Morgan Freeman - Is Being Successful a Genetic Trait?

By Kris Deichler, Associate Partner & Mentorship Coach, Lighthouse International

The world-famous, highly successful and acclaimed film actor, Morgan Freeman, didn't start with much in life and the simple answer to the title question for him is quite simply, no! Success is available to anyone - if they are willing to work for it! While our environment and the way we are nurtured in our upbringing are definitely strong factors that challenge or empower our ability to create the lives we want, ultimately, Mr Freeman believes it is courage, or the lack of it, that shapes our destiny. When challenged in a 2014 interview for CNN with the common retort that, "not everybody can" succeed the way they want to, Mr Freeman said:

"B******t. Everybody can!.. Courage, courage is the key to life itself. There are a lot of people who are born in situations where [they say] 'I'll never get out of this' ... so they won't!"

"I say to people who say, 'well, I would like to have done so and so and so' and I say, 'well you could have done it,' [but they say] 'but I couldn't get out of here'..."

"Man. The bus runs every day!!!"

While not everyone in the world can be highly successful film actors, we are all born with the same potential and our possibilities in life are based on our willingness to challenge and explore that potential. To take risks and to get up and try again every time we fail until we succeed. We are all given a new choice in every moment, and it's in that choice that we can decide what we will do with the next moment - either accept our current situation or do something to change it.

We've likely all thought at some point that the path to our grandest goals and dreams in life seem so steep and so unreachable that we simply don't believe they can be achieved. However, as long as we perceive ourselves and situations that way, Mr Freeman is absolutely right - they will never change.

Whether we know it or not, understanding and applying three core principles of effectiveness are key to achieving anything in life, because success starts with ourselves and from the inside-out. How we feel about and perceive ourselves and our challenges (Personal Vision), how we set and remain doggedly focused on our goals (Personal Leadership), and how we discipline ourselves to achieve something (Personal Management), are all principles that can be mastered by anyone willing to work at them.