Steve Goodier Wisdom: Getting What You Deserve

In this inspirational article, master storyteller, Steve Goodier, shares a key piece of life wisdom about our optimism Enjoy!

According to Alan Loy McGinnis in his book Confidence (Minneapolis: Augsburg), actor Sidney Poitier achieved prominence in his field largely because of self reliance he learned from his parents. “I was the product of a colonial system,” says Poitier, “that was very damaging to the psyche of non-white people. The darker you were, the less opportunities were presented to you.”

He continues, “My parents were terribly, terribly poor, and after awhile the psychology of poverty begins to mess with your head. As a result, I cultivated a fierce pride in myself, something that was hammered into me by my parents, Evelyn and Reggie — mostly by Evelyn. She never apologized for the fact she had to make my pants out of flour sacks. I got used to ‘Imperial Flour’ written across my rear. She always used to say, ‘If it’s clean, that’s the important thing.’ So from that woman — and probably for that woman — I always wanted to be extraordinary.” Read more

Steve Goodier - Getting What You Deserve

According to Alan Loy McGinnis in his book Confidence (Minneapolis: Augsburg), actor Sidney Poitier achieved prominence in his field largely because of self reliance he learned from his parents. “I was the product of a colonial system,” says Poitier, “that was very damaging to the psyche of non-white people. The darker you were, the less opportunities were presented to you.”

He continues, “My parents were terribly, terribly poor, and after awhile the psychology of poverty begins to mess with your head. As a result, I cultivated a fierce pride in myself, something that was hammered into me by my parents, Evelyn and Reggie — mostly by Evelyn. She never apologized for the fact she had to make my pants out of flour sacks. I got used to ‘Imperial Flour’ written across my rear. She always used to say, ‘If it’s clean, that’s the important thing.’ So from that woman — and probably for that woman — I always wanted to be extraordinary.”

Whatever it was that his parents “hammered” into him gave him enough motivation to rise from poverty to prominence. He eventually cultivated an unwavering belief in himself. Read more