Treasure Your Dreams

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.”

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.”

We’re all familiar with the common name to describe a person who is always negative. You know, that person who never has a good thing to say about ANYTHING. That person who blames everything and everyONE (except themselves, of course) for anything bad that happens TO them.

Unfortunately for them, bad things probably happen to them pretty often. When they say “Nothing ever goes my way”, they probably aren’t too far from the truth — in fact, it’s probably not an exageration at all.

Because you see, Debbie Downer keeps his/her thoughts on the negative side of the spectrum. They are constantly thinking about the things they DON’T want, and rarely (if ever) spend time focusing on the positive things that COULD potentially happen to them or for them!

They see the negative in every situation, and therefore, they see the all of the negative things that could/should/will happen to them rather these thoughts are meritted or not.

Poor Debbie Downer — you really can do nothing but feel sorry for him/her. Because you see, for Debbie Downer, success and happiness will be virtually impossible UNTIL (or unless) they change their thinking!

 People so often overlook the power of their own thoughts — but the mind, specificaly the subconsious mind, is a very powerful tool, not to be taken lightly.

I feel as if I constantly referring back to the post on the 5 points that can ultimately lead to your success; your philosophy, your attitude, your actions, your results, and your lifestyle.

You see if your philosophy (your opinion) is that you never catch a break, the world is a horrible place with horrible people, and that nothing EVER goes your way, then that philosophy translates into your attitude.

Your attitude is what you think about all day long — so if you constantly have negative thoughts, then you will have a negative attitude.

Your attitude then determines your actions — you operate based on this phiolosphy and your thoughts that result from it. You don’t trust people, you expect something bad to be lurking behind every corner, and unfortunatley for you — you are rarely dissapointed.

Because you see, your actions create your results, and your results in turn create your lifestyle. So, a negative phiolosophy, leads to a negative lifestyle. Plain and simple!

You may be wondering by now, HOW does a Debbie Downer go about changing? What can he/she do to experience a radical change in his/her life that will turn it around for the better?

Well, it will take some reprogramming — some practice — and most of all, persistance.

I reccommend Maximum Achievement, by Brian Tracy as a GREAT place to start! This book will (among countless other things) teach you about the Seven Laws of Mental Mastery — just as the law of gravity and the laws of physics are in effect all day every day, whether you are aware of them or not, so are the 7 mental laws.

He will teach you about becoming an “inverse paranoid”, or in other words — how to become convinced that the world is out to do you GOOD!

No one likes a Debbie Downer — and a negative outlook on life will lead to nothing but discouragement and letdowns — do not let your mindset stand in the way of your success!

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

“Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.”

What it is about some people that makes them successful, while others are not?

This thought is one that has plagued my mind many many times… and through my endless thoughts, and insights from great books by Brian Tracy, Michael Clouse, Napoleon Hill, etc, I have come to two conclusions:

1) Mindset and
2) Action

Let’s start with the first: They say that a successful lifestyle starts with a successful mindset. Believing that you are successful, and believing that you hold (within yourself) the power to achieve your dreams. For a while, this was my MAIN focus when it came to building my business. I let the thoughts of success consume me… and I figured that, hey — if you truly can become successful by thinking like a successful person, then I had it in the bag.

But this brings me to my second point — which is action. Now, this one has taken me longer to “get” — and I think many people have the same problem as me. There is a BIG difference in knowing what it takes to become a successful person (no matter what your ambition), an actually DOING what it takes to become a successful person.

That difference, (action), is what makes up the difference between successful and unsuccessful people.

You can read all the books, set all the goals and make all the plans — but if you never get down to DOING the actions, you will never succeed in life.

This new insight has had a powerful impact on my daily routine — I have my day fully mapped out on paper… in my day planner — that way, I know exactly what I should be doing at any given hour. I have time set aside for checking emails, cleaning the house, running errands, attending meetings, working out, calling prospects, training team members, etc. And I try (or should I say I am striving daily) to stick to that schedule until it becomes a habit.

I say this because I know that when I can habitually follow the schedule I have set for myself, I will have all the ingredients, perfectly combined, for success. Success will have become inevitable.

As always, I’ll leave you with a quote — this is on the desktop background of my computer, and it by Epictetus:

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”

There is something about a new year that makes me so excited! A fresh start, 365 new days to look forward to. A fresh take on your goals, and a full account of how well (or how not well) you did on the goals you set for yourself last year.

In reflecting on my past year, I am both proud of myself and disappointed. Some goals I reached, even surpassed, and yet of others I fell a bit short.

My number one goal for 2008 was to improve upon myself — and that, I feel, I did quite significantly. I don’t believe that at the beginning of the year I could even fathom the changes I would have the strength to create within myself over the next 12 months, but I did… and for that I am pleased, and grateful beyond measure.

I set a goal to get out of debt — another goal I succeeded in, although I hardly realized it until December 29th when I was finishing up my bookkeeping for the year. After signing one final check, placing it in the envelope and dropping it in the mail, I had accomplished my goal. What a since of freedom and pride that gave me!

I set a goal to double my business. This is one I did not quite reach. I (along with the help of my team) was able to take the number of people in my organization from 253, to 373 — not a bad number, but not what I was hoping for. In all honesty though, perhaps it was falling short of that goal that has lit a fire in my heart for making my business absolutely explode in 2009 — and explode it will, I can feel it.

I have done all the necessary preparations — every possible detail, to create an incredible growth in my business over the next 12 months. Things already seem to be falling into place — there is a feeling in my head and in my heart that simply will not accept “failure” as an option.

To put it even stronger, its as if failure does not exist.

I can’t say what exactly has put me in such an intense state of mind, most likely a combination of things. In part, it comes from a few of the books I’ve read over the past year; “Maximum Achievement” and “Goals” written by Brian Tracy, “Beach Money” written by Jordan Adler, “The Fifth Principle” by Michael Clouse and so many more.

Also, it comes in part from the CDs I’ve listened too; Michael Clouse’s “Building a Better Life”, “The Recepie for Success” and “How to Build the Network Marketing Business YOU Really Want”.

I know it comes in part from the encouragement and support I receive, daily, from Robert — his never-ending unquestioning faith in me… that I am destined to be successful.

I know it comes in part from the goals I have set for myself — and the great want in my heart to achieve them. “A life without a goal is like an arrow without a target”

Possibly it is also attributed in part to my growing up — even if it is just a little more. I feel as thought I have grown immensely in this past year, and for that, I am very grateful.

Regardless of where it has come from though, it’s there — this undeniable desire, thirst, for success. It is a thirst that cannot be quenched until the final destination has been reached, and so reaching it has become my only option.

When I look at this upcoming year in my mind, I cannot help but to smile — a huge giddy smile that is almost ridiculous. Some might call it daydreaming… but I see it as visualizing, seeing MY future in the way that I choose to make it.

I can’t wait — already this year is proving to be more than I have expected, and I have every belief that it will only continue to get better and better.

“Goals are dreams with deadlines.”