Master of Fate

Hey guys!  Here's another post!  This was published on the Inspiration Lamp Post website yesterday (titled 2 Roads: How Decisions Determine Destiny).  Go check out all the other awesome stuff on there!  And don't forget about ILP's Lionheart Mentoring seminar this Friday!

 A long time ago, a man was walking along a forest path.  He followed it faithfully, but he was eventually forced to stop.  For there, just before him, the road split.  He could no longer follow the road, but had to choose the direction in which he traveled.  He had never before been thus confronted, and having no frame of reference to help him, he decided upon the road to the right.  His journey commenced.

This path proved dark and treacherous.  He slipped on wet moss and tripped over rocks and roots.  Often the sound of an unseen animal startled him.

By the time he again walked in sunlight, he was wild with fright.  The sight of the familiar sunny road calmed him, but his anger was strong against the mile of darkness in which he had traveled.  He shook his fist at the shady trees, cursing the path.  He gave no thought to the choice which he had made.

 He began walking again, and before long, he came to another parting of roads.  He again chose the path to the right, giving very little thought to the matter.  He had forgotten the consequence of his previous decision.  His choice was made without consciousness.

This path, too, was inconvenient.  Though bathed in daylight, the dirt was muddy and stuck to his shoes.  Occasionally a thorn bush or animal blocked his way.  Fatigue overwhelmed him as this stretch of road seemed to never end.  Finally, however, the path became more firm, and his way cleared.  Again, relief swept over him; and again, he blamed the road for his troubles.

How often do we think like this man did?  We make decisions every day.  Do we realize that?  Do we take responsibility for our situations, recognizing that our choices brought us to where we are?  It’s important that we are aware of the power we possess in agency.  Sometimes we don’t know what to choose, at first; but after experiencing the consequence of a choice, we can choose how we let that affect us and our choices in the future.  Now, back to the man’s story.

The man again continued on his way.  But this time, his thoughts were on what he had experienced along this road.  He pondered the first decision he had made, and the resulting situation.  He then realized that his second decision was very similar.  He stopped abruptly as he came to a startling conclusion.  He could have learned from the first experience.  If he had thought about the consequence of the first situation, he would not have made the same mistake.  Shaking the dried mud from his shoes, the man decided to test his theory.  He hurried along the road until he came to another fork.  Overjoyed, he raced onto the road to the left.

The man was so pleased with his discovery that he jumped over the rocks on the path and scampered up the little hills that he came upon.  He ran his hands along the bushes that crept onto the path.  He listened to the birds sing and laughed at the animals that watched him pass by.  When he tripped over an occasional root, he merely got up and kept going.  His happiness could not be dampened.

Have you noticed what changed?  The path itself was not any easier.  There were rocks and roots and bushes in the way; there were still overhanging trees and lurking animals.  The one thing that changed was his outlook.  And that was his choice.


 Life happens; no question.  There are so many things about your road that you can’t control.  But you decide how Life’s happenings affect you.  You are free to follow any path you choose.  You can even make a new road!  Your circumstances, good or bad, cannot be blamed on or credited to anything or anyone else.  Yes, there are occurrences over which you have no power.  You can’t prevent the waves in the ocean; but you can decide whether to surf them or be pulled under.


 You control the direction of your life.  You are the master of your fate.

CEO and Seventeen Years Old

      This article is being posted on the Shaking Brains website on Monday!  Don't forget to check it out!

Jacob Hansen lives in Bountiful, Utah, and is a full-time student at Brigham Young University in Provo.  He is currently working toward a degree in Entrepreneurship and he plans to continue on to Law School in the near future.  He is the CEO and co-founder of Inspiration Lamp Post, an organization with a website and blog meant to motivate and inspire excellence.  He is a talented writer and public speaker with a fair-sized audience on his website.  While his occupations are great and commendable, the most extraordinary thing about him is probably the fact that he is seventeen years old.  

