Academic Success – The Six Secrets to Extraordinary Success, Secret #6

Step Six: Know You Are Capable of Succeeding

This step is the sixth secret to academic success. If you haven’t already, read secrets one through five to familiarize yourself with all the components that will help you succeed.

It is very important to know that you are capable of achieving great things. Yes, sometimes achieving big goals takes a lot of work, but if you apply the six secrets to academic success, you can achieve more than most people think possible. Let’s review some people in history who, despite being “burdened” with seemingly insurmountable limitations, achieved more than people without limitations would be expected to achieve.

Helen Keller

When Helen Keller was two years old, she contracted a disease that left her deaf and blind. Her ability to communicate with the outside world suddenly stopped. The next few years proved almost impossible for Helen and her family. Helen’s violent outbursts and continual tantrums caused her relatives to encourage Helen’s parents to commit her to an institution. Instead of isolating her further, they sought the help of Anne Sullivan, who was able to bond with Helen and teach her how to communicate. Helen graduated from Radcliff College, cum laude. After college, she began giving passionate public speeches, advocating for the rights of African-Americans, women, and other oppressed populations. She later published dozens of books and authored dozens of essays, articles, and speeches. She continued for most of her life touring, giving speeches for various groups and causes.

wilma rodolfo

The 20th of 22 children, Wilma was born with polio and suffered severe bouts of scarlet fever and pneumonia as a child. These ailments resulted in a “bad leg” which, according to some, would prevent him from walking. Her family refused to accept this depressing diagnosis and sought physical therapy. Wilma had a leg brace fitted that she wore from the time she was five years old until she was 11 years old. Then one Sunday she took it off and walked down the aisle of her church. She later became a noted track and field athlete and in 1959 she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics. In 1960, she set the world record for 2000 meters and earned the title of “World’s Fastest Woman”. That same year, the Associated Press named her the US Female Athlete of the Year, and she earned United Press Athlete of the Year honors.

James Earl-Jones

Most people know James Earl Jones. Although James Earl Jones is an accomplished actor who has appeared in dozens of films, what he appreciates most is his deep, rich and confident voice. His commanding presence and rich, resonant voice made him the perfect choice for the voice of Darth Vader in the long-running Star Wars film series, as well as the face and voice of commercials for Verizon Wireless. Most people would be surprised to learn that when James was five years old, he suffered an emotional trauma that left him with a crippling stutter. On National Public Radio (NPR), it was said that when James was a child, he “had a stutter so severe that, for eight years, he refused to speak and was functionally mute.” Obviously, the story does not end there. James overcame this handicap and in 1963, at a time when serious jobs for black actors were rare, he made his screen debut and has since appeared in more than 50 films. He has won two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar in 1970.

The list of people who, despite limitations and handicaps, achieved extraordinary levels of success goes on and on. Here are a number of famous people who overcame some form of learning difference or physical or environmental limitation: Albert Einstein, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Nelson Rockefeller, Galileo, Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Thomas Edison, John F. Kennedy, Mozart , Whoppi Goldberg, Charles Schwab, Walt Disney, Leonardo da Vinci, Henry Winkler, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Lennon, Robin Williams, Greg Louganis, Louis Pasteur, Winston Churchill, Henry Ford, Dwight D. Eisenhower , Robert Kennedy, George Bernard Shaw, Alexander Graham Bell, Magic Johnson and Beethoven.

We provide these heartwarming personal accounts of amazing people, and we’ve listed other people whose stories you can dig deeper into, because we want you to understand that human potential is virtually limitless. If you search the history journals, you will find a person who has achieved almost every impossibilities that existed until that person made it a possibility. Know that you are capable of great things! Know that if you increase your own self-awareness and empower yourself with positive self-affirmations, align yourself with the right knowledge, perspective and plan of action, use the powerful tools of goal setting, focus and success celebration, you will not only surprise yourself himself but also those around him. your.

This article was written by Michele LoBosco and Jacqueline LoBosco, Ph.D, founders of the Academics Plus Tutoring Center. You can find more information about Academics Plus and you can find the six secrets in a free e-book, The Six Secrets to Extraordinary Academic Success, on our website: http://www.academics-plus.com