What if we could be limitless?
What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
What projects would you work on? Where would you go? Would you still be doing the work you do now?
In the film Limitless, a pill gives one human the power of all knowledge, and unlimited confidence. In other words, all knowledge is available and failure impossible.
“Not many of us know what it’s like to become the perfect version of ourselves.”
– Eddie Mora, played by Bradley Cooper in the film Limitless
It’s a fun idea.
As parents, isn’t this what we want for our kids? Not with the pill, I mean. But, to be limitless?
My son Alejandro turned 17 a few weeks ago.
We’ve been touring colleges for almost two years now and I started thinking. Why are we doing this?
Everyone knows the stories about billionaire college dropouts like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and others.
There’s been a lot of talk in the media about whether college costs are worth it? With some tuition over $70,000 per year and rising student debt that can never be refinanced or forgiven, there is good reason to pause. Especially in the fields of study where jobs are not readily available or not particularly high paying like education, and the arts and humanities.
Plus, you can learn all the same skills and use all the same textbooks at your local community college or even just the public library. There’s even free courses from the very same Ivy League colleges and universities online 24/7.
So, why do we all strive to send our kids to the same 100 or so colleges? Why have parents committed crimes to get them in?
The answer dawned on me as I sat in a recent presentation for Stanford University which I attended with my son.
There were wonderful slides and a nice introduction by the Dean of Admissions. But then, they introduced a panel of recent grads. Not only were they poised and well-spoken, but the sense of confidence without arrogance was palpable. Here were five twenty-somethings who carried themselves as if they were decades more experienced and were already directors of teams and managing projects spread across the globe. And they all exuded this single quality…limitless.
Going to a good school is not just about the curriculum.
It’s more than that. College is an experience. It’s a 4-year version of that Limitless pill. It’s about transformation.
As a coach and mentor to other business owners and educators, I’ve discovered growth is more mental than physical. In fact, it’s 80% mental and 20% physical.
When I say mental, I mean mindset: the thoughts and feelings you experience on a daily basis.
The college experience is about transforming what you thought was impossible in yourself and in the world.
By surrounding yourself with other like-minded people, you share similar expectations and shift beliefs to what is possible.
You are held accountable for your actions.
That’s the real reason we want the best schools for our kids. It’s four years of breaking and rebuilding beliefs and lifting each other up.
“If you want a new outcome, you will have to break the habit of being yourself, and reinvent a new self.
– Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself, By Dr. Joe Dispenza
Education, and all experience, is a path to becoming. If we view all life as this path, we can make better choices. Everything is an opportunity for reinvention. But, only if one is aware of this power. We are all authors and composers of our lives.
It’s why we enroll our kids in activities like sports, language and music lessons. It’s why we “make memories” with them every time we take them on a family trip.
“…your familiar memories related to your known world ‘re-mind’ you to reproduce the same experiences…the way you think and feel – and then see how the external environment is altered by your efforts…”
– Dr. Joe Dispenza
We are the heroes of our children’s lives. We have the power to give this gift of possibility. And it doesn’t require a pill. It only takes a shift in mindset.
So, take an interest in your children’s hopes and dreams. Give them opportunities to soar. Invest in your own coaching and model the limitless mindset.
Feel free to share this with your friends.
