How you define
yourself will be how
you will act.
Wealth is the product of man’s capacity to think.
—Ayn Rand
Remember that your perception of yourself is your
reality. How you define yourself will be how you
will act. If you believe that you’re a lazy, inept, weak,
dim-witted individual—that’s how you will act. Your
definitions of yourself are self-fulfilling prophecies.
Why? Because as human beings, one of our greatest
needs is consistency. You will find yourself acting
consistently with your self-concept and self-definition.
The most vivid experience I had with this
incredible truth came during my student years many
years ago.
All my life, I defined myself as a C student. My
most sublime goal in school was to get a grade past
75%. Why? Because that was my self-concept. I never
saw myself as academic, studious or intelligent. That
wasn’t me.
But something happened along the way. On my
third year in college, I had to quit for a while to work
full time for a community project. One day, someone
asked me if I wanted to take up post-graduate studies
in theology as night classes. I told him I wasn’t
qualified because I wasn’t a college graduate. But
when the dean of the school talked to me and learned
about my volunteer work, he said I could take the
course if I wanted to. They’d just keep my Masters
diploma until I finished my college degree.
But in those classes, I was surrounded by priests,
nuns and seminarians, and my mind was challenged.
My paradigm shift took place after my first exam. Our
professor wrote down on the blackboard the five top
students of the test. I wasn’t even paying attention
until someone tapped my shoulder to take a look. I
found my name in the number one position, beside
the words “perfect score.” I couldn’t believe my eyes.
After class, I remained glued to my seat, still
gazing at that blackboard. My whole being was
in shock. “You mean all this time,” I reprimanded
myself, “I was wrong? That I can be bright?”
That day changed my life. My self-concept was
transformed forever. I went through that Masters
program picking up A’s every time I took an exam.
I then went back to the last two years of my college
years with a vengeance. Whatever class I took, be it
statistics, science, philosophy or literature, I was in the
honors list. I was a changed man!
Let me go back to the topic of this chapter: If in
your thinking you believe that you can’t earn enough
money for your family, then you won’t. If you see
yourself as a C employee or worse, an F businessman,
then that’s what you will be. If this is your selfconcept,
then that’ll be your life forever. Sometimes,
people are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty,
handed down in their families from one generation to
another. Their very family identity is indelibly wedged
and welded with poverty. They see themselves, define
themselves, describe themselves as poor. I’ve seen this
phenomenon so many times in my work, I think it’s an
epidemic.
I am totally convinced that we are limited by our
own core beliefs, and if we have small beliefs about
ourselves, then we will remain small forever.
But if you believe in your heart that you can create
money, then you can.
Your Creator has given you this capacity to earn
money—for yourself, for your family, for your lifedreams.
Use it!
Create a paradigm shift for yourself right now.
Believe in your capacity to make money.
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