Make personal growth your priority

I’m all for personal growth and self-improvement but I’m not for false hope.

It’s true. You can become the person you aspire to be. That’s what self-improvement and personal growth are about.

But, it’s not true that you can do anything you choose or attain any role you aspire to fill, although you can learn a lot about yourself trying.

There is nothing wrong with striving to improve your position in life and working towards achieving your dreams. But, be aware that what you can do and how far you can go are tempered by where you were born, the socio-economic status of the family you were born into, your innate aptitudes, and the opportunities you take advantage of when you see them.

An extreme example

Any natural born citizen of the United States of America can aspire to become the President. Although it’s true you have to be a natural born citizen to be eligible to hold the office, simply being one is no guarantee you’ll ever get to sit behind the desk in the Oval Office on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Simple mathematics exposes the illusion of believing anyone born in the United States can become the President. Let’s run the numbers. According to a May 2018 article in The Washington Post, 3.8 million…