Accomplish Your Dreams (Part 3)

In the year 2029, Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream and Discover.

Tell the people closest to you how much you care — This seems such a simple task, yet for whatever reason we all neglect to do this at times. I have found that when I make a conscious effort to tell someone how much I appreciate them, I am not only making their day brighter, I am also inadvertently brightening the day of the next person they come into contact with! It really does have an amazing snowballing effect. To say that by practicing this technique you could eventually make the world a brighter place might be overdoing it a bit, but, we have to start somewhere. Don’t we?

The truth is that what the eventual outcome is really doesn’t matter as much as the immediate effect it has on that person. Take the time to notice those that are important to you, and most importantly don’t hold back your feelings! Tell them why they are important to you. You’ll feel a lot better and you will certainly have done your part to make their day a bit brighter!

Sometime, I figure that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest. It’s the repetition of affirmation that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. One comes to believe whatever one repeats to oneself sufficiently often, whether the statement be true of false. It comes to be a dominating thought in one’s mind. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.

The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and will power to develop themselves. Surround yourself with people who support you — This is more commonly referred to as mentoring. Call it whatever you like, but the more people you can network with the better off you will be. However, when you are developing your network make sure to choose your members wisely. One of the most disruptive things that can keep us from our success is to allow someone who is either to cynical or just plain doesn’t believe you can accomplish what you set out to do! Often it’s not that these folks are being mean, it is that for whatever reason over the years their experiences have given them this outlook on life. Perhaps they listened to those who said they couldn’t do it. At any rate the most important thing to do is to choose only the highly motivated people you come into contact with. I am not saying that you should avoid the negative folks, but I am saying that they definitely should not be the one’s you consult with before pursuing your next goal! Friends, encourage them to the best of your ability, but don’t let them steal your dreams from you in the process.

We must show class, have pride, and display character in our doing. If you do, winning takes care of itself. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. It’s only through change that we grow. Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them. It is well to think well; it is divine to act well. Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. The greatest calamity is not to have failed, but to have failed to try. Failure is not the end of the world. At some point in our lives we have all been face to face with failure. Simply put, anyone who has been successful has also experienced failure in their lives. The key to success is not in how many times we fail at something. Rather it is in our ability to identify what went wrong, what we will do differently next time, and above all else our ability to get right back to the act of achieving our goals. Failure is life’s greatest teacher, embrace your failures, it is through facing them that takes us each one step farther towards our dreams! I worked very hard during my teens. I felt I could play the game. The only thing that could stop me was myself. But whenever I lost any game, losing didn’t eat at me the way it used to. I just got ready for the next play, the next game, the next season and I won.

It doesn’t matter what we do until we accept ourselves. Once we accept ourselves, it doesn’t matter what we do. Self-acceptance comes from meeting life’s challenges vigorously. Don’t numb yourself to your trials and difficulties, nor build mental walls to exclude pain from your life. You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory. It’s your aptitude, not just your attitude that determines your ultimate altitude.

Next, we must practice filling our mind with positive thoughts – I have found that one of the most wonderful techniques to assure myself of a wonderful day is to fill my mind with positive aspirations! It really works, think about it, rarely do we start our day feeling bad. What happens instead is that as the day progresses one unpleasant situation leads to another and before we know it we have written the day off as a bad day. What I propose it to simply head those feelings off at the pass. Start out by noticing the wonderful things in your life, what will happen is that instead of the negatives compounding you can actually reverse the process and get those positive feelings flowing!

We should not be desirous of having things done quickly. We should not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished. Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that. I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them. The truth of the matter is that there’s nothing you can’t accomplish if:

(1) You clearly decide what it is that you’re absolutely committed to achieving,

(2) You’re willing to take massive action,

(3) You notice what’s working or not, and

(4) You continue to change your approach until you achieve what you want, using whatever life gives you along the way.

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it. Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and importance, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

When you look for a thing to follow towards your success, make it a thing that will better mankind as a whole. If you can do this you will have the double satisfaction of first knowing that you are making a impact on others, and secondly that the monetary rewards you receive are as a result of the effort you are putting into it. I am not saying that it will be any easier, but what I am saying is that your success will be twice as sweet!

Be Happy – we must work hard and sincerely to accomplish our dreams.