Treasure Your Dreams

Just a quick blog to share an AWESOME quote I read today!!

This past weekend we had our 1st Annual Free To Relax Leadership Retreat — and WOW, how incredible it was!! During the retreat we received a book by John Maxwell entitled “Put Your Dream to the Test” — I’m not even through the introduction yet and already it has given me some great insight!

It has reminded me once again that dream building is my favorite topic to read about, teach about and… write about!

Anyways, back to the quote – here it is, by Robert Orben: 
“Always remember there are only two kinds of people in this world — the realists and the dreamers. The realists know where they’re going. The dreamers have already been there.”

WOW — what a great quote! It is so, so true… in order to get somewhere, to achieve any dream you have for yourself, you must first go there in your mind. Just like the quote by James Allen, which was shared by Micahel Clouse in Vegas and is posted on my desk; “The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal you enthrone in your heart, this you will build your life by, this is what you will become.”

What vision are you glorifying in your mind? What are you becoming? Remember that “whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve.” — what does your mind believe?

I know the kind of person I am — I’m a dreamer. I have already been to so many places in my dreams, and as John Maxwell says the next step is to go there in reality. So my challenge to you tonight is this: Ask yourself, “Have I been there?” And if the answer is no, then go there today! Close your eyes and imagine yourself living out your biggest dream. Don’t forget to write it down ((VERY IMPORTANT)) — and then watch it become a reality in your life!

The quote I leave you with is this, the last of the three quotes shared with us by Michael Clouse in Vegas, by Paul J Meyer:

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.” 

Everything you do is driven by one of two things — fear or desire. Hard to believe? Not really. It’s actually very straightforward.

Every action you take (or don’t) is determined by whether you FEAR or DESIRE something more. Here are a few examples…

Let’s say you need to go to the grocery store one morning. You decide to go because your DESIRE for fresh food in your house outweighs your FEAR that you will be injured in a car accident on the way.

Or how about this one… You wake up at 6am and leave the house one hour later because your FEAR that your boss will fire you for being late outweighs your DESIRE for sleeping in an extra couple of hours.

Unfortunately, we FEAR a lot more things a lot more strongly than the number of things we DESIRE. For that reason, your life is often driven by fear. You do things to avoid the consequences rather than to acquire the results.

What a horrible way to go through life! To base your daily actions around the consequences that will come from doing (or not doing) them.

Wouldn’t you rather base your daily actions around the DESIRE for the great things you will achieve from doing (or not doing) something?

I know I would!

So many times it is fear that gets in between us and our goals. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of what other people may think. We are so consumed with this fear that we end up not even pursuing our goals at all!

One of the things I like to ask people who choose to get in business with me is “What is your ‘Why’?” In other words — what is it that makes you want to be successful in this venture? What is your DESIRE?

I have found that if your “Why” for anything is BIG enough, it will outweigh any fear that may stand in the way of achieving that goal. The key is to create a DESIRE that is larger and more powerful than your FEAR!

My challenge to you is this: Take a look at the things you want in life. Be completely honest with yourself and determine if fear has been standing in the way of you taking the steps you need to reach that goal. If it has, then reevaluate your ‘why’ and see what kind of difference it makes!

The remedy for paralisis by fear is a greater desire — every time.

Never let fear stand between you and your dreams!

The quote I leave with you is this, by one of the biggest dreamers of all time, Walt Disney:
“If you can dream it, you can do it!”

When was the last time someone gave you a compliment. No, I don’t mean an insincere flattering remark — I’m talking about an honest, heartfelt compliment.

Who was that person? A close friend? A family member? A complete stranger?

Next question: When was the last time you GAVE someone a compliment. The last time you said something nice to a person for no other reason than to genuinely make them feel better about themself.

Do you remember?

The core desire of all human beings is to feel important. We can’t help it — it’s the way we are made! Everyone, young or old, rich or poor, famous or insigificant, strives to obtain a feeling of importance — that is the primary motive of virtually every action we take.

Think back to your graduation — from high school, or college. How did you feel that day?

