Believe It's Possible: Conquer Your Mountains, Blaze Your Trail, and Achieve Uncommon Success

By Edwige A. Robinson and Joseph Michael Levry

Believe It's Possible: Conquer Your Mountains, Blaze Your Trail, and Achieve Uncommon Success is part guide to life without limits and part inspirational memoir that proves it's possible, no matter what mountain you are facing right now. This blueprin

• Language: English
• Publisher: Manuscripts LLC
• Release date: Mar 27, 2024
• ISBN: 9798885043526

Book preview

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This book isn’t just a memoir; it’s a toolkit for anyone facing their own mountains. Edwige’s practical strategies for resilience and success have given me hope and direction.

—Nadeem Ahmad, Executive Coach and Bestselling Author of Become an Innovation Navigator.

Edwige gained the power and capacity to reach deep inside herself and harness the creative power to create a fulfilling life she loves. Edwige’s words are a beautiful, real-life example of these truths and will surely bring hope and strengthen the self-belief of anyone who reads them.

—Dr. Levry, Scholar, Composer, Author, International Speaker

Edwige’s story is a remarkable tale of triumph against all odds… This book is a powerful testament to the indomitable human spirit and a must-read for anyone aspiring to transform their life’s challenges into stepping stones for success.

—Manuj Aggarwal, entrepreneur, innovation evangelist and one of the leading AI experts globally.

Believe It’s Possible

Believe It’s Possible

Conquer Your Mountains, Blaze Your Trail, and Achieve Uncommon Success

Edwige A. Robinson

Copyright © 2024 Edwige A. Robinson

All rights reserved.

Believe It’s Possible

Conquer Your Mountains, Blaze Your Trail, and Achieve Uncommon Success

ISBN

979-8-88504-353-3 Paperback

979-8-88504-354-0 Hardcover

979-8-88504-352-6 Ebook

To my grandparents,

To my husband, Len, and our boys.

To my uncles, aunts, and mentors.

To Annick, my best friend.

To every reader, may this book inspire your journey to greatness.

Contents

Foreword

Letter to My Younger Self: Embracing the Power Within

Just Start: Introduction

Chapter 1. When Courage Is Your Only Option: Growing Up in Ivory Coast

Chapter 2. Embracing the Unknown: My Journey to America

Chapter 3. The Challenge of Assimilation While Honoring Your Roots

Chapter 4. Blazing Your Trail: Part One

Chapter 5. Blazing Your Trail: Part Two

Chapter 6. Get Ready, Stay Ready: How to Always Be at the Top of Your Game

Chapter 7. Embracing Hope, Self-Discipline, and Productivity through Life’s Lessons

A Call to Action

Epilogue: A Letter to My Future Self

Captured Moments

Acknowledgments

Dedication

CITATIONS

Foreword

In this beautiful book, Edwige demonstrates, through her personal experience, that with the practical application of the power of belief, you can be who you want to be, do what you want to do, and have what you want to have. This book reinforces the time-proven truth, "Only believe, and all things are possible unto you." When we believe anything is possible, we turn the tides of destiny in our favor and find ourselves taking actions that manifest our state of belief. Therefore, believe you can succeed and excel, and you shall succeed and excel.

Belief and faith in self allows us to realize that as a spark of the divine, we carry inside ourselves a piece of that same creative power that formed the very world and universe in which we live. An intense sense of belief and unwavering faith in ourselves gives us dominion over any challenging circumstance or condition. This is how we can turn ourselves into a powerful force for good. A positive belief in self expands our perception and gives us the winning attitude necessary for beautiful opportunities to manifest in our lives.

After belief, no one can be successful without self-discipline. We must have the willingness to do what others are unwilling to do in order to have what others cannot have, which requires self-discipline. Self-discipline and self-love go hand in hand. The saying, There is no love without sacrifice and no sacrifice without love, applies to success, for success does not come without sacrifice.

