Within limits, I buy this. And here is where there is a limitation, for they do indeed exist. If I happen to be a quadriplegic, I am not likely to run the Boston Marathon. If I am grossly obese and less than 5' tall, I am not likely to become a catwalk model in Paris.

The sentiment that you or I can do anything we set our minds to is a very American can-do approach. It’s not without merit. I ascribe to a good bit of it. But the assumption has a few potholes, in that there is an implicit promise that the sky’s the limit. Ask minorities about that limitless sky. Ask immigrants who are jailed at the border about that limitless sky. Ask American Indians about that limitless sky.

So while yes, I very much agree with you on most of your points, I tend to back away from this one a wee bit. When I travel the world, for example, I see repressive governments, grinding poverty, and how the effects of climate change are costing them dearly. We in America, and in many parts of the Western world do indeed have more opportunity. For example, you and I take our ownership of intellectual property for granted because copyright IS granted to us. That’s not always the case, and in many places, you don’t DARE make money for fear the government will come calling. I was just in Madagascar for example, riding horses. The people who own that outfit were jailed for not handing over their other ranch- for FREE- to the government. They finally did but not before the owner nearly perished in captivity. You and I can’t countenance such a thing, but it happens.

As an inspirational/motivational speaker, I have powerful, positive beliefs about the potential of the human spirit. And I am with you 100% on the damage naysayers do. Perhaps because I’ve got more than six decades under my belt at this point, I look at potential with a slightly different eye-one that recognizes that people at times do have intractable limitations, and for them, their moonshot needs to take those into account. I’m not talking about their attitudes towards that moonshot, but whatever very real obstacles are in the way. Being able to determine the moonshot that works for us- without setting ourselves up for extreme frustration- is part of the excitement and promise of a well-lived life.