Important! Like you had accomplished something great (which you had, of course) — and everyone you knew was recognizing that accomplishment.

Think back to the last time you were hired for a job you wanted — how did you feel?

Important! Like someone felt that your skills were valuable enough to benefit their company.

Think back to the last time you were asked out on a date — how did you feel?

Important! Like someone wanted to spend time on you, to treat you special. Of all the people out there they could of chosen, they chose you.

Seeing a pattern there? Importance is what we strive for. And what is one of the simplest ways to make anyone, anywhere feel important?

To give them a compliment.

Dale Carnegie, in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, said it best — each time you approach someone you should ask yourself “What is it about this person that I can sincerely appreciate?”

Their hair? Their dress? A particular skill they have, or maybe their pleasant attitude?

Think back to the last time a person gave you a sincere compliment — what did you do?

My guess is you smiled each time you thought about it. You went home and told your spouse, or your roommate, and your best friend about it. Maybe you even called your Mom and told her!

And can you guess what the person to whom you last gave a compliment did?

The exact same thing.

My challenge to you is this: Simply compliment someone! The next person you meet, find something you can sincerely appreciate about them, and tell them! Don’t make something up to flatter the person — they will see right through it and your words will do more harm than good. Find something genuine.

You’ll be amazed at how many friends you’ll make this way; how many interesting conversations you will have.

The quote I leave you with is this, by Brian Tracy:

“Look for the good in every person, in every situation.”

The book I’m currently reading is a classic — one of those books that has been referred to me over, and over again and one of those books that I have picked up and started reading several times, but never finished.

I think some books are like that — you have to be in the right place, and at the right time, in order to fully benefit from what’s written inside. I remember one of the first personal development books I ever read… the first one that had any real impact on my life — “Maximum Achievement” written by Brian Tracy. In the very beginning it says that everything you read in that book should have a “feel good” feeling attached to it; if it doesn’t, then you aren’t ready to read it yet and you should come back to it at another time.

I feel like that is the place I’ve reached with the book I’m reading now — “How to Win Friends and Influence People”

I’ve thought a lot about why I’ve never brought myself to finish this book before now… it’s been sitting on my bookshelf for 3 1/2 years, unopened. The first two chapters have turned down pages and underlined sentences, but after that point… well, it might as well be brand new.

The mistake I made was one I would never make today — for many reasons. I took it with me to high school. I left it sitting on my desk next to my text books and I can still hear the comment that was made by a person in my class as if they were standing beside me right now, “Wow — what kind of book is that?! I can’t believe you’re reading a book about tricking people into being your friend.”

Ouch. Talk about a shot to someone’s self confidence! There I was, new not only to the industry of Network Marketing but also to this incredible world of personal development and one of my peers just snuffed out that small spark that was beginning to burn there. I took the book home, put it in my nightstand drawer and haven’t opened it since.

Over the past 3 1/2 years I have heard it recommended by countless people and countless sources. It can be found in the “Recommended Reading” section of virtually every single other book I’ve read. But none of those things were strong enough to drown out that one crushing comment.

What finally made me pick it back up? In all honesty, I couldn’t tell you — because I really don’t know. I finished Jeff Olsen’s “The Slight Edge” last week, put it back on the shelf and spent a couple of minutes scanning the titles of the books on my personal development shelf. I debated with myself whether to re-read an old favorite or to pick something new, and for some reason something made me pick up this book.

Wow, am I glad I did. I have been missing out on SO much!

You see, the mistake I made 3 1/2 years ago was not so uncommon. It’s the same mistake so many people make when they get excited about a new goal they have set for themselves. It’s the same mistake that causes so many people to fail in their attempt to reach their dreams — my mistake was this:

In my excitement about my new goal — to pursue Network Marketing, and begin my personal development education, I didn’t care WHO knew. I was so excited that I wanted to share this goal, this dream of mine, with anyone and everyone no matter who they were.

My parents were so supportive of my new venture that, in my mind, why wouldn’t everyone else be just as excited for me?

What a huge mistake.