Indeed, self-discipline requires that we embrace personal responsibility, a necessary platform for tremendous spiritual growth. Being responsible for what the day will bring gives us even greater responsibility than those unaware of it. Along the path to success, we cannot blame our state of mind on anyone else. We must realize everything rests upon us and calibrate our mental attitude daily for success. With a profound sense of responsibility, we must be keenly aware of what we are doing and why we are doing it. We must be so dependable and valuable that others can completely depend on us to see any project through perfectly, no matter what it is.

Ultimately, those who believe they can make their life successful shall do so, provided they develop the habit of trusting in themselves, embracing self-discipline, and continually programming their brain with a winning attitude. This practical and effective formula will enable you to create an open pathway through every problem.

Upon reading Edwige’s book, it is clear that we can open the door to success and excellence through a combination of belief, faith, and self-discipline. By embracing the loving support of family, having faith in herself, and hoping for a better future, Edwige gained the power and capacity to reach deep inside herself and harness the creative power to create a fulfilling life she loves. Edwige’s words are a beautiful, real-life example of these truths and will surely strengthen the self-belief as well as bring hope to anyone who reads them.

By Dr. Joseph Michael Levry

(josephmichaellevry.com)

Sometimes Courage is not a choice, it’s our only option

—Edwige A. Robinson

Letter to My Younger Self: Embracing the Power Within

Dear Young Edwige,

It’s me, your future self, and I have some things to say, so listen up. I get it. You’re anxious, restless, wondering what’s next. You feel alone. You feel like someone is stealing your future from you. I promise it’s okay to feel that way. You just received life-altering news and have a lot to figure out.

I want you to know everything is temporary. You will grow up to be a force, a real power. Yes, there will be plenty of tough times, but you will fight through them with strength you don’t know you have. You are from the Levry family. You are a member of a family built on faith and resilience.

Remember, there is tremendous strength in who you are and whose you are.

Look around you. The smell of fresh beignets, the taxi dust, your hometown, Abobo, and its effervescent market buzz… You will miss this one day. Going to church with your grandparents? That’s your foundation. Take pride in that. Your roots armed you with an incredible inner strength. Use it like armor, not just to protect yourself but also to charge forward and break through barriers.

Throughout what lies ahead, you will face naysayers and skeptics. You will learn to ignore them. Don’t let anyone dim your shine. You have your own light, and it’s damn bright!

Your destiny includes things you can’t even imagine right now.

Those precious moments with grandma and grandpa? Remember them. They will serve as the compass you’ll use throughout life. Love hard and love fearlessly, even when you are afraid. That love is the key that unlocks even more power within you.

Something much bigger than us guides you, my dear. You are the lead character in your own life’s story. You’re not a bystander. You have power. Embrace it and use it. Write your script the way you want it to play out.

When it feels like each challenge you face is a dead end, it’s not. These challenges are fuel that will soon catapult you into places and experiences that, right now, are incomprehensible. I’m here, in the future, as proof of what you can be. You have the power to face whatever comes your way. I can’t wait to see you change this earth for the best!

Believe in yourself. Unleash that power within.

With all the love I have.

—Your Older Self

Just Start:

Introduction

Dear Reader, I am honored that you’re here. It humbles and elates me to share my story with you. I hope it will inspire you to find strength in the darkest moments of your life and rejoice in all the victories along your path, however modest and massive.

Imagine this: You’re on a journey, happily following the path laid out before you, when suddenly, you trip over a rock. You ungracefully crash to the ground. The wind is knocked right out of you as the world starts to spin. For a moment, everything feels wrong, confusing, and frightening. After a moment or two, you pick yourself up and brush the dirt off, frustrated and hoping no one saw your fall. As you do, something catches your eye. You realize the rock is gleaming. The sun caught it at just the right angle to reveal there may be some treasure in that rock—or, at the very least, hiding beneath it.

