Copyright 2004 Priya Shah http://www.PriyaShah.comA while ago I made it a point to watch movie "Legally Blonde."
Not just for bright, chirpy and eminently watchable Reese Witherspoon, but also because I loved message it sent out.
If you didn't see movie, all you need to know is that it's about a smart, fashion-conscious blonde who's told time and again, by her family and friends, that it'simpossible for someone like her to go to Harvard law school.
That she's just not smart enough and doesn't have what it takes.
In movie, character played by Witherspoon not only goes to Harvard law, but also through sheer determination and intuition, graduates at top of her class.
Its just sort of movie people love. Because it makes us believe that we too are capable of achieving anything we want to.
It reminds us how we often let ourselves, and others, underestimate our own potential.
And how we undermine our own sense of self, because of what we look like or where we came from.
But why just let it remain a movie, when it can be story of your life...
Have you ever asked yourself what it is that keeps you from reaching your full potential?
From doing what you are inherently capable of?
For many of us, it's a lack of belief in ourselves. A lack of confidence in our own ability to succeed.
And because we believe we will fail, we usually do.
But there are people who have succeeded beyond all expectation - no matter what they look like, or where they come from.
One of my favourite role models who comes to mind is another Hollywood celebrity, Barbra Streisand.