I would like to begin this piece with a quote from one of my favorite inspirational and influential speakers, Brian Tracy. " You are what you think about most of the time." When you think about it - that one statement is pretty powerful, it says that you create who you are by how you think about yourself. Its something I didn't always see or understand, but when I sit back and reflect on different passages in my life I have come to find it to be very true. You cannot control what others think or do but you do have the power and ability to change others perception of you by how you see your self. If you think you are a worthless, hopeless person with nothing to offer most of the time - you will do and behave as a hopeless worthless person - who life happens to. On the other hand you may be in a bad situation, or spot in your life but instead of choosing to see the situation as hopeless and give up, you think hmm... what can I do to get myself out of this mess, come up with a series of steps and a reasonable time line and keep working towards that goal. Two very different ways of thinking. One is the victim mentality and the other is the Can Do mentality. Sure, not all of our problems in life can be solved right away and we may have to accept the fact that for a certain amount of time a situation is what it is and we have to choose to make the most of it for now, but in time with a plan, we can and do have the power to change that situation, and do not have to accept failure. Only when you stop trying do you truly fail. Think about who you want to be and find someone who has those characteristics, study that person, go ask them questions if you can. Questions like how did you get to be where you are, what things do you do on a daily basis to get you there? By picking up those same habits and actions you can start your own journey to being the person you want to be