My Dad's way of disciplining me when I was growing up could have made me a big time failure, had I not realized its consequences in time.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love my Dad very much, and I respect him. I'm sharing this story for the purpose of making you aware of things that could set you up for failure, so you can avoid them.

Now back to the story. When I was a young boy growing up, I oftentimes make mistakes (as small boys usually do). Everytime I do something stupid or something that my Dad doesn't like, he would say things like "You're not using your head", "This is common sense stuff, and you don't know it", "Your cousin is much better than you are", etc.

My Dad often made me feel like I'm a stupid person, that all other people are smarter and much better than me.

He said that it's his way of disciplining me, so that I can grow up to be a better person.

As I grew up, his words often echo in my head. In due time, his words made their way to my subconscious. I was literally telling myself that "I am stupid" or "I am a failure" every time I make a mistake.

And I indeed failed in a lot of my endeavors. It was very frustrating for me to keep on failing and being a nobody.

But because I simply cannot accept my fate, I read all sorts of self-improvement books to get out of my predicament.

And that's when I found out what's wrong with me. I've let my Dad's negative words about me become a part of my life. And because I accepted his teachings as words of wisdom, I took on the personality of a failure.

They say that people act or behave according to how you treat them. So if you treat, let's say, an average student as a genius, and tell him that his performance exhibits that of a highly intellectual person, he will indeed become a very smart person. Try it; you'll be shocked.

I have also learned how to become a human filter. To become one, you must learn to filter out negative comments or suggestions. You know yourself better than anyone else. So block out all those pessimistic views, while you absorb the positive ones.

And of course, I never listened to those who have nothing good to say. I just know deep inside that I'm fully capable of doing things which they don't think I can do. That's how I got over it.

They say that opinion is the cheapest commodity. And because different people have different opinions, you just can't simply accept the viewpoint of one person as the standard rule.

If you're a parent, assign positive qualities to your children, even if they don't have those qualities yet. Tell them they're smart, and they will indeed become smart. That's the power of the subconscious mind.