Today’s Brilliance from Madison Lewandowski

When I was in first grade, I broke my wrist. When the day finally came for me to get my cast taken off, I wasn’t excited like most kids would be. I was petrified. The doctor came in with a huge tool that looked like a medieval torture device and started cutting my cast off, making a loud irritating sound.

After that came the worst part. They had to take the cotton off of my wrist. It was very slightly stuck to the hairs on my skin because the cotton had been on my arm for the past six weeks. I thought so much that it would hurt like the past few visits that I freaked out about it.

It wasn’t supposed to hurt, but because I thought it would and because I was so ready for it to hurt, it felt 1000 times worse than it should have felt. To me, it was almost as bad as actually breaking my wrist, all because of my brain and what I believed was going to happen. Because I believed it so much, my brain played tricks on me and made it happen. That’s when I learned the power of my own thoughts.

The most important thing I’ve learned is to believe in yourself. Without belief you will go nowhere. But belief alone is not enough. You must avoid shortcuts in life and work like crazy to reach your goals. Once you reach them, you gain more belief in yourself and the hard work becomes easier. Kids are lucky in that way. The younger we are, the easier it is for us to believe.

When I was seven and wanted to start a business, my parents encouraged me to. And I did because I believed in myself. I borrowed some money from the Bank of Mommy and Daddy and I was off selling picture-frames and purses.

I paid my parents back and started making money, all because I believed in myself. We just have to believe in our ability and work like mad to make realities. Belief and a little hard work is all you need to succeed.