Education
The perennial promise of Self Help is that anyone can become a "suberbeing". Just like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Larry Ellison or [insert your hero or heroine here!] you too can become an excellent version of yourself and accomplish amazing things. Deep down inside we all believe this is true, that we are special and capable of accomplishing great things. Unfortunately, however, most of us live drab lives of mediocrity overshadowed by the debris of broken dreams and lost hopes. If that is putting it too harshly then at least most of us have not been able to live up to the promise of Self Help insasmuch as becoming the best version of ourselves possible This episode revisits the key question of whether super-successful people are born with certain traits that predispose them to achieving the phenomenal success that they do during their lives. Are some people just meant to succeed? Certainly, when we study the early years of many successful people we find in them qualities and characteristics that seem to destine them for their later success. Don't we all know children who are gifted or talented in some way or at the very least single-minded about what they want to achieve in life? Some youngsters seem to embody traits that speak of future success while others struggle mightily just to fit in Serial killers are often those who have been driven by sadistic and destructive tendencies from a very young age. Many were abused or neglected or came from otherwise dysfunctional homes. Others seemed to have had an innately cruel streak from a very young age and would revel in fantasies about inflicting pain and suffering on others. Many acted out their demons by torturing and killing animals before eventually moving on to human prey many years later. The question, again, is: were these people disposed to become serial killers? Was it something ingrained in their nature that caused them to go down the horrific path they chose in life? At the end of the day there is a case to be made for the supremacy of the human spirit and will. No matter what the circumstances, people in every age have risen above the most severe hardships and setbacks in order to overcome and succeed. An extreme example of this was illustrated in the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. Psychologist Victor Frankl who later rose to fame through his acclaimed book, "Man's Search for Meaning" described how most prisoners succumbed to the day-to-day deprivations and brutality of camp life. Their spirits would be broken and they would become a shell of their former selves. However, a handful of prisoners rose above these most depressing of conditions and became saintlike figures who would share their rations and tend to the sick. These holy personages were ultimate examples of the power of mind over matter If it is possible for one, therefore, it is possible for anyone. Another great example of the power of ordinary people to transform themselves into extraordinary people is the Amway multilevel marketing program. Thousands of people from all backgrounds and walks of life have transformed themselves into successful leaders and multi-millionaires and this is something I have seen with my own eyes over the course of years of being involved with and studying the Amway phenomena. Nowhere else have I encountered a program where it seems that anyone from a restaurant server to a retail worker to a corporate employee can literally change their whole lives and achieve such phenomenal levels of success. Again, just like Amway leaders always preach, "If we can do it, you can do it!" The question then becomes, if we really can change then what is the key principle of Self Help in order to lift ourselves out of our present condition and create a brand new life of success for ourselves? That is what I begin to explore in this episode