From early childhood, education has been an important part of Jacob’s life.  He feels that the nature of his childhood education has been a great blessing and advantage “custom built to fit [his] needs.”  He grew up under the private tutelage of his parents, a situation commonly known as home-school.  

“From playing bagpipes to reading novels to building forts in my backyard, I was given freedom to follow my heart,” he says.  Because of that freedom, Jacob has always been passionate about education and finding his purpose.  He attended several weekly classes at a nearby private school for four years, then he took personal charge of his education and became involved with a close-knit peer-support group at the age of fifteen.  He relates, “I firmly believe that everyone has a unique purpose to live here on earth, and at that time I was highly determined to discover my own.”  He received advice, studied, and reflected, and eventually decided that college attendance would be the most beneficial decision for his future.

Having no desire to wait four to five more years for that, Jacob started preparing for and applying to various colleges.  In the fall of 2015, at sixteen years old, he began attending BYU as a full time student with his sights set on law school.  “People often ask me how I was able to get to college at the early age that I did and how I manage to do so well while I’m there,” he says.  “I can only speak from my own experience, but I believe that academic success is not determined nearly as much by your own knowledge as by your attitude towards learning and your mastery of basic study skills.”

Hard work and a passion for learning has carried Jacob far when it comes to success and living up to his potential.  He states, “I think the purpose of education should be to enable one to live his/her purpose.  While I will never stop learning, I plan on continuing to attend formal schooling only as long as I need the opportunities and information best presented in that environment.”

Jacob understands that education doesn’t only happen in the classroom, and he finds learning in any situation.  One aspect of his education has been a fondness for writing.  “I have always enjoyed writing,” Jacob says, “and after finding success in a national writing competition, Celine Wardrop (my friend and writing buddy) and I decided it was time that we start sharing our ideas with the world.  We named our joint blog Inspiration Lamp Post.”

Inspiration Lamp Post started out with two teens who just wanted to share their ideas with the world.  But with Jacob Hansen, “just” doesn’t cut it.  He continues, “In the spring of 2015, an idea was sparked inside each of us.  We looked at the world and saw a society of teenagers who were tragically failing to live up to their potential, and so as 16-year-olds we resolved to do something about it.  Shortly thereafter, a movement was born.”

The mission statement of Inspiration Lamp Post says, “Our mission is to create a culture of excellence among teenagers.”  Inspiration Lamp Post has already begun to fulfill that goal.  Teens have been inspired and motivated and lives have been blessed and enhanced because of this organization.

How is it possible for Jacob to do everything he is doing and has done without any problems?  It’s not.  Just like anyone else, Jacob has trials.  He says, “I have often thought that things like inexperience and a lack of resources were legitimate obstacles in my life, and they have surely made things more difficult.  But more than anything, the number-one greatest challenge that I have faced is the belief that I cannot do what I dream.”

A lot of people tend to be held back by feelings like this, but not Jacob.  He goes on to say, “This belief has killed more of my success than a thousand years of failure ever could, and so I fight it every day.  Every day, sometimes hourly, I remind myself that I am capable of enormous goodness.  That I was BORN FOR GREATNESS.  That I CAN.”  

Jacob recognizes that he is not the only one who got him where he is right now.  He says, “My success in all my endeavors I attribute, above all, to God and the personal relationship I have with Him.”

Jacob trusts that God is behind everything, but he still passionately believes in hard work. “If there is one thing I have learned, it is that when you take action, doors will open.”

As incredibly amazing as he is, Jacob isn’t the only one who can do great things.  You, like Jacob, have a mission in this life.  You possess the potential and capability to fulfill it.  You can push past the feelings of doubt and inadequacy.

"Never consider your age to be a limitation, because it isn't.  Ignorance, fear, and pride are limitations, but fortunately none of those qualities are intrinsically attached to being young.  So stop feeling discouraged and go hunt down success—the path to changing the world is a long one, and there is no better time to start than today."  

~Jacob Hansen