What you can learn from the boy who wasn't smart...

His mother and father feared that something was wrong with their child. He was already three years old and still hasn't spoken a word. Years later, the fear resurfaced when their boy began to attend elementary school. The other kids thought he was weird because he didn't like sports and his teachers believed he was slower than the other students. By the time he got to high school one of his teachers told him that he would never amount to anything and that he should just drop out. Eventually, he did drop out of high school. Even the military didn't want him because he had 'flat feet.' It seemed as though this kid was just doomed. He was born to fail and everyone knew it.

Before I continue with the story, I think it's important to note that I probably already convinced you that this boy was not smart. Perhaps at some point even the boy was convinced that he was not smart. Why do we do that? We allow others to dictate what we are or what we aren't? We're quick to judge and we're quick to accept judgment.

Has anyone convinced you that you're not smart enough? That you're not good enough? Or that you just can't do it? If you allow yourself to be convinced by other people's opinions, then we accept the limits of others, not of ourselves. You have a choice to not listen.

However, the worst thing you can do is convince yourself that you can't do something or that you are a certain way. You might say to someone, "I'm just not a morning person" or "I'm just always late" or "I'm bad with math." When I used to teach guitar lessons years ago, the most common thing I would hear was, "I can't play the guitar, my fingers don't stretch that far." These are all lies. There is a way you can wake up earlier, you just need to get used to it. You can always leave your house 30 minutes before so you're not late. You can do math problems 30 minutes a day to get better. Finally, you can actually just try to stretch your fingers until your fingers get used to the guitar, with much needed practice.

It's easier to convince ourselves that we just can't do things. Or we can use that same mental power to convince ourselves that we can be better. We can convince ourselves that we can change and that we will change. Is it hard? Of course. Does it take time? Definitely. Is it worth it? More than you can imagine.

What things can you improve about yourself? What things need to improve? Is it really others that have convinced you or is it yourself?

Oh yes - back to the story! The boy eventually studied long and hard to take a few exams and eventually got into college. After college he struggled with finding a job because his teachers refused to write letters of recommendation for him. The story of his life continues. He finally got a job at as a patent clerk and continued his studies earning a doctorate from the University of Zurich. The boy who was once told he would never do anything in life became one of the smartest human beings that ever lived. His name was Albert Einstein.