As I draw this series to a close, I feel like a traveler who has set out on a journey that has included a number of stops. Each stop has allowed me to meet a mix of interesting and wonderful people throughout the world (and you know who you are), overflowing with life and full of ideas. To each of you I say thank you for taking a moment to enter my world, and more importantly for allowing me to enter yours.

Our unconscious mind is a powerful tool that does not question the things we tell it but simply works to find ways to create the reality we have outlined for it. I wonder if we realize the number of negative messages we send this tool. On the other hand, I also understand human nature and realize we all have dark moments of the soul where we question ourselves. Watching my four year old niece attempting to learn to ride her first bike was a perfect example of maintaining a vision, even after several falls, until she was flying like a big kid down the street. Each fall was a refining of the internal message being sent until her mind found a way to put them all together and suddenly she was riding. Very few people succeed on their first attempt at anything. So, when you talk to yourself… what do you say?

Throughout the series I have attempted to emphasis that each of us is capable of great things if we use this enormous capacity we possess. Carol Dweck, in her 2006 book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” indicates our attitude toward talent can profoundly affect all aspects of our lives from parenting, romantic relationships, as well as success at work.

“People who believe in the power of talent tend not to fulfill their potential because they’re so concerned with looking smart and not making mistakes. But people who believe that talent can be developed are the ones who really push, stretch, confront their own mistakes and learn from them.”

Her research over thirty years reveals that there are two types of people: A Fixed group who believe they are talented but that there is a limit to their ability to learn beyond their perceived abilities; and a Growth group who believe they have talent but constantly look for challenges to grow and expand their talent base by either looking for new challenges or responding in a proactive way to new challenges. People who are afraid to make a mistake have the impression that every failed attempt jeopardizes their inner image of competence and therefore don’t tackle things they find difficult and tend to operate just below their abilities.

Or, to paraphrase Bruce Lee: Consider water. You can drink it or allow it to flow through your fingers without harm; it has no shape of its own, and in its pure form is totally transparent. And yet, its relentless nature allows it to hollow out mountains…