I believe it was something in Jeff Olsen’s book, “The Slight Edge”, that caused me to realize why that person had criticized my reading choice so many years ago; that reason being that the main reason people criticize another person’s dreams is because if that person sets a big goal and reaches it, then they themselves have failed. They see their own failure in that other person’s success — they see their own fears, their own doubts, their own unfulfilled and unsatisfying life.

Their only defense is to criticize that person — in hopes of deterring them from following their dream.

 Reality is, the bigger your dream, the more criticism you will encounter along your path to reaching it. Guard your dreams — hold them close to your heart. Nurture them, daily, through the expansion of your own belief. Share them only with those you know, like and trust; only with those who will be just as supportive and nurturing of them as you will be.

Then, one day, your dreams WILL be strong enough for you to share with the world. You may still face criticism, but you (and your dreams) will be strong enough to handle that criticism and use it to empower you rather than allowing it to hold you back.

Never be afraid to dream big. Dream as big as you can! Through big dreams will come big successes — and through those successes you will create for yourself and incredible, incredible life.

My challenge to you today, is to remember a dream you once had. Maybe it was crushed by someone; maybe it has been placed on the bookshelf of your life and left there to collect dust. Take it down, dust it off, and start dreaming again. Nurture it, grow your own belief in it — and, if you must share it with someone, share it with someone who will help it grow, not with someone who will stomp on it again.

Oh, and go read Dale Carnegie’s “How To Win Friends and Influence People”, it is truly an incredble book that should be read by everyone! I can promise you it doesn’t teach you how to “trick people into being your friend.” What great insight on human relationships and dealing with people in day-to-day life… it’s called a masterpiece and a classic for a reason!  

The quote I leave you with is this, by Jeff Olsen from his book “The Slight Edge” — it’s kind of a long one:

“If you are one of those rare and special five-percenters who decides to ignore gravity and take to the sky…who chooses to break free of the downward pull of life and rise to a higher quality of life, accomplishment and success, to be a pioneer and risk discomfort and ridicule for the sake of your dreams — well, I’ve got good news and bad news.

The good news is, you’re already exceptionally well oriented toward success.

The bad news is, all those ninety-five others are going to be yanking on you, sitting on you, naysaying and doomsaying on you, and doing their level best to pull you back down. Why? Because if you succeed, you’ll make them look as scared and desperate as they’re afraid they really are.

If you win, they lose. If you succeed, they fail.”

Would you rather have a penny, that will be put in a bank account with the total amount doubled every day for a month, or would you rather have 1 million dollars?

On impluse, most of us would probably choose the million dollars – however, I’m here to tell you… that would be a REALLY bad choice! You see, if you have a penny, and each day over the course of the month you double its value (Day 1: 1 cent, Day 2: 2 cents, Day 3: 4 cents, Day 4: 8 cents, etc…), by the end of the 30th day you would have over 5 MILLION dollars in that bank account!

Don’t believe me? Do the math!

This is the incredible value of what we call compound interest — and it works in ALL areas of your life; not just with pennies!

This was one of the many enlightenments I received while reading Jeff Olson’s incredible masterpiece, “The Slight Edge”

Everything we do in life is connected to compound interest — especially the little things! You know, those little things we do (or don’t do) every day that, when compounded over time, make ALL the difference!

It could be something like going to the gym — no, if you don’t go you aren’t going to die of a heartattack…today. But if make that little choice “not to workout today”, or this week, or this month, you will look up 20 years from now and find yourself overweight and out of shape. All of those “not todays” will have compounded over time to produce a very negative result!

But what if you choose TO workout today, and then you get up tomorrow and choose to workout that day too, and then get up the next day and choose to workout again?! Even if it is something as simple as spending 20 minutes jogging around your neighborhood, those 20 minutes a day, compounded over time, will produce a very POSITIVE result!

The same goes for eating healthy, putting a little money in a savings account, taking time to develop yourself daily, improving your performance in your career, enhancing your relationships, etc.

Most couples, when they are filing for divorce, cannot name “that one thing” that ended it all — normally, it’s “all the little things” that were… that’s right, compounded over time.

