By George Hayes:
Why Being American Is Still the Greatest Advantage on Earth… If you’ll Actually Use It
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially after another long week of talking to folks who feel stuck. They look around at the news, scroll through their feeds, and convince themselves that America’s done, that the dream is dead, and that the only people getting ahead are the ones who got lucky or knew somebody.
I’m here to tell you that’s a lie.
Being born in this country – or even choosing to come here and make it your home – still gives you advantages that literally do not exist anywhere else on the planet. Not in Europe with all their safety nets, not in Asia with their work cultures, not in any of those “emerging markets” people love to romanticize. What is the catch? Those advantages only work if you actually use them. And most people don’t. They’re too busy chasing distractions, taking bad advice from their buddies, and refusing to change when life hands them a dead-end job.
Let me break it down the way I see it.
First, this country still runs on a simple truth that the rest of the world has mostly forgotten: you are only limited by your imagination, your willingness to work hard, and how well you steward what God has already given you.
That’s it.
You don’t need a title. You don’t need permission from some government board. You don’t need to wait for the “right time.” If you can dream it up and you’re willing to sweat for it, there’s still a path here that doesn’t exist in most places. Want to start a business in your garage? Go for it. Want to switch careers at 45 and learn a whole new trade? Nobody’s stopping you. Want to turn a side hustle into something that pays the bills and then some? The system is literally built for that.
But here’s where the rubber meets the road, and where a lot of us lose sight: none of that works if God isn’t first. I’m not talking about checking a religious box on Sunday morning. I’m talking about putting Jesus Christ at the center of every decision, including your time, your money, your ambitions and your relationships.
Proverbs 3:6 still says it plain: “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
When you actually do that, the distractions start losing their power. And man, are there distractions. Social media is the biggest thief of potential I’ve ever seen. You’ve got grown men and women scrolling for hours every day, comparing their chapter 3 to somebody else’s highlight reel. They watch influencers living fake lives and then wonder why they feel empty. Or worse, they take advice from their circle of friends who are in the exact same rut they are. “Just be happy where you are, bro.” “The economy’s rigged anyway.” “Don’t rock the boat.”
That’s not advice. That’s surrender.
Real growth comes from mentors. These are people who’ve already walked the road you want to travel. People who’ve failed, got back up, and figured out what actually works. But you have to seek them out. You have to be humble enough to ask. You have to be willing to listen when they tell you the hard truth instead of the comfortable one.
And that brings me to the part that separates the people who make it from the ones who stay stuck: the willingness to change.
Too many Americans are sitting in dead-end jobs, complaining about the paycheck, but refusing to learn anything new. They haven’t read a book since high school. They haven’t taken a single course, watched a single tutorial, or asked a single person who’s doing better than them, “How’d you do it?” Reinventing yourself isn’t easy. It’s uncomfortable. It means admitting you don’t know everything. It means nights and weekends spent studying instead of binge-watching whatever everyone else is watching. But here’s the beautiful part: in America, you can do that at any age. The doors are still open. The opportunities are still there.
I’ve seen it happen over and over. Guy loses his factory job at age 50, decides to get his CDL and start driving trucks. Now he’s making six figures and owns his own rig. Woman in a toxic office environment realizes she’s good with numbers, puts God first, prays on it and gets serious about her finances Then she starts a bookkeeping side hustle, and three years later she’s running her own firm. None of that would’ve been possible if they’d listened to the voices saying “it’s too late” or “the systems rigged against you.”
The system isn’t against you. Not here. Not really.
Yes, there are real problems. Corruption is everywhere and yes, the culture has gotten weird and the politics are exhausting. But the foundational advantages, the freedom to fail, the freedom to try again, the freedom to keep what you earn and build something for your family, well those are still very much alive. They’re just waiting for people who are willing to stop making excuses and start making moves.
So here’s my challenge to you, whether you’re a longtime listener or you just stumbled across this post:
1. Put Jesus first. Not as a slogan – as your actual first priority. Pray, read the Word, ask Him to order your steps.
2. Delete the apps (or at least set hard limits). Stop letting other people live you don’t even know live rent free in your head.
3. Find a mentor. Swallow your pride and ask someone who’s where you want to be how they got there.
4. Learn something new this month that increases your value. Take the class. Read the book. Practice the skill. Even if it’s hard!
5. Steward your money like it belongs to God (because it does). Stop blowing it on things that don’t matter. Buy needs, not wants. Wants come later when you can actually afford them. Build the margin that gives you options.
America didn’t promise us an easy life. It promised us a free one – free to rise or free to stay where we are. The choice is still ours.
And that choice is the advantage the rest of the world wishes they had. Now go use it.