The Mindset Shift That Changed My Life: From “That’s for Other People” to “Why Not Me?”

 

The Story: Growing Up with Limiting Beliefs

I grew up believing that success — real, transformational success — was reserved for the lucky few. The people born into wealth. The ones with connections. The gifted, the chosen. These weren’t original thoughts. I grew up middle class in a middle class town. My mother and father had grown up without a lot of resources in their families and a lot of times the “did without”

The result was, very frugal parents who’s mindset was scarcity.

I looked at the things I wanted in life — a beautiful home, financial freedom, the ability to create and explore — and I heard my mothers words in my brain, “That’s for other people”.

I accepted this. I had not other life teachers. Like many, I was conditioned to see success as something external, something that happened to certain people but not to me.

I envied others as they seemed to glide through life with ease, making the right moves, saying the right things, and reaping the rewards. Meanwhile, I felt stuck in the same cycle, limited by the circumstances I was born into. A “have not”

Mounting credit card debts, a very old car with dents in it, living in a one bedroom apartment just barely scraping by…but, this was the way it was suppose to be. This is the way my friends lived.

This belief, I later realized, was the very thing keeping me from success.

The Moment That Flipped the Switch

There was a moment when everything changed. It wasn’t dramatic — it wasn’t a lightning bolt moment where the universe opened up and handed me the key to success. Instead, it was a simple thought. A question that would rewire my mind forever:

Why not me?

I was tired of being poor. Those people made it, why not me? Why couldn’t I do that? I started to change my mindset. I found a cassette set, Earl Nightingales “Lead The Field” and it changed everything.

I listened to what it said, took notes and took action and something started to happen. Slowly, my life started to change for the better. So I got his cassette “The Strangest Secret” and I did what it said and got results.

Now I’m looking for other things to listen to and read. I next read Tony Robins “Awaken the Giant Within” , took notes, did what it said and I was never the same. That started a thirty year quest for self improvement that continues today.

Back then I was lucky to be watch an interview with real estate mogul Harry Helmsley.

He was explaining how apartments paid for themselves, how they created wealth over time, and how anyone with the right approach could build a fortune in real estate.

That’s when it hit me. These people who build wealth aren’t different from me. They weren’t given a secret roadmap. They simply thought differently. They got information differently, from different places and they acted on that information.

So I asked myself: If they can do it, why can’t I?

That small shift, from that’s for other people to why not me?, changed everything. It turned me from an observer of success into a participant. Instead of assuming success was unreachable, I started actively looking for ways to get there. I took responsibility for my life.

That’s a big statement. So many people blame other people or circumstances for their lack of success when in reality, they only have themselves to blame.

Oh, I’m not saying that people don’t have big challenges they have to overcome, I have certainly have had mine. But the difference from success and failure is remaining a victim or deciding to be a victor.

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How This One Shift Led to My Success

Once I started believing that success was available to me, the world opened up in ways I never expected. That simple question led me to take action. I devoured everything I could about real estate investing and mindset.

I learned about leverage, cash flow, and long-term wealth-building strategies. I took risks, made mistakes, and learned from them.

I learned how the mind works, how it automatically defaults to the negative and how to recognize the negative, neutralize it and make it a positive. I discovered the law of vibration, of attraction and worked hard to learn how to manifest my future.

Oh I was at one time a victim but I didn’t let it stand in the way of becoming a victor.

How You Can Apply This Shift in Your Own Life

The truth is, success isn’t reserved for the few. It’s available to anyone willing to change their thinking. If you’ve ever looked at someone else’s achievements and thought, that’s for them, not for me, I challenge you to replace that thought with:

Why not me?

Ask yourself:

• What if I actually could build the life I want?
• What if the only thing holding me back is my own limiting beliefs?
• What if I approached opportunities like I belonged, instead of like an outsider looking in?

These small shifts create massive change over time. Once you stop seeing yourself as someone outside the circle of success, you’ll start taking the steps to get inside.

Practical Exercises for Rewiring Your Mind

If you want to start shifting your mindset, here are three exercises that worked for me:

1. Reframe Every Limiting Belief

Every time you catch yourself saying, I can’t do that, reframe it with, How can I do that?

• Example: Instead of “I don’t have the money to invest,” ask, “How can I create the resources to invest?”
• Instead of “I don’t know where to start,” ask, “Where can I learn what I need?”

2. Immerse Yourself in Success Stories

Start consuming content from people who have done what you want to do. Read their books, watch their interviews, listen to their podcasts. But don’t just be a passive consumer — engage with the material as if you’re meant to be in that space.

3. Take Small but Bold Actions

Success is built on action, not just belief. Start proving to yourself that you belong. Make an investment, start a project, have a conversation with someone in the field you want to be in. The more actions you take, the more you reinforce your new mindset.

Final Thoughts

Shifting from that’s for other people to why not me? is one of the most powerful changes you can make in your life. Instead of thinking “I can’t do that” and start thinking “How can I do that?”

It removes the invisible barriers that keep you stuck and replaces them with a sense of ownership over your future.

The people you admire aren’t fundamentally different from you. They just decided they deserved success too.. And so can you.

So I’ll leave you with one question: Why not you?