddie Murphy stars as a broke street hustler who is out there every day trying to find his next scapegoat for one of his schemes.
Their roles are reversed, and Eddie becomes the big shot on Wall Street and has all the perks Dan once enjoyed. Meanwhile, Dan is reduced to being a street bum and when he tries to seek help from people in his past life, he discovers that once he has lost his position and status at work, he is no longer welcome to his world.
The film shows how tied to our roles we have all been conditioned. Parents can ask children questions like “how did you do today on the school test or did you make the basketball team?” and the responses for the child dictate acceptance for success or rejection for failure. Parents are not trying to make their children feel bad; they are only monitoring actions and results. This conditions children to associate achievement with achievement.
What if I told you that you are successful not because of what you do but because you are? You are a person with unlimited potential and endless opportunities to advance your dreams. You have to do great things in your life, but you don’t have to do great things to be a great person. When you were first born, you were “terribly and wonderfully created” and this entitles you to the benefits of being alive in this world. Being successful is not what you do; is who you are
On this journey to success, keep in mind that success isn’t really a journey or a destination. Success is more of a state of being. Believe within your mind that you are already successful because you are here. All the world can see is an extension of what that success means.