Have you ever watched someone’s success in life and thought to yourself, Well that could never be me. Or, Not me, I just can’t reach that level of achievement.

When I was a teen, I never could catch the ball like the other kids. They always seemed to have the edge on me. They could run faster, hit a ball better, shoot goals in football better, and maneuver through a football match better—always better than me.

Have you ever felt that?

How about your achievements academically? First in the class, second, third or even fourth. That could never be me. Many young people grow up feeling inadequate and don’t really know why.

What was my problem as a teen? Well, I just hadn’t been taught: “You can achieve!”

When I was 17, I began work as an apprentice carpenter and worked with a man who was a wonderful achiever. He was confident, enthusiastic about life, and had goals he would tell me about and so on. This man changed my life.

I saw myself as being like him. He sparked within me a desire to succeed. A desire to achieve. A desire to be the best I could be. I watched his habits, his skills, and his example of doing his best no matter what. He had ability, and he taught me that I had ability also. I did not know at 17 years of age where life would lead me, but I set out to do the very best I could in everything.

My life at that time had no direction, yet now I saw a new horizon. I simply decided that my life would be a success. Of course there had been no planning at all on my part in any direction, yet now it came to this: I would be “good at what I did.” The best I could be was my aim now.

The rest is history. Today, God has blessed me with a wonderful wife, children, grandchildren, a position in God’s own Work—yet still I strive to be the “best I can be.” Of course, today I strive for God, and not for myself.

You teens should ask yourself, “Is my good really good enough?”

The patterns in life begin in the days of your youth. One key you must use daily is found in Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ….” When this is applied in everything, you will find that you will achieve wonderful things! Nothing is so small or insignificant that it shouldn’t be done well. This will lead you to building a success pattern in your life.

Strive to build a standard that you continually aim to improve. If we all build standards of excellence in the small things, then that will apply automatically to the big things.

Make God your partner in setting the goals in your life. If you do, then you take that partner with you into your heart’s desires—into your achievements. If you establish that habit of excellence when you are a teen, you will take it with you into adulthood.

Those who say “That could never be me,” are missing out on so much joy, happiness and opportunity to develop into a young man or woman who is truly a future leader of the World Tomorrow. Yes, that can be you—the trendsetter. Not in a vain, selfish way, but in a way that allows God to develop your character.

Everyone has skills to develop—abilities to use and grow. Never be content to “just get along in life,” to be “Mr. or Miss Average.”

Read widely about people who truly achieved great things in life. Study the Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong. Put God first in your life, pray regularly, study, and ask God to give you balance and wisdom. Build the foundation for adulthood while you have your youth. Yes, that can be you: an achiever. The future is certain if you use God as your partner so He can make you what He wants you to be: a leader in the world just ahead. That world is a new civilization where you will teach others how to achieve a way of life.

God has given all of us abilities; it is just a matter of using and developing them to become what God wants you to be. Raise the bar and settle for nothing less in your life. Youth is precious. Use it wisely! Never say, “That could never be me.”