July 10, 2022.

We are born with 4 qualities in abundance but as we grow older, we learn to suppress them due to our environment. These qualities affect our ability to succeed in every area of our lives. Most self-help books talk about how to develop these qualities, but I believe it is more a matter of finding them within ourselves. We are born great and with all the necessary tools we need to succeed. We forget as we grow older because that is the cycle that people before us went through. They blindly pass it on to us. As R. Buckminster Fuller once said, “All children are born geniuses and 9,999 out of 10000 are swiftly, inadvertently degeniusized by adults.” Below are the 4 qualities:

Persistence

Everyone is born with persistence. If not, there would be people who never learned to sit, walk, or talk solely because they decided to quit. Your brain is hardwired to strive through things and make it happen. So why does it seem as though a select few have persistence? What happened to these “select few” that’s different from everyone else? Are they that much different? Every person’s story is diverse. But when I paid close attention to what helped various individuals to push through long and difficult times, they often said, “I realized I could do more and push myself.” This shows that the strength comes from within. It’s a realization of the presence of persistence versus developing it from scratch. In the case of bilingual children, you will never hear them say “I will only learn this one language, this other one is hard.” Or no child will say ” I’m done trying to walk, I keep falling,” yet we as adults do this all the time. Where do we get it from? We learn from adults around us. They don’t even have to tell us to quit. When we observe them quitting or hear some of the things they say, we learn that some things are impossible. Eventually, we can get into the habit of placing more things than necessary in the “impossible” bucket.

No Fear

Children are born with no fear. We learn to fear from the way adults react to us doing certain things. The reactions are often well-meaning and for our own protection. I’m sure you’ve seen a child running towards fire or a moving car. They do not realize the danger. During the years that children are learning to speak, they will utter gibberish every second and do not care who’s around as long as they have something to say. We internalize many fears that we absorb from adults around us without question. It ranges from physical fears to psychological ones. Unfortunately, because children do not have the ability to tell whether these fears are irrational or not, they pick up everything. These children grow up into adults with these subconscious fears.

Spontaneity

You are born spontaneous. Children will go from laughing to smiling, walking to crawling. They are free, open and naturally uninhibited. You have in you the same qualities though you have learned to suppress it.

Self-Acceptance

You are born accepting yourself. All children have a sense of their value and worth when they enter the world. They do not self-loath or criticize themselves. Children learn to reject part of themselves from adults around them who don’t accept themselves. Children learn quickly what is an acceptable attribute and what isn’t. These judgements are carried into adulthood and can sometimes go unnoticed.

Finding these qualities within ourselves

Knowing that you were born with persistence, no fear, spontaneity and self-acceptance can be freeing. All you have to do is commit yourself to bringing out those qualities. Finding these qualities within yourself will take time, but it’s worth it. Wouldn’t you want to go after any opportunity without letting fear hold you back? To persist until you get the results that you want, whilst fully accepting your own brand of existence? How lovely would it be to freely experience life without getting hung up on outcomes? These qualities are in you to take advantage of. It’s up to you!

Question of the day:

  • Are there things I learned from my environment that I need to unlearn?

Comment your thoughts and share with a friend who might find this helpful!