Take a minute to reflect on your day today, or even your last week — is your life heading up the success curve or down the steep slope of failure? When you look at the big picture, it can sometimes be hard to tell; but it’s those little actions (or inactions) each day that take you where you want to go.

Decide today to get on the success curve. No, you won’t see the results…today. You probably won’t even see them tomorrow, or the next day — or even the next week, or the next month. BUT when you continue to do those little things every day, in each area of your life, you WILL look up in 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years and see a VERY positive result!

The quote I leave you with is this, by the author of “The Slight Edge”, Jeff Olsen:

“Time will either promote you or expose you.”

I had the honor of spending 6 hours listening to Michael Clouse speak at our company convention in Las Vegas this past Friday. It’s funny, because of those 6 hours, there was one phrase, really 3 words, that I believe will have the most incredible impact on my business growth over the next few months, and even years.

Of course, there were so many wonderful things shared by Michael, as well as by our company leaders, this weekend, and I definitely came away with much more knowledge and insight than what I arrived with, but this one phrase is what really stuck with me.

More ironically still, is that this phrase is not even one of Michael’s own, but rather a quote he shared with us by Paul J. Meyer:

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.”

Enthusiastically act upon.

Wow. What an incredible and powerful phrase.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am all about goal setting — it was on that topic that I gave my own presentation. I have read several books, listened to several audios and taken down many notes on the subject. Another one of my favorites is the power of your mind; visualization, the Mental Laws, etc.

But what about the power of action?

Without action, goals have no power. Without action, the activation of the Mental Laws and the power of Visualization will have no effect. They will be empty.

It is action that drives those goals. It is action that makes those laws work in our favor!

Action.

But not just action — enthusiastic action. How incredible is that?

I looked up some synonyms for the word enthusiastic. This is what I found:

eager, fervent, zealous, passionate, vehemet, fervid, impassioned.

Again, WOW!

Imagine, if you were to go about your daily tasks eagerly, fervently, zealously, passionately, etc.

Imagine the possibilities!

I can’t speak for you, but I can speak for myself — and I know that while I do tru to spend time each day vividly imagining my goals, and while I do ardently desire them and sincerely believe that they will one day become a reality in my life, I very rarely approach my actions enthusiastically.

I can’t remember ever saying to myself, “WOW I just can’t WAIT to dial that phone today! Whoo hoo!”

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike what I do. Far from it. I thoroughly enjoy what I do. I love talking to people, teaching people, watching them realize their goals again and then helping them take the action steps to reach those goals. BUT — this does not mean that I always approach the mundane tasks of every day with an enthusiastic attitude.

Usually my thoughts to myself are more along the lines of, “Well, I need to get these calls done so I can _____________.”

What about you?

Not too long ago I blogged on another insight I acquired by listening to Michael Clouse — he talked about waking up each day and doing the #1 most important thing you could possibly do that day. Regardless of whether you are a network marketer, a student, or anything else, we ALL have that one thing, every day that is THE most important thing we could possibly accomplish.

You can read that blog here: http://treasureyourdreams.com/treasure/?p=47

My challenge to you, and of course to myself as well, is to make it a goal for the next 90 days to appraoch your #1 most important thing each day with ENTHUSIASM! Then, take a look at then end of 90 days and see what it has done for your life. I think you and I both will be amazed.

It seems only fitting that the quote I leave you with is this, by Paul J. Meyer:

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.”

You know, one of those AWESOME days! Those days that you look back on and think “WOW, today was incredible!” Honestly, I can say that about my whole week.

I love my business all the time — I truly do enjoy just about everything about it; but this week has been one of those weeks where I just couldn’t stop smiling because everytime I turned around, another incredible thing was happening.

I love the power of your mind — how your emotions have such an incredible impact on everything you do, and everything that happens to you!

Have you ever noticed, that when you begin your day down and depressed, it usually ends up being a bad day?

When you expect a day to be horrible, guess what? It usually is! When you expect a day to be spectacular, though – woah, get ready because some pretty great things are heading your way!

