Person's success attitude is the fertile ground needed for the entrepreneurial mind to take root. Combine that with intelligence and skills, and a person has all the ingredients he needs to become successful in life.
Joey Conception founder of the Go Negosyo Entrepreneurship movement, say "success is not bound by poverty. Dreams of success are not only for the rich, educated or privileged."
It is the attitude, however, or the determination to overcome difficult situations and circumstances that will make the difference, so that dreams and goals will not go unfulfilled.
a. Success attitude overcomes aptitude
"Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it."
=Lou Holtz=The success drives a person to overcome the limitations of his aptitude. During the commencement exercise at Boston University, Texas billionaire Ross Perot was the keynote speaker. He admitted that he was a below average student who hardly made the grade, so to make a success of his business, he made it a point to hire people who are smarter than him. Perot is an example of a person who recognizes his limitation but is not limited by them.
Student who are not equipped with the success attitude often use their grades to determine their worth and their future career.
But students who know that hey can be successful in any field and be good at something they put their heart and mind into realize that they are more than their IQ score. They know their strengths and weakness and will choose fields of interest that will maximize their strengths.
It mus be emphasized, however, that educational attainment is not the only measure of ability. What if a person is not fortunate enough to earn a high school diploma or a college degree. Should this prevent him form reaching his dream? no.
Socorro "Nanay Coring" Ramos, founder of National Book Store, the largest book store chain in the Philippines, has always stressed the importance of education and has sold books all her life. Ironically, she herself has not finished school.
"I was born to a poor family and only completed high school. Unable to attend college, I only had one dream in life, an impossible dream, to finish school and get my degree," Ramos says.
However, her lack of diploma did not prevent her from growing her business from a 5 square meter store to 103 branches all over the country. It all boiled down to having the right attitude and passion to turn her dreams into reality.
b. Success attitude overcomes poverty
Who would have thought that the man hailed as one of the most successful technology entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley was actually born in Cagayan Valley? Diosdado Banatao, Referred to as the Filipino equivalent of Microsoft's Bill Gates, was born to a rice farmer and housekeeper. He grew up in the sleepy little barrio of Malabbac in the farming town of Iguig in Cagayan. As a kid, Banatao used to walk barefoot to school, which he did not mind because education was his key to a better life.
Today, Banatao manages Tallwood Venture Capital and is sharing his bleassing with the country through the Banatao Filipino American fund. The fund helps Northern California high school students of Filipino heritage to pursue engineering. Banatao is just one of the many Filipino entrepreneurs who did not let poverty prevent them from making it big in thier field. What these entrepreneurs have in common are the proper attitude, willingness to do hard work and the single minded determination to reach their goals, no matter the obstacles on their path. Parents who want to give their children a brighter future but are discouraged because of their lack of resources, should invest in building the success attitude in their children. Stop limiting them by saying that they should give up on their dreams because they are poor. Always provide positive encouragement. Develop in them a strong work ethic and tell them that they - like Banatao - can find a way out of poverty.
c. Success attitude overcomes personal challenges
Voltaire compares life to a game of cards and each player must accept the cards and each player must accept the cards dealt to him. Hellen Keller was born deaf and blind, but she overcome her disabilities and went on to become the first deaf blind mute person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She has since served as an inspiration to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Tony Llanes Jr. and Marx Melencio share a similar tale with keller and are equally inspiring.
Tony was born partially blind and completely lost his eyesight when he was 28. he did not succumb to self pity and instead started a business that provide computer delivery and maintenance serveces. he is one of the founder of ATRIEV, a computer school for the blind.
Marx, on the other hand, lost his eyesight when a drunken man shot him twice. he initially drowned in self pity, but he later found the strength to take charge of his life. he became a student at ATRIEV, which introduced him to own grayscale Business Consultancy and Management Services.His company provides research services to offshore companies and now employs a hundred skilled workers - some of whom are also blind, other are wheelchair bound or have other disabilities.
Both men were able to rise above their disabilities because of their success attitude. It was this attitude that enable them to fight back depression and self pity. their positive perseverance helped them make the best use of the skills they have in order to succeed. Parents who have children who learn differently should not expect less of them just because they have disabilities. Find their strengths and interests and support them so that they will find their niche.
d. Success attitude overcomes problems
In Awake My Heart, J. Sidlow Baxter writes, What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty and every difficulty an opportunity.
A person's success attitude can indeed turn problems into blessings. take Cecilio Pedro. For eight years, his former company aluminium containers, Inc. ranked it in as the major supplier of aluminum collapsible toothpaste tubes to multinational consumer goods giants Colgate-Palmolive and Philippine refining company(now Unilever Philippine).
All that come to an end when the tow companies decide to change their packaging from aluminum to plastic. He was left with no money coming in and millions of aluminum tubes.
He could have just closed down his company. But instead of giving up. he decide to formulate his own toothpaste so that he can use his tubes. Today Hapee Toothpaste is a fierce competitor in the market.
No matter what we do as parents, we cannot protect our children from problems and adversity. What we can do is equip them with a success attitude that will enable them to face challenges head on.
We have to teach them to view their situation realistically to see what they can and cannot change and show them to there are always ways to solve problems. help them to see that they have what it takes to make the right choices and that there are always options available to them.
Success attitude builder:
Create a SMART goal with your child
It is never too early or too late to help children make SMART goals for themselves. this will help them be pro active, self motivated and accountable for their goals.
Discuss goals that you own child want to set for himself. It can be as simple as doing homework every day and gaining more friends.
THEN HELP THEM SET SMART GOALS:
S - specific. state what you are going to do and be as specific as possible. example: " I will do my math drills every day" is a better goal then "I will get a high grade in Math.
M- Measurable. Devise a measure for your target. " I will finish 30 math drills day" is measurable, unlike " I will do better at math drills"
A- Attainable. Help your children set targets they can actually reach so that they will be motivated to work toward their goal will be motivated to work toward their goal. for example: if you know hat finishing 30 drills a day is not attainable, start first with just 10.
R- Realistic. This means the goal is do able if it's highly unlikely that your child will achieve his goal of getting an A in math make him go after a more realistic goal, such as passing all the math quizzes. Raise the bar as he develops his math skills.
T- Timebound. Set a time frame for achieving the goal. One week? One quarter? The deadline should be clear to make ti easier for your child to be accountable for his goal.
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