Are You Building Your Dream or Someone Else's?
We have a finite amount of time. We may lose all of our money, all of our possessions and even some of the people who seem so vital and important to us now. To a certain extent, we can get back our money, our stuff and even make new friends and create newer and stronger relationships, but we can never get our time back.
When you really stop to think about that statement, how does it make you feel? Do you feel panicked? Guilty? Perhaps a statement such as the one above actually motivates you into some sort of action.
I opened up with this statement about time to describe something else, something similar. It has to do with your dreams, with your goals. Are you working towards those dreams and goals right now? Are you pushing forward past all of the difficulties of the day to at least take one single step closer to building the life that you long for or are you waking up everyday, getting into your car for a mad dash to the office in order to make sure that someone else is living the lifestyle that they dream of?
Hard question, I know, but one that should be asked from time to time. I mean, let's face it, often times we get so wrapped up in what we have to do rather than what we might want to be doing with our time and like I said at the beginning of this article, our time is limited.
So what steps do we need to take to be able to walk away from this trap we call modern living? I've made a list of a few things that you may want to consider.
1) Decide what you want
While deciding what you want may sound easy, so many people out there in the world know more about what they do not want rather than what they actually do want. Take time to figure out what it is that you dream of. How do you see your life a year from now, five years from now... five minutes from now?
Are you going to continue to coast through your life without giving any real thought as to what you may want for yourself professionally or personally. Are you existing or are you living? The choice is yours and determining what your want in life about is a great step forward.
2) Take Action
If you have an idea of what and where you want to be in this life, do something about it! Take action... now!
People procrastinate for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is out of fear or pain. We are scared of the possibility of failure and rejection. Understand that no one that has ever been successful has not gone through a struggle to reach their goals. That is part of life and a part of success.
Many times you will hear motivational or inspirational mentors discuss their own difficulties in achieving their goals and finding the success that everyone else associates them with. Almost every single person on the face of the earth that has ever been successful has also failed, sometimes numerous times!
Remember that while "Babe" Ruth held the home run record for decades, he also held the strike out record as well. You can't hit a home run without swinging your bat!
3) Find a Mentor
No matter what you want to do with your life, chances are that someone has done it or something like it before you. Model their behavior, copy the moves that they made to reach the level of success you are looking for! There is no reason that you have to make the same mistakes.
If you are looking to build a business online then find someone who has built that business or a similar business online and pick their brain. Most often you will find that those that are successful will have no problem spending a few minutes to answer some of your questions. Send them an email or give them a phone call. Be heard!
4) Set Goals
Set your goals. No matter what your dreams, you need to have some sort of standard or goal that you can reach. Make sure that you don't set things too high, especially at first. Start small. As you begin to achieve little victories, you can change your goals and raise the bar on your standards.
Remember, even taking the smallest steps towards a goal is much better than doing nothing at all. If all you do is take one step a day, that's still 365 steps towards what it is that you wish to achieve. Little goals add up. Don't get overwhelmed with the thought of having to do it all at once. Make sure that your goals are attainable.
5) Read
All readers may not be leaders, but all leaders are readers. Make sure that you find "good" books to read. You can either spend your time on the latest romance or spy novel, but that will probably not get you where you want to be in terms of the realization of your goals or dreams.
Once again, you don't have to read a chapter a day, but read a few pages. In his book, The Slight Edge, author Jeff Olson discusses reading just 10 pages a day. According to Mr. Olson's calculations, reading just ten pages a day will equal about ten book per year, on average. This is huge. In ten years that is one hundred books!
If you have a busy schedule, then get audio books. Download the books to your phone and listen to them through out the day. If you are stuck in traffic, what better way to spend your time is there? Always look to improve yourself... reading is a great place to start.
6) Believe - Have Faith
Belief and faith are two different things, but they go hand in hand.
Believing that you are capable of something can be a sad struggle for many. Start by creating a vision of where you want to be (this should be done when figuring out what it is that you want in the first place).
Once you have this vision, see yourself over and over achieving that goal. See yourself in that dream home, walking around the house, looking at the rooms, the amenities. See your successful business. See yourself in that office, sitting in the overstuffed chair behind the huge oak desk. Do you have a view? If so, what is the view of. Make this vision as real as possible then take the action necessary to start realizing that vision... that is where the faith comes into play. Without faith that you can achieve, you will never leave the couch. Get out and just do it!
Once you have this vision, see yourself over and over achieving that goal. See yourself in that dream home, walking around the house, looking at the rooms, the amenities. See your successful business. See yourself in that office, sitting in the overstuffed chair behind the huge oak desk. Do you have a view? If so, what is the view of. Make this vision as real as possible then take the action necessary to start realizing that vision... that is where the faith comes into play. Without faith that you can achieve, you will never leave the couch. Get out and just do it!
While there are many other items that I can add here, the list above provides a good start. The most important thing is that you take that action, get started today, get started right now. Remember, it's your life and you are the one that has to live it and it might work out better for you if you go ahead and live it the way that you want. Start living your dream today if only in your mind's eye. With enough time and enough action you will realize those dreams and manifest them in the real world tomorrow.
Mark Graham has been marketing successfully online since 2009 and has written many eBooks on the subject of internet marketing and goal achievement. You can check out his personal blog at Mark Graham Marketing or check out his latest video at 3 Steps to Online Success
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