You should wake up each day and make a concious decision to have a great day — I try to start my mornings by waking up and saying to myself, “Something wonderful is going to happen to me today!” and then go about my day waiting for that “something wonderful”.

Imagine spending your whole day with the mindset that, at any given moment, something wonderful is going to happen to you! What a great day you would have!

Of course, everyone falters — I have those days where I am just a little down in the dumps; sometimes for no reason at all. BUT — it’s those days that I know the problem is in myself and my mindset, and it can usually be fixed by listening to a great training CD, reading a personal development book and looking over my goals.

Looking at your goals is an excellent tool for keeping your mind in the right place! How can you feel down and depressed after spending a few minutes looking at all the wonderful things you will have in your life one day!

 So my challenge to you is to wake up tomorrow morning and say to yourself, ”Something wonderful is going to happen to me today!”

 Then, see what happens!

 The quote I leave you with is this, by Paul J. Meyer:

“Your mind believes what you tell it.” 

Leverage. 

Man, I love that word. It is one of the reason I do what I do every day — one of the reasons I have fallen so completely in love with this industry we like to call Network Marketing.

Leverage is what makes our industry work — what makes it so unique from any other industry in the world.

In the corporate world, people try to bring others down — the excellence of a person below you threatens your job security; why would you want to help them?

In Network Marketing, the excellence of a person below you makes you better. Your excellence makes your upline better. The excellence of your organization as a whole makes the company better.

Leverage is the reason why, in Network Marketing, you are in business for yourself, but never by yourself. Leverage is the reason we have conference calls, and training appointments — the reason I help my downline get better; the reason my upline helps me get better!

Leverage inspires teamwork;
and teamwork inspires success.

If the “secret” to network marketing is truly duplication, which I believe it is, then leverage is the explanation of that secret.

Leverage is the reason why duplication is so important — because in duplicating what you do, and making it easier for others to do, you can better leverage the work of all those under you to create the success you desire not only for yourself, but for them as well.

Without duplication, leverage cannot be truly taken advantage of. Without duplication, leverage cannot recognize its true potential. It is for this reason that as a leader in Network Marketing, you must believe in duplication and implement it into your business.

I would rather sponsor 100 people, and have 85% of them be successful, than sponsor 1000 and have 8.5% of them be successful.

It is my dream to see the dreams of those in my downline be realized. It is my dream to help them become successful; because I know that in accomplishing that dream, the realization of my other dreams will come as well.

 I believe that you can have leverage without duplication; however, I believe that WITH duplication, leverage will come much more easily, and much more quickly. I believe that leverage and duplication are what this industry is about — and that leaders in this industry are responsible for creating duplication, which allows the full use of leverage, in their organizations.

So, think duplicate!

The quote I leave you with is this, I’ve used it before but it’s one of my favorites; by Zig Ziglar:

“You can have anything you want, if you help enough people get what they want!”

Consistency: Steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.

Prioritize: To put things in order of importance.

 I have a very hard time consistently prioritizing. By this, I mean consistently doing the things I KNOW will have the most impact on my day. Sometimes, I wish I could just wind myself up and I would automatically go through the day’s actions without having to constantly motivate myself to do the things I know need to be done.

Now, don’t get me wrong — I don’t spend my day lounging around on the couch with a TV remote in my hand, or sleeping in until noon, or shopping online. No — I truly do feel as if I am busy for most of the day, every day.

My only question is, busy doing what?

In this business, it is SO easy to get busy doing busy work. In other words, doing things that make you “feel” busy but don’t ever really accomplish much.

This goes back to the 80/20 rule — that 80% of the work we do accounts for 20% of our results, while 20% of the work we do accounts for 80% of our results.

My next question is; if we KNOW this, then why do we continue to waste our time on the 80%?

I know from talking with team members (downline, crossline AND upline), that I am not the only one who suffers from this “disease” — the 80% disease, I mean. Knowing this makes me all the more insistent that we find a vaccine of some kind.

Surely, there must be something.

My advice, is this (and believe me, when I say advice I mean advice to myself as much as to anyone else!):

Look at each day, as a new day; completely separate from the day before, or the day after. It’s so easy to say to ourselves “Well, I made 60 calls yesterday, so today I can take it easy.” — this kind of thinking will only hold you back.

