Treasure Your Dreams

“So you’re really trying to tell me that your willingness to hear the word no made everything you’re enjoying in life right now possible?” I asked

“No, Eric, I’m not saying that at all. My willingness to hear no got me on the right track in my career, but it was my wantingness to fail that catapulted me to the top.”
~~ Go for No!, by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz

I was re-reading one my favorite business books yesterday, called Go for No!  The book is about a salesperson who gets the opportunity to travel forward in time to meet his future self, and to learn from his own experiences in advance. While the alter-egos are talking, they discover one event that changed the life of one of them forever, and didn’t alter the other’s thinking at all. During his visit, Eric learns important lessons about failing that he is then able to take back in time with him and implement in order to achieve the future he’s always dreamed of.

Here are some things I learned from the book –

#1 — Stop being scared of “failure”
What’s the big deal anyway? Why are we all so terrified of failing — and I’m not talking about just in business, I’m talking about in life. How many times have you not gone after something you wanted, not pushed something hard enough, not even attempted to do something all because you were afraid that you would try, and fail.
I have a newsflash for you… you can only fail if you QUIT trying!

#2 — Get out of your comfort zone… or it will shrink!
Your comfort zone is never static. It is always either expanding or retracting. You should do something every day that takes you out of your comfort zone!

#3 — Almost everyone who is a major success… is also a major failure!
Abe Lincoln — lost 8 out of 10 elections he was in before becoming president in 1860.
R.H. Macy — failed seven times to get his department store chain going before he was actually successful.
Harland Sanders — spent 2 years on the road before he finally finally found a restaurant that would carry his fried chicken recipe.
Thomas Edison — found 10,000 ways NOT to invent the lightbulb before find the 1 way that actually worked.

#4 — In order to become a success, you must not be WILLING to fail… you have to WANT to fail.
If you want to fail, then you can view your failures as setbacks rather than deal breakers… you can use them to catapult you towards success.

#5 — Develop a high failure quotient.
Everyone has their own personal failure quotient — in other words, the number of times they are willing to fail before reaching success without giving up. The higher your quotient, the greater your chances of succeeding at whatever it is you are attempting to do.

The simple fact is, you must be willing to experience failure if you ever want to experience success!

The quote I leave you with is this, an old Japanese proverb:
“Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”

When was the last time you had a dream come true? I mean really, something you wanted very very badly — something you had hoped for, longed for, even maybe worked for. When was the last time you allowed yourself to dream so big that when that dream DID happen, you couldn’t wipe the smile off your face for days?

I had an experience like that recently

I’ve always been a big fan of dreaming… ask me what I want out of life and you will probably feel sorry for me by the time I’ve finished answering you because, well, I expect a lot of things!

One of those happens to be owning a horse again, competing in horse shows again, and having a state-of-the-art equestrian facility of my own.

Another facet of that dream is being able to donate a portion of my time and resources to therapeutic riding. It’s something I have ALWAYS had an interest in, and when the word “charity” comes up that’s instantly the first thing I think of!

Well, as of yesterday, I am one step closer to achieving that dream. I was lucky enough to find a friend who’s son is enrolled in hippotherapy at a local equestrian center. I went with her to one of his lessons, spoke to the person in charge and am attending my first orientation tonight.

Finally, after 2 years of not setting foot in a stirrup, I will be riding several days a week and helping to train and school some horses the center uses for their therapeutic riding program. On top of that, I will also be able to help out with the lessons the kids participate in, and even get involved in some Special Olympics events!

WOW — talk about not being able to wipe a smile off your face. That’s what is SO cool about dreaming… about putting things down on paper, setting a goal and then doing “whatever it takes” to make that goal a reality.

I had tried multiple times in the past to get in touch with this therapeutic riding program, but was unsuccessful. Then, when I was least expecting it, I found a connection and was able to jump in and achieve my goal!

So… what are your dreams? And even more importantly… what are you doing to move yourself closer to them?

The best part of dreaming big, is achieving big. So committ yourself to setting a goal and then doing whatever it takes to see it through — I can promise you, once it’s achieved, it will be worth it!

The quote I leave you with is this, by Walt Disney:

“If you can dream it, you can do it!”

How well rounded is your life? I know for me personally, there have been many times where it was pretty oddly shaped! One of the most valuable concepts I ever learned from Michael Clouse was that you should look at your life like a wheel with 7 spokes — or in other words, the 7 areas of your life.

Each spoke needs to be even (or relatively so) in order for your wheel to roll smoothly across the ground. Otherwise, it will stutter and stop completely.

The Family/Relationship Side:

Reality is, we were created to have relationships — we were created to have friends! How is this side of your life looking?

Do you have a good relationship with your family? Do you have friends in your life that you can count on? If you can answer YES to those questions, then chances are you doing quite well in this department.

Personally, this has been an area I have struggled with in the past. Over the past several months though, I can say without a doubt that my relationship with my family has never been better, and God has blessed me with some pretty awesome friends in my life.

