Victim mentality is destroying this country, and this exchange proves that the only thing getting in the way of success in America is YOURSELF. A college student walks up to @MyronGainesX and claims “systemic racism” is why Black people can’t get ahead. Gaines asks him what’s holding him back from success right now. The student admits: nothing. Psychologists have a name for the belief that your effort decides your outcome. It’s called self-efficacy. Studies show people who believe they decide their own destiny perform 28% better than those who don’t. They earn more, climb out of low-wage jobs faster, and get rehired quicker after losing one. Nobel economist James Heckman found that self-efficacy predicts your earnings about as well as raw intelligence does. This applies to everyone. White, Black, Asian, conservative, liberal. When you always blame others for why you can’t get ahead, you can never diagnose the real problem: yourself. Think about Tom Brady. He sulked on the bench at Michigan, convinced he was better than the guys ahead of him and ready to transfer. Then he sat down with Greg Harden, the school’s athletic counselor, who told him to stop obsessing over the guys ahead of him and control the only thing he could: himself. That shift in mentality earned Brady the starting job at Michigan, 7 Super Bowl rings, and the title of greatest to ever play. He calls Harden one of the most important people in his life. Not because he fixed his football IQ. Because he fixed his excuses. Stop blaming. Start working. That's the whole secret. Nobody is coming to fix your life. You have to do it yourself.