Say no to ‘no’
Remember when you were a kid? What did you dream of ? “One day when I grow up I’m going to ….”
Remember when you were in primary school ? Remember meeting or watching someone on TV that inspired you ? “I’m going to be just like them when I grow up …”
Remember when you were at highschool ? Remember truly discovering and exploring your talents and passions. “One day I want to … I’m going to …”
BUT,
Remember you parents or brothers or sisters or teacher or coach who said “You couldn’t do that !” “Why would you want to do that ?” “You can’t earn a living from that. Get a real job” “Not everyone can do that. What makes you think you can do that ? You’re to …” “Forget it and get your head out of the clouds” and so on.
The thing is, there will always be someone to tell you that you can’t do something. And even more than that, they may even be saying it with your best interests in mind (according to them and as funny as that seems). There are always more pessimists than optomists. It is easy to criticise. It is safer to say something can’t be done. There are always people who want to project their limiting mindsets onto you.
But, at some point, YOU need to make a CONSCIOUS DECISION to ignore them. To go your own way. To follow your own heart. To back yourself. To not be limited by others. To say yes to yoruself and what you want to go after. To say NO to ‘NO’.
Of course when you follow your dreams, there needs to be an alignment of skills and talents (ie Australian Idol). And certainly there needs to be wisdom with how this works in with the rest of your life . And certainly there is a lot of hardwork, perseverence, determination and commitment that comes along with it. But it starts, with exactly what this video talks about. it starts with unlimited thinking and a conscious decision to not only face your own fears, but more often than not, to not let other people define your future. SAY NO TO ‘NO’.
Is there some area or some dream or someone or some situation in which you need to decide to SAY NO to ‘NO’ ?
Write the Future
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE
Because of circumstance and past decisions we often feel like our future is defined and mapped out for us. We feel almost trapped.
And equally, one of the myths we believe is that we are entitled to a great life. That someone else is responsible for filling our lives with happiness and fulfillment. We tend to blame something external or someone aside from ourselves for the things we don’t like about our lives. And we create excuses or come up with various reasons why something didn’t happen or why we can’t be or can’t do or can’t have what we want in our lives.
The truth is that there is only one person responsible for your life and that is you. If you want to follow your dreams, if you want to achieve your goals, if you want to be successful then you must take 100% responsibility for everything in your life – your relationships, your finances, your achievements, your levels of happiness, your feelings – everything ! One of the best days of your life is the one in which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses or denials. Relying on no-one. Leaning on on-one. Blaming no-one. Just you taking responsibility for your life, your happiness, your dreams and your future.
You can write your own future … it truly is an open book with the pages yet to be written … I wonder what they’ll say …
Destiny
I love this video because so often we only hear half of the story of following your dreams.
You see there is a myth about highly successful people– it’s that they are simply born highly talented. The truth is, you may be talented, but no-one reaches their potential unless they are willing to work hard to get there. Do you know that only four Wimbledon boys champions in the last 60 years have ever gone on to win the Men’s title in their career (Federer, Borg, Edberg, Cash) and only three girls champions have developed into Women’s champions (Mauresmo, Hingis, Haydon). Did you know that more than 50% of millionaire entrepreneurs never finished college (Robert J. Kreiegel and Louis Patler, If it Aint Broke … Break it ! ). There are no shortcuts to success and anything worthwhile.
You see our dreams very quickly turn into hardwork, commitment, perseverence, diligence, mental touchness, sacrifices, chices and so on. And the thing is, when most people think of hard work, they would rather (and in most cases naturally) take the easy path. Getting fit without exercising. Losing weight without watching their eating. Cultivating good healthy relationships without putting in effort to make them so. Playing a musical instrument well without practising.
Muhammad Ali is quoted as saying “The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses; behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance on those lights.”
Winners do not shy away from hard work. In any arena and facet of life. Not just sport. In fact they embrace it. They train harder and dig deeper than others. They learn to derive satisfaction and pleasure from doing things well in the face of something that is hard. They welcome an environment that is stimulating, challenging and demanding. They learn to enjoy the process and the process inevitably includes hard work.
So whilst I firmly believe we should all Dare to Dream and follow our dreams … that is only half the story.
Destiny doesn’t decide your success. YOU do.
My challenge – What are you going to do to make it happen ?