What if literally every bump in the road, adversity, and setback could potentially be hiding an unexpected gift of discovery? What if, underneath those bumps is the opportunity to dig deeper and uncover strength and opportunity we didn’t know we had?

You would become unstoppable. After all, every superhero origin story begins with an insurmountable challenge. For me, the rock that almost broke me was an insurmountable challenge and is the very reason the success I have had since is so uncommon.

In the heart of Ivory Coast in the late 1990s, under the weight of a scorching sun, a fifteen-year-old girl stood in the shadows of an oak tree after discovering her most life-altering news. The bustling streets of the African ghetto moved around her, unaware of the storm brewing in her eyes. Holding a positive pregnancy test, she felt the ground shifting beneath her. Her youthful innocence clashed with the stark reality of her surroundings as she clutched the piece of news close to her chest. Amid the noise and chaos, she looked like a small island of calm, but inside, her heartbeat pounded louder than the surrounding voices. Every look her way hinted at the harsh judgments and whispered gossip that awaited her. Yet she stood alone, facing her new reality, a child soon to hold another child. She had no guarantees, no clear path ahead, only overwhelming feelings of fear, loneliness, and helplessness.

That fifteen-year-old girl was me over two decades ago. At that moment, my world felt as if it was shattering. I knew I had to do something, but I had no idea what.

On the Ivory Coast, Almost 40 percent of the country’s about twenty-seven million people live below the national poverty line. More than 40 percent are food insecure.¹

There I stood, holding a positive pregnancy test that threatened any chance of a different future. On average, 30 percent of mothers on the Ivory Coast are teenagers, mothers between the ages of fifteen and nineteen who already have children or are currently pregnant. Nearly all of them drop out of school.² I loved school, and I was good at it.

I knew I had to do something. This fate couldn’t be it for me.

But where to start?

What do you do when you don’t know what to do?

You start anyway.

I had to start. Start where I was, with what I had in my hands. Start afraid, start unsure.

Just start.

The Straight Memoir

I wrote this book for others to read in different ways. First, if you prefer a straight memoir, skip the reflection and exercises at the end of each chapter. If you want to spend some time thinking about how my journey may be helpful to you, please read the reflections and take a moment with the final thoughts in each chapter. Lastly, if you want to gain as much as possible from the lessons learned in my life, grab a notebook and get ready to dive deep! Read through the reflections at the end of each chapter, and complete the exercises I’ve laid out to the best of your ability. I guarantee they’ll make a difference in your life.

I want you to know no matter how you dive into this book, I am there with you, cheering you on.

In the stories ahead, the messages can transform how you look at everything—your life now, your possibilities, and the future that lies before you—if you let them.

As you read, listen closely. You should almost hear the soft whispers of the universe saying, I have something special for you. I know you’re strong enough to find it, and I am with you through the discovery.

I based the tools, stories, and lessons I will share on what I learned in some of my life’s most beautiful and darkest times. You’ll read of love, family, pleasure, desperation, exhaustion, hunger, shame, challenge, perseverance, and inevitably, success and self-love.

You will see yourself in parts of every chapter. Maybe in the part about wishing I could just disappear, shrink… Maybe in the part about being so ready to give up, I would sob in the shower, holding the wall to support myself. Or, just maybe, in the many parts during which I finally discover the true source of my fuel for freedom, answers, and a future without limits.

These hard-learned, surprising, powerful tools will help you get specific on what you want in life, identify what might be holding you back, and learn real, tangible ways to help you create a life beyond your wildest imagination.

You don’t need a grand plan to get going. You need only to keep reading.

This book won’t tell you how to figure it all out. Yes, it would be great to have all the answers, but for most, that is unrealistic. And let’s face it, even the best plans have detours. This book is about breaking down your dreams into small, actionable steps while building the hope, motivation, strategy, and courage to take those steps.

Believe It’s Possible will help you harness your strengths, embrace your flaws, and push yourself through any barrier. It shows