If you look at every day individually, you won’t have the success (or in some cases, the failure) of the day before to hold you back. You become responsible for achieving success THAT day, and that day only. Then, when that day is at an end, you can ask yourself that all-important question that any of us who listen to Michael Clouse have heard over and over — “Did I keep the main thing, the main thing?”

In truth, everyone has a “main thing” — whether you are an entrepreneur, a student, an employee, a stay-at-home mom… everyone has a “main thing” that they need to do, every day, in order to be successful.

Take each day, and focus that day on keeping your main thing, the main thing.

Tonight, I had the privilege of listening to a great call by Michael Clouse — he talked about hearing something at a Brian Tracy event that completely shifted his focus, and had an immense impact on his life.

Tonight, I heard something from Michael that I believe will have an immense impact on mine; he said that if you get up every day, and do the #1 most important thing you could possibly do that day, you will look up at the end of the year and be able to say to yourself “This year, I did the 365 most important things I could have done.”

Wow — in all the books I’ve read, and the tapes I’ve listened to on prioritizing, time management, etc, that one sentence put things more into perspective for me than anything else has.

I want to be able to look back at the end of 2009 and say to myself “Yes, I did the 365 most important things I could have done this year.”

He went on to say that those things don’t necessarily have to be related to work– they can be something with your family, something with your friends, something for yourself. But the bottom line is it has to be something that, on that particular day, is the most important thing you could possibly do.

So, my challenge to you (and to myself) is this: Go out tomorrow, and do the most important thing. Keep your main thing the main thing. Then, go out the next day and do it again, and again, and again and again. Before you know it, you will have an entire year to look back on and say, “I did the 365 most important things I could have done.” — and that, is all you can do!

 The quote I leave you with is this — by none other than Michael Clouse:

“Keep the main thing, the main thing!”

I was sitting here in my office, playing around on the computer and just enjoying my Saturday afternoon and I felt compelled to share my thoughts with you –

In my office, I have a wall that is plastered with photos on bright colored paper — these are all pictures of my dreams.

I have my dream barn… my dream car… my dream check… my dream home in the mountains…my dream flat in Paris… just to name a few.

The coolest part about these dreams is that each and every one of them has a date. A “Target Date” for when I will reach that goal. When working towards your dreams, a deadline is necessary — a goal without a deadline is nothing but a wish.

Personally, I love dreaming. Maybe a little too much sometimes! I could sit for hours and just imagine where I see my life heading over the next 5, 10 even 20 years.

But even more than dreaming, I LOVE goals — because unlike dreams, goals are something you have dreamt in your head, put down on paper and are taking the action steps to achieve. People sometimes go their whole lives without achieving their dreams — and what they don’t realize is that by simply putting it on paper, and adding a deadline to it they have increased its likelihood a hundred fold.

What’s exciting for me is to look at these goals on my wall — some of which I have had for several years now, and realize how CLOSE some of them are! Sitting here, I can count 2 that I will reach before the end of this calendar year. Another, that will be realized NEXT year — and ALL of them within the next 5 years.

When I look at these goals, I literally get goosebumps at the thought of what my life will look like 5 years from now once they have all been achieved. To be honest, I won’t even recognize it.

What about you? Do you have a goal? Everyone has dreams, but only a small percentage of people actually take the time to turn their dreams into solid, reachable goals. It doesn’t even take much time — just write it down, ON PAPER, put a deadline with it and there you have it… a goal.

It’s not difficult, but it will have a poweful, positive impact on your life.

 I really could talk about goal setting for pages and pages… especially when I get into the different methods of goal setting, the different authors who have written incredible books on the topic, my personal favorite method of goal setting….

BUT — Goal setting is what I will be teaching on at our company convention in Las Vegas… and I would HATE to spoil it for all of you who will be there! Consider this blog a teaser…

The quote I leave you with today is this, I mentioned it at the beginning but it is so, so powerful — by Kathy Lutz,

“Goals are dreams with deadlines.”