Harry Potter on Personal Development:: Choices Define Us

“It is our choices Harry, that define who we are; not our abilities.” -Albus Dumbledore

Our society is a place of constant victomhood where people blame their failures on their own circumstances. If I had been born in a different place or to a wealthy family then my life would be different. If I was good at x-thing or had been born with x-skill then I would have more opportunity.

Harry Potter learns very quickly in the book “The Chamber of Secrets,” that he and his nemesis have a lot of similarities. They both were raised by muggles, they both speak parcel-mouth, and they both cherished school as their true home.

Harry Potter is concerned that he might be too similar to the evil Tom Riddle but Dumbledore explains that it is our choices and not our abilities that define who we are. We must all remember that we are defined by how we react to life and not by how life acts on us.

Everyone is born to a different circumstance with different skills but the things that most greatly judges who you are the choices you make. Focus on the things in your life that you have some influence over and work toward improving those things while moving past the un-controlable factors in your environment. Ultimatly the greatest factor in your success is you!