Just Do It - Don't Let Small Minds Discourage You

I saw this pinned on Pinterest recently:

I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE UNDERESTIMATE ME.

SEEING THE STUPID EXPRESSION ON THEIR FACES AFTER THEY SEE WHAT I CAN REALLY DO IS PRICELESS.

At this time of my life, few people underestimate me anymore.

But the sentiment caused me to remember some incidents when I was in graduate school nearly 40 years ago.

A student, when she learned I was an Army captain recently returned from a deployment in Vietnam, called me a "baby-killer." I immediately forgave her. I knew where these young people were coming from, that they hated the war. I hated it too. Though a little respect for the people who didn't make policy but who made sacrifices on their behalf would have been nice.

But the incident motivated me to prove people like her wrong. So I wrote a long poem about my Vietnam experience and submitted it to the Academy of American Poets competition. It took First Prize, and it was published in Duke's literary magazine.

I loved that.

Also, I remember sharing my passion for my studies with a fellow graduate student. I told him I only had two years at Duke before I had to report to West Point to teach. So my goal was to complete all my Ph.D. requirements in that time.

He grinned through his beard and laughed at me. He said, "That's impossible." He had been there two years already and said most people take five or six years.

After a year and a half at Duke, I had completed all of my Ph.D. requirements except the dissertation. Three years later I came back to defend my dissertation. It was a great moment when my advisers stood up to shake my hand and said, "Congratulations, Dr. Coates."

On my way out of the building I saw the "that's impossible" guy talking with someone in the hall. He was still a graduate student.

I loved that.

Don't let other people's limited view of what's possible affect your will to do hard things and achieve your goals. You're capable of amazing accomplishments.

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., Copyright 2013. Building Personal Strength .