Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement

GO BACK TO YOUR CHILDHOOD
One way to determine your future is to examine your past. Look
back to what you 
most enjoyed
doing when you were between the
ages of 7 and 14 years old. At that time, you were completely free
104
CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE
➤
ccc_tracy_6_90-117.qxd  6/23/03  2:48 PM  Page 104

---

to pursue any subject that attracted you. What did you most enjoy
doing? If you don’t remember, go and ask one of your parents.
They will usually remember how you spent your time when you
were younger.
A participant in one of my seminars told me that this princi-
ple applied to him exactly. When he was between the ages of 
7 and 14, he loved to build model airplanes. He spent many
hours, long into the night, building more and more complex
models. Soon, he was building model planes with small engines
and entering them in contests. As he grew older, he built larger
planes, remote-controlled, and flew them in competitions around
the country.
When he finished high school, he attended university and
earned a degree in aeronautical engineering. He now owns three
companies. In one company, he designs small aircraft. In a second
company he leases and charters aircraft, and he owns a third com-
pany that does aircraft maintenance. He told me that he was
worth several million dollars and he felt that he had never done a
day’s work in his life. He was still doing what he most enjoyed do-
ing when he was a young man. And he was only 35 years old.
■