Greatness is my birthright

In, "What it takes to be great," Geoffrey Colvin, senior editor-at-large of Fortune Magazine writes, "The good news is that your lack of a natural gift is irrelevant - talent has little or nothing to do with greatness. You can make yourself into any number of things, and you can even make yourself great."

Yesterday, while talking with my life coach, Sarah, at Forward Bound, we talked about 'denying magnificence'. My innate desire to underplay, under-represent, undermine my own magnificence. For someone who believes in inspiring others to celebrate their own magnificence, it's a pretty tough pill to admit that I do not celebrate myself.

Yet, it's true.

So what? If it's true, why not do something about it?

Good question!

Well, there's that little internal whisper of, but people will think I'm conceited. People will think I'm full of myself. People will think I think I'm better than them.

What if they do? Is anyone's opinion of me about me? Is anyone else's opinion of me important?

No.

My opinion of me counts. My opinion of me is what makes a difference in my life. It's what makes my difference, just as your opinion of you is what counts and makes the difference in your life.

In worrying about someone else's opinion of me, I'm judging people for their opinions. If I think, 'they' will think me stuck-up, I am abdicating responsibility for what I do, or don't do, to the mythical 'they'. That mass of nothingness upon which I can dump my fears of being great so that I never have to acknowledge my greatness, nor even try to live up to it.

Tiger Woods began playing golf at the age of 18 months. Recently, I watched a video of Tiger practicing. He took two practice swings and each time he swung, he watched the 'flight' of the ball as if he had really hit it. His eyes never left the ball. His body followed the swing. When he hit the ball on the third swing, it went exactly where he had anticipated it would go -- not bad for a three year old.

Tiger Woods didn't become a golf great because he kept practising. He became great because every time he practiced he kept his eye on the ball. He knew exactly where he needed it to go -- and that's what he aimed for. And with every swing, he focused on improving upon his last swing. If this one got his ball 18" from the hole, he focused on getting it 16" from the hole on the next swing, until with every swing he was always hitting his mark.

If I am not continually honing my skills as a writer, I am at risk of never living my dream of being a writer. If I do not celebrate myself, I am at risk of never living up to my magnificence.

Being great is all about attitude. It's about drive and perseverance, discipline and self-will. Being great is our birthright. Letting go of our greatness, now that's a choice we make somewhere on the road of life when we take our eyes off the ball of our own greatness and measure ourselves against the opinions of others. And in that choice we put ourselves down, we hold ourselves up from living the life of our dreams.

Not for me.

Once upon a time a wished I could live the life of my dreams. One day my wish became the desire to live the life of my dreams. I turned my desire into the belief that I can live the life of my dreams. Today I will myself the right to live the life of my dreams by living up to my greatness, by embracing my magnificence and celebrating me for all I'm worth.

The question is: What about you? Are you willing to accept your greatness and live up to your magnificence? Are you willing to focus on your dream and bring your drive and perseverance to bear? Are you willing to celebrate yourself?