Oftentimes when people are thinking about their future they will remind themselves to be realistic.
Sometimes when they talk about those plans out loud to their friends or family they will be reminded to be realistic. They mean well.
I would encourage you to do the opposite.
I'll give you two concepts to consider.
One is a rubber band. The only way you know its limit is to stretch it until it breaks. Most people won't do that. If it breaks it might hurt. If it breaks you have to find a new rubber band.
When you put a real stretch goal into your head it stretches your consciousness like a rubber band. Tension gets created because there is now a gap between what you want to achieve and what your current state of reality is. Your mind will always resolve the tension and it will do so in one of two ways.
One is you will reach your goal. Tension resolved. The other is you will fail. Tension resolved.
The third alternative, which many many people adopt, is to just continue to fantasize about your goals with out ever REALLY committing to the effort to achieve them. Thus the tension continues, your subconscious knows what's really going on in your head, and some day you finally have to admit that not only didn't you make it, but you really didn't even try. It's a feeling even worse than failure.
Why do people put themselves through this?
It brings me to the second concept, the What versus the How. Most people will not commit to a big effort until they know exactly how it will be achieved. If they commit to the What before knowing the How they might fail, it might not work, oh horror of horrors, we might be disappointed.
So what? Get over it. Pick your damn self up and get started again.
I've been carrying a thought around in my head about this Emotional Earthquake class. I've been thinking I'd like to teach it to 10, 000 people in person, no on line classes. 10, 000. Now how am I going to get that done? I have no idea. Where will they come from? I have no idea. Where will I do all these classes? I have no idea? How long will it take? I have no idea. Can I hit that goal? I have no idea.
But.
I learned how to incorporate a little company pretty quickly. I'm learning how to build a website. I learned how to start a blog. I learned there are people who like to read my blog. I learned how to buy internet domains. I learned how to get a logo designed. I learned that I can make business contacts Uber driving to the airport in the morning. I learned that some of those people like to hear my ideas. I learned there are people who will sign up for a class with me. I learned that I know people who know people who might like to hear my ideas. And on and on.
So what about you? You've got some dream rolling around in your head. Might be time to do something about it. You have to start.
My grandfather first instilled this notion in me, Ken, which was reinforced by my father. Grandfather lost his farm and all of his money in the Great Depression yet continually challenged himself to "make it."
ReplyDeleteDad made his living as a salesman. Starting each month at "0" and, when he was doing really well in a particular month, would opine that "he was selling at an orchestra pitch."
Both of the major male role models in my life continuously stretched themselves. While they may have been motivated by survival, they were also determined to make the most of themselves. No excuses. Their dream was to realize the American Dream.
Thanks to their positive influence, I begin each day considering what I want to accomplish and then set about doing it.
Yes, the rubber band breaks.
But it only stings for a little while.
Dave Brandon
Man, this pretty much exemplifies my whole life. As an entrepreneur, you have to ignore the thousands of possible problems and focus on solving what has to be solved today.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a whole song on this very topic: "Get a Boat." I think you'll relate...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2KZkKNWfyg