"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
--Marianne Williamson



All of us have childhood memories of the smart kid being picked on by the other kids because we were different from the group. This behavior may have been acceptable for that age, but after we reach a certain point of maturity, standing out from the crowd and becoming an overachiever should be something we ALL should strive for.

Our favorite celebrities didn't achieve such notoriety by just being 'average.' They worked hard and set themselves apart from the crowd. People such as Bill Gates, Donald Trump, and Oprah Winfrey did more than just go to school to get where they are. They studied their craft and put in the time OUTSIDE of school for their hard work to pay off.

The great Marianne Williamson gave us some of the most profound and inspirational words of all time in this speech. It was a call to action for each and every one of us to get up and start living up to our full potential. Many of us have aspirations of being some of the greatest lawyers, doctors, singers, rappers, politicians, artists, and businesspeople the world has ever seen but have yet to do any REAL research on the profession. Anybody with money and a little bit of determination can go to school and get a degree. It's all about what we did while we were pursuing our degree that counts. We want to achieve such great things but fail to do the things that would set us apart from the competition. What is it about YOUR accomplishments that set you apart from others?

When I say real research, I'm referring to doing more than looking up how much a person in that profession makes on average each year. If you are doing real research on a career of interest, you should know what it's like to work in that profession on a daily basis, be informed of opportunities that provide experience in that field (internships, shadowing, etc.), and the occupation's growth expectancy. If you have no knowledge of any of these things, you have some work to be doing...

As young adults, we should start to see the change in responsibility leaning more in our direction versus our parents/family. Our family cannot go and live our dreams for us. They can't network and go through internships in our place. Adulthood is the time where our parents' determination to see us succeed no longer translates into us succeeding. It is solely up to us as individuals to take charge of our own futures.

So now that you've read what I have to say about it all, what's your next move? The options are simple: Stand out or blend in? Live with no regrets or go through life with a bunch of 'what ifs'?



The choice is YOURS....