Confidence is a key Ingredient to Success

You have to believe in yourself. That doesn't mean that you bully people. People who believe in themselves care what others think, but don't live their lives by it. I believe I was born in the State of North Carolina for a reason. I look at the rich history of this State and some of the great people who have come from this State and it shows you that the sky is the limit.

When I say what I say above, that does not mean that we don't face some truly serious challenges and I personally believe that it is a necessity to acknowledge those challenges and insist on accountability. We have seen some terrible corruption take place in this State and this should not go unheeded. But, what I get tired of is when I hear people say that it's out of my control... or I can't do anything about it. It doesn't take many people to begin a movement, and it only takes one person to get a few people motivated towards that movement. Each one of us has a responsibility to carry our weight in this world and the more of us that do carry our weight, the better off the world will be.

Sure there are those that get ahead and don't really believe in themselves and they attempt to hold other people back to keep themselves on top. We see that all the time. I truly believe that is one of the things that is holding us back in these difficult times that we've witnessed over the last several years. I'm not saying that every person is like that, but as a collective that is the momentum that we have seen.... Impediments... Barriers to Entry... This is all caused by a lack of confidence.

Sure there are the lucky and fortunate. It is hard to not be jealous of these people. But truly it is not a righteous cause to covet what others have. What upsets most of us is to see this good fortune go to waste. Personally, I don't covet what these people have. I'm fine with what I have. I just don't want the lack of ambition and outright laziness of some these people to get in the way of progress. If they want to be lazy, then they need to do it on their own time and not on the public dime.

No one is expecting some miraculous Herculean effort. Those who desire progress have a role to  carry out. I liked what I heard last week when Dave Washco, the winner of the Edison Project, talked about being the best you can be. I know that there are efforts that I have taken part in over the last several years and I wish I could've done more, but in the end I'm not dissatisfied, because I know that I have done a lot and there's only so much time and I've made sacrifices to participate.

Each one of us has a role to play and I'm glad that I've gotten to know a lot of the people that I've gotten to know over the last several years in the efforts that I have participated in. I'm not going give up, because I am seeing changes, and we are moving forward.

I talked in the past about striving for excellence. No one strives for excellence all the time, but it should be the overarching ambition. We all go through periods of our life where we can't see the forest from the trees and we're just trying to get through the day, but we must understand what the end goal (desire) is and what the objectives are to our master plan.

We have a master plan, and we are working with others to move forward in the direction that will take this community back towards striving for excellence and balance. We are confident that eventually we will turn this community around. First the community, then the State, then the country, and finally the World.

There will always be doubters. There will always be people that want to tell you why something won't work. Every great invention was thought to be impossible before it came into being. As Dr. Garrett Hinshaw of Catawba Valley Community College said last week at that entrepreneurial forum, "you have to become numb to the word no." And as Dave Washco said, "when someone tells you no, then you need to ask them why?"

We're all good enough to get things done... We all are capable of contributing to the positive welfare of this community... We aren't crazy... We're confident... and really in the end, what is the alternative? We won't succeed without that Confidence!