You become what you think you are
In his book See You at The Top, Zig Ziglar shared an interesting story how one’s perception can lead you into doing and become what you believe.
There was a guy by the name of Victor, who, at the age of fifteen, was told by his teacher he would never finish school and that he should drop out and learn a trade. Victor believed the advice and for the next seventeen years he was an itinerant doing a variety of odd jobs. He had been told that he was a ‘dunce’, and for 17 years he acted like one.
When he was 32 years old, an amazing transformation took place. An evaluation revealed that he was a genius with an IQ of 161. And from the moment on, he started acting like one. He started writing books, secured a number of patents and become a successful businessman. At the peak of his life, he was elected as chairman of International Mensa Society.
The story of Victor makes you wonder how many geniuses we have wandering around acting like dunces because someone told them they were not too bright, not competent, stupid and so on.
Obviously, in this case, Victor did not acquire a tremendous amount of knowledge. He did, however suddenly acquired a tremendous amount of added confidence. The end result was a more effective and more productive human being. When he believe himself as a different person, he started acting differently.
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February 8th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
[…] You become what you think you areYou become what you think you are February 8th, 2007 In his book See You at The Top, Zig Ziglar shared an interesting story how ones perception can… […]