Where I came from, Where I'm heading.

60 followers

7 years ago

Disclaimer: I'm not looking for pity, I'm telling my life story to inspire others and help them on their quest to success.

Where I came from:

Born in Knysna but raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, I started out as a kid who hated school, the outside and everything in between. I was an extremely negative child due to poverty. The only thing I loved was my old IBM box computer which by the way, I mowed lawns for a year to get that damn thing (still have it for some reason). Several years went flying by, my mother and father decided to divorce and I chose to stay with my mother. I was rather young at the time so I can only vaguely remember what happened, another few years went by in a blink of an eye and I had a new dad, the best man I've ever known. He raised me, protected me and taught me everything he knew.

At 14, for the first time in my life, I adopted the positive mindset. Things started to look up for me. My grades went from barely passing to A+ in a year. I decided that I'll be great, not great for others but great for me and my stepdad, to this day he is my hero and will always be. My stepdad and mother started doing great, we escaped the grasp of poverty and the poor mentality. We moved into a big house, got a better car and had food in the house (we also got eleven dogs for some reason, took me ages to feed all of them!). Eight days before my sixteenth birthday, the worst day in my life came creeping in. My hero, my rock, and my mentor died from a heart attack. I sat next to him for three hours holding his hand waiting for the ambulance. With my mother in shock, my hero's hand turning cold inside mine and my mind racing with thoughts, I fell into depression for four years. In that time frame, I dropped out of school, started drinking, smoking, gaming and partying my life away. Suppressing my feelings with fake friends, a failing lifestyle and even more hate than I had before.

On my 20th Birthday, my mother handed me an envelope. On the envelope was the following "To my son: This is to make your bad times into good times". When I read that sentence my stomach turned inside out. I've been trying to forget about that night for years and now this happened on my birthday! I scraped the courage together and opened the letter, inside it said "Aim for the stars and fly, don't stop, don't look back, look at the stars and just keep flying! Only look back when you're standing on the moon and only then you'll see how far you've come."
That day my life changed. Since my 20th birthday till today (I'm 22 if anyone is wondering) I've adopted the positive mindset yet again. I'm motivated, I have control over my emotions and I can make rational decisions (feels great to be positive again!). Since my 20th I've had 5 failing businesses but I decided that nothing will get me down again, ever! I wake up every day ready to fight the battle for another day, I wake up everyday to do something great, I wake up every damn day to work towards my goals. Blocking out the negative, absorbing the positive, I firmly believe that's the key to success.

Where I'm heading:

Twenty-two turning twenty-three this year, I found Wealthy Affiliate. The best platform with the best community I've ever encountered (I might be soft-soaping a little, but I do mean that, you guys are great!). It gave me more willpower than what I had and I'm damn proud of it. I decided to go into motivational blogging since I know how it feels like to lose a loved one, I know it feels to have a failing business, I know how it feels to have the current working against you while you're just trying to keep your head above water. I want to motivate, inspire and empower people. If a school drop-out nobody can fight the current, anyone can.

My friends, be powerful, be fearless, grab this beast by the neck and stare into its eyes, make your mark on this world, build a legacy! Don't be the sheep, be the wolf! Be hungry for success and strive for perfection.

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This was a rather long story but I want to inspire all of you to set a goal and take action towards it with a positive mindset.

Remember, success comes before money, not after. You can't ask for heat and then add wood. You first have to add the wood and then you can expect heat. Become a successful individual first, then all the riches in the world will follow. Success isn't about money, success is about you as a person.

Here are a few great quotes from two of the most brilliant people I've ever known:

Earl Nightingale:

"Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal."

"You become what you think about."

"Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality."

Tommy Yssel (my stepfather):

"Aim for the stars and fly, don't stop, don't look back, look at the stars and just keep flying! Only look back when you're standing on the moon and only then you'll see how far you've come."

Everyone reading this, I recommend you go listen to Earl Nightingale's Audio tape:

It's a rather old and lengthy tape but just listen to it. It WILL change your life.

Be strong, be fearless and get going. There's never been a better time to create your life of freedom than today.

Your friend,

Rian.

PS: Sorry about my grammar.