By Amanda Fox
Do you have trouble maintaining your get up and go? Do you have great ideas that you know would be a smash hit if you could just get them out of your head and into development? Do you ever think to yourself there is something you can conceive but can’t achieve? We all do from time time, that’s perfectly normal. It may be a business goal or a personal thing, but everyone has experienced these issues at some point. It’s a safe bet to say that 7 in 10 people reading this right now have dealt with one or more of those issues in the past two weeks. Of that group, it’s safe to say half still are – but you don’t have to be one them! You can reach your dreams if you know how to.
What are your goals?
Motivation, self confidence, discipline and hard work are not abstract buzzwords that I toss around. They are the cornerstones of getting from where you are to where you want to be. Motivation is what gets you up out of bed to take on the challenges a day presents. Self confidence is what makes you believe you can face all of those challenges. Discipline is what makes you actually face them and hard work is what gets you through them. You may get through some challenges lacking one or even two of these cornerstones, but without each, you can’t overcome them all and you will not reach the goals you set for yourself.
There is a saying that you need to dream big, and I couldn’t agree more. Having dreams, and more importantly seeing them through to fruition, is what life is about. To that end, there are ten essential steps that will get you from point A to B and beyond if you commit yourself to fully adopting them and making them your personal reference point of power for achievement.
- Stop living in your comfort zone. Yes, I get it is nice and warm and safe in there, but there is also no room to grow. Your dreams can only be as big as zone you define for yourself. The good news is you can expand that zone infinitely and eat away at your discomfort zone opening up more possibilities for yourself.
- Choose to be happy. When you’re happy, you believe you can do more. Setbacks don’t sting as much. You are pumped and primed to be your best!
- Not only don’t fret over mistakes, embrace them! Every mistake you make gets you closer to success. Mistakes are nothing to fear – they are a building block of success.
- Dream big, but don’t live in a dream world. Dwelling on the past is not getting you anywhere and spending too much time focused on dreams of the future means you miss the present. Looking into the past and dreaming of the future are both healthy and essential, but they cannot be all consuming. You can’t make dreams of the future manifest if you aren’t focused on work in the present.
- Don’t limit yourself. Stop thinking in terms of “I wish I could do . . .” and start thinking in terms of how you will do. It makes all the difference in the world.
- Never stop learning. It doesn’t matter if you have enough degrees to build a hang glider or experience to fill the Grand Canyon – there is ALWAYS more to learn. Take an hour or so each day to spend a little time brushing up on lesser used skills or better yet, exploring new topics. With more knowledge comes more avenues to success.
- Don’t quit on your projects or dreams because they get hard. Great success is supposed to be hard. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
- Surround yourself with the “right” people. Nobody has time or energy to waste on people that don’t believe in them. Similarly, no one has room for nothing but “yes men” shadowing them either. Surround yourself with people that believe in you and your abilities, but that are also willing to provide you with relevant constructive criticism when it is warranted.
- Never leave your personal life in the dust for professional pursuits. We only have a limited time on this planet and there is nothing sadder than regret. You can pursue business goals to the degree you miss out on great personal relationships. Understand this fully and realize how true it is that no amount of professional success can replace the relationship of a lifetime. Some will definitely disagree with this, but I’m nor sure how.
- Have fun! Yes, there is a time to buckle down and put your nose to the grindstone, but there is a time for having fun as well. What good is being all business all the time? If you never take time to enjoy the fruits of your labor, what’s the point of it all? It is those times when you cut loose a little and enjoy life, preferably with people you love, that make every second of hard work you’ve put in and every second of it that is still to come, worth it all.
You’ll be glad you gave your all
Is this an easy list to follow? Not by a long shot, but it is worth trying to implement in your life. Remember, if it was easy everyone would do it, but you aren’t everyone. You are your own unique individual and you do deserve success. It is up to you to seize it – no one is going to do it for you. And if you think you can’t do it without some extra focus and motivation, try a program like Year of a Lifetime from a proven success to help get you started on the right foot.
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These kinds of articles are great for inspiration. But how do we address the reality that many of us pursue dreams for long periods of time with no success? Personally, I try to identify some success in every effort, not matter how small. This keeps me motivated to try again. Thanks for a great article!
I think the way we address that is just as you are doing Sue – celebrate each victory regardless of whether we call it big or small. I try to remind myself that “breakthroughs” are rare and more often than not, we get where we want to be by stacking individual steps one upon the other. I doesn’t matter if we reach a goal taking small steps or giant leaps, just that we keep moving forward. Thanks for the great reminder!
For success to be totally yours, you must want your goals as much as your next breath. Think back to when you had no choice but to succeed. That’s what it takes, day after day after day!
Great article Amanda!
Not tomorrow, NOW!
Just important to keep moving forward no matter what!
Such an excellent 10! Most all of which are interconnected. When I can do a better job at embracing and even celebrating my mistakes for the pearl of wisdom it gave me, it gives me leaps towards not even thinking of quitting because of the important lesson learned. Thanks for the listing, keep up your wonderful work
I may have to check out “Year of a Lifetime.” I feel like the world’s biggest procrastinator and have a LOT of ideas that I need to get done. But this really rings true – I follow Joseph Campbell’s “Follow Your Bliss” credo – that if you follow your bliss, you’ll find yourself surrounded by those who are willing to help you find it. That’s how I ran into you!
Awww
That does make me smile! My thing is the same as you – procrastinating. I have the ideas, I know what to do with them, I just fall down on getting them started or seeing them through. The last few months, I’ve been lucky to have a friend that has gone a long way toward helping me stay focused (Using the YOAL system) that’s made a huge difference in not only how much I get done, but how much I actually believe I can get done. I was never much into the whole life/business coaching thing, but if you get the right one it really does make a difference. Fortunately, mine is my best friend so it works well. 
But as you said, once I started doing what I loved and seeing things through, the people I found myself surrounded by were suddenly the EXACT people I wanted to be surrounded by – including you!
Excellent article!! Only thing I might add is the importance of setting personal deadlines in stages as you pursue your goals. Re-evaluating progress on a regular basis helps you figure out how well you’re doing, and what might be working better or worse.
Thanks!
Well done Amanda!
Excellent article!!