Blind Ambition with Chad E. Foster

Chad E. Foster believes he is successful not despite being blind, but rather because of it. His disability - going blind in his early 20s due to a hereditary disease - has helped him visualize what others can't see and face overwhelming obstacles.

We all have blind spots we need to learn to overcome, work around or solve for. After all, "you don't know what you can't see when you can't see it," Foster told the general session Monday at the 2023 ASAE Annual Meeting.

Foster said others don't need to go blind to adopt his mindset of "Blind Ambition." They just need to adopt similar principals and see themselves not as victims, but as visionaries. Foster eventually did just that: He stopped feeling sorry for himself ("I didn't want to be blind and bitter"), and he started to look beyond his circumstances and see the opportunities before him. Along the way, he learned the following:

• Choose your response. Happiness is a decision, Foster said.
• Tell yourself the right stories. We become our stories, so why would we tell ourselves anything but the best version.
• Visualize your greatness. Also known as "cognitive reframing," it's how we market ourselves in our own minds. Foster told the audience that we are all capable of more than we give ourselves credit for.
• Get comfortable with discomfort. You do have to force yourself to improve through focus, effort and determination.
• Take advantage of disadvantages. Learn to see what could make your weak and turn it into your greatest strength.

Nobody gets a do-over in life, Foster said. Victims stay trapped, but only visionaries see a way forward.