Albert-László Barabási, a professor at Northeastern University, and the author of The Formula, studied the laws of success. He found that ambition plays a major role in success. For example, Barabási’s research shows that students don’t excel because of the school they attend.

The single determinant of longterm success was derived from the best college a kid merely applied to, even if she didn’t get in. If she applied to Harvard, got rejected, and went to Northeastern, her success was on par with Harvard grads who matched her SATs & high school grades.

Ambition is what makes someone great, not the school they went to. Barabási’s research backs up what Henry Ford said decades ago: ”Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.”

When I decided that I could make something out of my life, I purposefully worked on making that happen. This is what most people don’t get. Yes, belief by itself is useless. But here’s the thing: The people who believe they can achieve their goals are the ones that actually do.