When I was a kid,
I told people
I wanted to be a millionaire.
My family was dirt poor
(yes, here in North America).
We didn’t eat every day.
NO ONE in my immediate circle
thought my goal
was at all possible.
Thankfully, I had mentors
outside my immediate circle
who not only believed
it was possible
but believed in me
and
had plans to help me
achieve my goal.
Arnold Donald,
CEO Of Carnival Corp,
shares
Then, the biggest challenge
became aspiration
and self-confidence.
There were lots of people saying,
“You’ll be lucky to get a job.
You’ll be lucky to finish high school,
let alone go to college.”
Even those closest to you
would only encourage you
to aspire to so much.
In their lifetime,
they had never seen anybody
have the opportunity to do much.
I overcame that
with tremendous support and guidance.
My high school was awesome.
Three times a day
this message would play
on the PA system:
“Gentlemen, prepare yourselves,
you’re going to run the world.”
It taught us to say,
“I don’t care what society is telling you.
You can be whatever you want to be
if you apply yourself
and don’t make any excuses.”
You CAN reach your goals.
Believing that
is the first
and most important
step.