Six Personal Gifts to Control Your Own Destiny and Stay Great

-by Mike Marino, Jr.

Never give your power away. You have six personal gifts to control your own destiny and stay great.

Greatness is being responsible, and doing what is expected of you. To be in control of your own destiny you must be pro-active. Life takes place in a decision. When you take action to make something happen, stuff is going to happen. What to do about what happens, after you make something happen is where you take control. When stuff happens that you did not plan on, that is opportunity knocking.

First personal gift: Knowledge - Without knowledge you will have no power to take action. Build on the knowledge already have. Learned knowledge is power. Observe, listen, read, smell, taste, touch, practice, practice, and practice. I am willing to listen, learn, and change how I think. Think big. It does not cost anything to think big. When you think big, you are taking care of yourself. When you think small you are focusing on your ego. The self always thinks big.

Second personal gift: Grace – You must request grace (permission)

You must have permission from yourself. Without permission you will procrastinate. You will sit and wait. Those who hesitate are lost.

Third personal gift: Authority – You must enjoy your authority to say yes or no! Without authority someone else is running the show. You are the authority in your life, nobody thinks in your mind. You are the center that watches and runs the show that can choose which way it will go. I am consciousness. Take charge of your own destiny. Guess what? Now what?

Fourth personal gift: Spirit – You must nurture your Spirit. It is so important because it brings energy and excitement. Spirit must grow because the opportunities will grow as times go on. Spirit is the greatest unused power on earth. Music can put wings on the human spirit. That's the spirit!

Fifth personal gift: Commitment – You must strengthen your commitment to yourself. Without commitment there is no long-term persistence. Persistence creates desire and builds knowledge. Knowledge must build, because of so much opportunity. One must have a heart-felt commitment in any endeavor they undertake. Be committed to yourself. The commitment you have to yourself is the commitment you will have to your family, your profession, your community. Love is a feeling of commitment. Commitment is a joining of forces.

Sixth personal gift: Opportunity – You must seize opportunity. Realize that problems are only opportunities based on how you view them. If you can't do anything, pray for someone else. If you can't pray, ask others to pray for you. If possible, do something. Faith without work is dead. Problems are sometimes opportunities for you to keep control of your own destiny.

"Tell me and I will forget. Teach me and I will remember. Involve me and I will learn!" - Ben Franklin 

Fall in love with learning!