In response to several people telling me "Cornelius, I wish I were like you." I became tired of hearing them say that so I came up with the ultimate Chopinism that goes like this: "If you were me, and if I were you, I would not be me, and you would not be you. You would be me, and I would be you. So don’t be like me, be like you. And let me be me so that you can be you. BE THE BEST YOU THAT YOU CAN BE and let me be the best me that I can be. Do you see?"
"Who you were doesn't have to define who you can become." Your past does not have to dictate your future. Thomas Edison once said, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
"If you knew better, you MAY do better." I used to say, "If you knew better, you would do better." But I found out that we may know to do better, but don't, so I change the adage to "If you knew better, you MAY do better."
"The 'YOU' you see is the 'YOU' you will be." You have to "see" yourself successful, or you will never become successful.