Dylan Alcott's list of achievements is long and varied.
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Three-time Paralympic gold medallist, nine-time quad singles grand slam tennis champion, world number one, music festival founder, businessman, silver Logie winner, author and Order of Australia recipient.
"I still haven't had a moment where I've felt I've achieved it all," the 28-year-old told a packed Lighthouse Theatre in Warrnambool on Tuesday night.
"I do one thing and then I go on to the next. I'm not the kind of person to sit back and look at everything I've done because then I wouldn't do as much."
Alcott, who headlined the Great South Coast Speaker Series, outlined how people could be the best versions of themselves.
Alcott showed a photo of himself as an adolescent to the 500-strong audience.
"This 13-year-old boy is really insecure about his disability," he said.
"Before this age, I never cared. But my insecurities began to dictate my life.
"People bullied me and called me names, called me cripple, and I began to believe that is what I was."
Alcott's life was saved by surgeons who removed a half-a-watermelon-sized tumour wrapped around his spinal cord but the result left him paraplegic.
Alcott credited his parents and best friend/big brother Zack in shaping his can-do attitude, helping him strive for success.
"If Zack didn't care I was in a wheelchair, why should I?" he said. "No matter the situation, it's important to focus on the positives. I used to really hate my wheelchair, I really struggled with it and it was tough for me.
"I'm very lucky to be here and now, I just enjoy my life."
Alcott is determined to change perceptions of people with a disability. He is the founder of Get Skilled Access, an organisation challenging businesses to see benefit and opportunity in a disability. Earlier this year the Dylan Alcott Foundation launched #RemoveTheBarrier to raise awareness of high rates of unemployment among people with disability.
"It is important to come to places like Warrnambool because people with disabilities struggle more in rural areas," he said.
"One in five Australians live with a disability and that statistic is the same here in Warrnambool. That's a huge number of people. We need to open up and provide opportunities for everyone."
The fourth and final speaker in the Great South Coast Speaker Series is Susan Alberti AC who will take to the Lighthouse Theatre stage on November 21. Tickets are on sale via lighthousetheatre.com.au/
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