That brings me to the second part…

The Spiritual Side:

How’s yours looking? If you’re wondering “What is this?” then chances are you don’t have it. Whatever your personal beliefs are, you should be living them out fully!

Again, this has been something I have struggled with in the past. About a year ago though, I found this awesome church and as a result have gotten plugged into a couple of study groups. Something I am still actively working on is setting aside time each day to read my Bible — so while this spoke of my wheel may not be perfectly round (and really, are any of them ever perfect?) I have to say I am feeling pretty good about this area.

Moving on…

The Career Side:

Here’s a big one! In fact, you are probably spending about 40 hours a week on your career. How do you like it? Do you feel happy with where you’re at? Is it what you’ve always seen yourself doing? Are you moving forward?

No one likes to be stalled out in their careers. So do a check on yours and see how you feel about it! You don’t need to be living on your dream job in order to be completely happy in this area, but you should probably at least feel like you are moving that direction.

Personally, I love my career. I know that there is not another out there that would be better for me!

The Social/Cultural Side:

What are you doing to move yourself forward in this area? Maybe you don’t even know what this area is… I know I didn’t, until I learned it from Michael Clouse a couple of years ago.

Think of it this way… let’s say you are doing GREAT on the career side of your life. You’ve gotten a couple of promotions, a pretty hefty raise, and during this time you’ve married a great person.

Because of your new status within the company, you are asked to attend a formal dinner, hosted by the CEO. You don your fancy clothes, get into your brand new BMW (hefty raise, remember?) and head out.

Then, during dinner, you proceed to: put your elbows on the table, talk with your mouth full, forget to use your napkin and *gasp* eat your salad with the wrong fork.

See what I’m getting at? As you move forward in your life, you should be doing and learning things that bring you forward culturally as well! Read a few books, go to some plays, maybe study a foreign language! Consider this area to be self education.

Personally, I do read quite a few books — other than that though, there’s not much I do in this area. Something I’ve been wanting to do is brush up on my French (haven’t studied it since high school) — but I just haven’t done it yet. While I don’t feel too terribly out of the loop yet, I know that I need to get on the ball or else I will fall behind in this area.

Something to work at

The Health Side:

Basically there are 3 things in this area: Are you working out? Are you eating healthy? Are you getting enough sleep?

A good exercise program is essential to good health. So go buy you a couple of dumbbells, maybe a pull up bar, and go for a walk a few days a week. One program I recently started and highly recommend (if you’re up to it) is P90X — you can read all about it at http://www.beachbody.com

You also have to eat healthy! Drink those 8 glasses of water a day! Lay off the junk food (I may possibly be the world’s worst in this category) and eat a few more veggies and fruits!

Finally, are you getting enough sleep? Many people don’t realize how important sleep is to your overall health. So do your best to turn off the TV and get in bet a little earlier. Make sure you’re getting as close to those 8 hours as possible!

(almost done now…)

The Financial Side:

How are you doing here? Are you in debt? That’s okay if you are, but you should be working on getting out of it. Is your salary where you want it to be (this part links into your career)? Are you putting money in a savings account each time you get paid?

After all, what good would it do you to earn a large income, and then get ruined one day due to an emergency because you had failed to save any of it? Something we should all be working on is earning, saving and investing.

A good book on this topic is The Richest Man in Babylon — I highly recommend it!!

And finally…

The Fun Side!

Are you having fun? Are you a fun person to be around? What good is it to have everything going for you in life, but to not be having fun while you’re at it?

So many people set financial goals, career goals, health goals… but they forget to set FUN goals! All I can say here is make sure you are setting aside time each week to have a little fun in your life

That’s about it! This formula, since I started actively working on it, has made my life infinitely better! There is just something to be said about living a well rounded life. After all, like Michael Clouse has said — What good would it be to have all the money in the world, and not be healthy enough to spend it? What good would it be to have the career of your dreams, but to see your life falling apart at home?

Check your spokes — work on the ones that need some help, cut back on the ones that are demanding too much time, and watch your life transform before your eyes!

The quote I leave you with today is this, by Jim Rohn:

“To have more, we must first become more.”

Well, this post has been a long time coming. I looked back and noticed I haven’t posted since OCTOBER — wow, it’s definitely been a while!

A lot has happened in the past 5 months… well, actually just the last 3. It’s been an interesting year, to say the least! I feel like I’ve reached the point of a new beginning, and finally feel like I’m back in enough of a normal routine to begin writing again

I toyed with the idea of changing all of my old posts over to “private” (or even deleting them all together) as a symbol of this new beginning, but in reviewing them this morning I decided I just couldn’t do that… they’re just too good! *smile*

All kidding aside though, there really is some great content in those posts, so I have decided (for now at least) to leave them be.

To kick off this new chapter in life, and to extend the personal nature of this particular post, I want to share something that I found on my friend Saul Jacobson’s website. I noticed he actually discovered this on our friend Cathy Mahady’s blog, so Cathy, thank you!

