Designing Your Destiny

1) One role model told us, “For success, and for personal fulfillment, and for happiness, and for contentment…all of these things in your life that you want…you have to make them happen. You’re responsible for them for yourself. No one else can do it for you.” What do you want in your life? What do you think will make you happy? Successful? How does knowing that you are responsible for finding these things make you feel? Why?

2) Listeners learned that they have the power to create the life they want. What steps might someone need to take to create the life they want? Do you think the life you want can happen by chance? Why or why not?

3) Sometimes things go wrong, or challenges pop up that we didn’t anticipate. What can you do when you meet a challenge to ensure you continue to focus on yourself and the life you want? Can you do anything in advance to prepare for possible challenges? What?

4) A role model explained that some people feel they are in control of their lives and other people feel as if their lives are mostly shaped by external, or outside, forces. Do you feel that your life is in your control, or do you feel you are controlled by external forces? Why? If someone feels their life is controlled by external forces, what could they do to take more control of their destiny?

5) One role model explained that when thinking about your future and making your way in life, it doesn’t matter what anyone in your family has done and it doesn’t matter what your friends are doing. Why is it important to make your own choices, even if they might be different from what others want for you? How can making your own choices affect your happiness and success?

For success and for personal fulfillment and for happiness and for contentment, like all of these things in your life that you in theory want, you have to make them happen. You’re responsible for them, for yourself. No one else can do it for you. No one else can make you happy. No one else can give you success. No one else can give you wealth. No one else can give you self-fulfillment. Those are all things you have to find for yourself and make for yourself and be responsible for, for yourself because no one else can do that for you. And the idea that anyone else owes you anything is a complete farce. And something that you will be very disappointed to find out no one else will do for you. So, take responsibility for yourself and you’ll find that there’s an incredible amount of things you can do and know that your happiness and your fulfillment is a hundred percent completely within your control.

It’s just you taking your steps to make your reality. So it’s really goes back to creating your life and knowing that you have the power to do that. I think unfortunately, many people think that it’s all external stimuli, external events that shape your journey. But at the end of the day, it’s you creating your life. And if you can hold to that truth, that it’s my job to create my life, my future, then you can do it. You can do whatever you want. There are no limits.

You have the ability to, to have your own life, to make your own way. It doesn’t matter what anyone in your family’s done. It doesn’t matter what any of your friends are doing. You have to stay focused on you. And if you stay focused on you and every time you get unfocused, you refocus again, then you will be successful. But you can’t use what others have done before you as an excuse to fail.

What’s it gonna take to succeed? And that’s what I would encourage everybody to think about what is it gonna take to succeed and then line that up so you can make sure that you do those things that are gonna make you successful. That’s where I think the best energies are served.

You need to be your own advocate and fight for what you want, solve your own problems, and be in the driver’s seat of your own life. It is way better to be a driver steering the car than simply a passenger that stops at every stop the bus is stopping at.

Get up and fight. Life doesn’t hand you your dreams. You’ve got to wake up, you’ve got to go after it, and you don’t mind the naysayers because there’s going to be a ton of them and you don’t get distracted.

No matter what bumps happen to end up in your path, know there is a destiny for you to lead, to inspire, and the first person you need to lead, and the first person you need to inspire is yourself.

Independent Learning Guide: This all-purpose guide can also be used by educators, parents, and mentors to jumpstart a valuable discussion about building wealth and maintaining financial resources.

Life won’t just hand you your dreams. It is your responsibility to create your own happiness, find your own fulfillment, and pursue your own success. But this is easier said than done. Which steps do you need to take to make your dreams a reality? What will it take to succeed? Learn how to sit in the driver’s seat and take control of your future in this powerful video.

Classroom Lesson Plan: This step-by-step lesson plan is available to guide a more in-depth “before, during, and after” learning experience when viewing the video with students. This lesson plan is also suitable for use in after-school programs and other educational settings.

Use Empowerment Activities as a fun way to reinforce the video topic and build community with your students.

• In The Driver’s Seat

Fun Page Activity: Can you tell the difference between someone in control of their own life and someone that allows outside forces to guide their future? Read through the real-life scenarios in this intriguing fun page activity to see if you can identify the differences.