I sometimes get told that I intimidate people because of my achievements. I get told too many times how impressive I am. Too many people say to me they couldn’t do what I do. Do you know what? I am really uncomfortable with these statements, because they are not true. I know me, and I am not that impressed and, trust me, anyone could do what I have done, and much more. It is my goal in this blog, as the new year begins, to burst myths that surround achievement.

I see two massively incorrect beliefs that people have about achievement. The first steaming pile of myth is that anyone who is a high achiever is confident, courageous, and has all their stuff together. Ha! The second diabolical myth is that achievement is only for the talented, the educated, the intelligent, the lucky, and those in the right place at the right time. Wrong, wrong, and wrong! Are you ready for the exciting truth about achievement? It’s simple, it is for you!

I am the embodiment of an insecure, often self-doubting, regularly anxious, under-educated, ill-equipped, and average-skilled battler who has created some illogical and unlikely achievement. Do you feel you could live up to that? My professional football career was borne out of insecurity and lack of self-worth. It was my desire to be noticed, liked, approved of, admired, and respected that drove me to play professional sport. It was not what most believe, which is a deep love for the sport, abundance of natural ability, and strong belief in myself.

My career as a successful author was borne out of desperation, not inspiration. I did not have ability, experience, education, time, or resources. What I had was a clear vision for the life of debt and burnout I was desperately trying to escape, and the life of abundance and significance I wanted to live. The book was a random idea that came into my head, and one I acted upon spontaneously, without having any idea of how it would happen. Many believed I must have loved reading and writing. I loved neither! People were certain I must have had some experience, skills, and affinity with the written word. I had none.

If achievement is not confidence, belief, and self-assuredness, what is it? If it’s not ability, talent, education, resources, or luck, what is it? These are two great questions, and the answer to them is, achievement is the result of things every single person has, or at least has access to. You see, we don’t all have self-worth, many, if not all of us, are insecure, and I don’t know many people who have it all together. So that can’t be it. There are people, like me, who lack natural ability, don’t relate to education, and are ill-equipped for certain things. Isn’t it exciting, if that is you, achievement is possible anyway. Achievement of what? Anything, yes, anything you want. So, what does it really take?

I can only talk from my experience, and I can only be very brief here, but in my mind, all you need are five things you already have or can get. You need a clear vision for the life you want to live. You need a strong desire to make it happen or achieve a goal that will move you towards it. You need faith that if you get started and stay in action the path to achievement will open itself up to you. You need spontaneous action to get started on some simple steps without all or any of the answers. You need resilient persistence to keep going, no matter what is happening, how you are feeling or what others are saying, until you get what you want.

That’s it. Just those five steps. But what about belief, courage, and confidence? What about skills, talents, and abilities? Trust me, and trust you, those things will all come through faith and focused daily action. You already have the skills. You already have the courage. You already have the resourcefulness and creativity. You already have everything you need to achieve anything you want. In my podcast this week called, Creativity is our superpower, Michaell Magrutsche and I discuss the creative power that lies within in you when you shift out of systems and into nature. It is a wonderful podcast I urge you to listen to several times.

If you feel you want more information about what I have touched on in this blog, I encourage you to purchase my book, TEARS of Joy. In it, I get into much more detail about this simple but transformational process. As you go about your new year and the things you are trying to create for yourself, I hope you will burst the myths that may be stopping you or holding you back. You are enough and you have enough, right now, to make 2023 anything you want to make it. Go forth and be free in 2023.