7 Things About Me:

1. Why I Get Out of Bed Everyday … The future! Sometimes I sit and marvel at how blessed my life is. I get to help people rediscover their dreams for a living — it doesn’t get much better than that! When I look at my own dreams though, I can’t help but to come flying out of bed every morning because I am so excited to get busy making them come true!

My "Dream Board" in my office!

2. What I Love … Dressage. I miss it SO much! I grew up riding horses, and that’s really the reason I chose the profession I did — to be able to have not only the MONEY to pursue my favorite hobby, but the TIME as well! Taking a mini-break for another year or so until I get my business fully built up… but then I know I will be able to enjoy it for the rest of my life

Aaron and Me

3. Where I Have Been … London, Paris, New York and Alaska. Some of my favorite memories are of the trips my Nana took my cousin Jayci and I on. We’ve had the opportunity to travel to 4 incredible places and spend time travelling together making memories of a lifetime. If there’s one thing I love almost as much as riding, it’s definitely travelling!

Nana, Jayci and I on our balcony during our Alaskan cruise!

4. Where I Want to Go … Germany. Not only is it one of the Dressage capitals of the world, but it was also my Grandpa’s favorite country to visit. I can’t wait for the day that I get to go there and explore everything! 

Castle in Germany

5. What I Know … you’ve got to truly enjoy what you do every day, or you’ll never be truly happy. There is nothing better than waking up on a Monday morning and being truly excited about your week!

6. What Motivates Me … my mentors. I love meeting and spending time with successful people and taking in everything I can from them so I can create that success in my own life.

Michael Clouse and my Mom, Kathy Schneider

7. What I Learned … just when you think you have it all figured out, you don’t. Life is a series of curve balls. You never know when something is going to change, whether it be for the worse or for the better. Sometimes, things that seem like the worst at the time, actually end up being the best in the end. You can’t control change, but you CAN control how you react to it. By keeping a positive mindset in all circumstances, you can create something magical.

One of my favorite quotes!

When you set a goal, do you believe you will reach it? I’m sure you at least hope you will… think you might… but do you truly, truly believe that it will happen?

There’s a phrase I’m sure you’ve heard of — “Fake it ’till you make it.” And that is exactly what you must do when you set a new goal. You need to talk the talk and walk the walk as if the possibility of not reaching whatever goal you have set for yourself is simply just not an option. It’s already happened — it’s a done deal, no matter what.

When you can adopt that philosophy, your whole world will begin to shift. I know mine did! Oh I know some people look at my like I’m crazy when I say things like “Oh yeah well this time next year my check will be ______”, or “In two years we’re moving into __________ neighborhood”, etc — but in my mind those things are already a reality, and I see no problem sharing my belief with others!

Now don’t get me wrong, you don’t want to go out there blurting all your goals to everyone you meet — if you want to know why, you should check out my blog post on that subject here: http://treasureyourdreams.com/treasure/?p=55

What I’m saying is that you should eventually be able to reach a point when you are completely comfortable with your goals — a point where they are already such a part of your life (through the reality in your mind) that you can’t imagine your future without them! It is at this point that magical things will begin to happen in your life — as long you have the belief to back up the actions, and the actions to back up the belief, you will be unstoppable!

 The quote I leave you with is this (one of my all time favorites), by Paul J. Meyer:

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

As I write this blog, I am sitting in a hotel room in Wilkes Barre, PA (about 2 hours north of Philadelphia) waiting on everyone to begin arriving for our annual company convention.

I know most people think “convention” and immediately imagine stuffy suits and even stuffier meetings, but not me! I think of travelling with my friends, incredible buffets and 70s Disco theme night.

That’s what you have to expect when you travel to a “convention” in my business! I am so blessed to do what I do — to spend time coaching, training and working with some of my closest friends as we watch not only our own dreams come to reality, but the dreams of our team members as well.

We have 4 fun-filled days planned with tours of our corporate headquarters, dinner and a show with the company leaders, a 70s themed disco dance and a Havana Night’s themed night party on the deck. Of course, there will be a few “meetings” too *smile*, but stuffy is not a word I would even begin to use in describing the great presentations we are sure to listen to this week.

Really though, it’s the new friends I will get to meet, and the old friends I will get to reconnect with that I am looking forward to the most! There is truly something to be said about the quality of people you spend your time with — and I spend my time with some pretty incredible people!

I can’t imagine waking up each morning for 40+ years and going to a job I hate. Or even going to a job that I don’t absolutely love! Sure, there are days when you just feel like you need a break — but 99% of the time I wake up excited about each day, and go to sleep feeling completely fulfilled each night. I am so BLESSED!

The best part though, is that it’s not just me! Virtually everyone attending this convention feels the exact same way – and THAT is incredible! To have a business opportunity where people not only don’t HATE what they do, but they genuinely love it — well, it doesn’t get much better than that!

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.”