Take Advantage of Your Wish List
Stay on message, stay on purpose, and stay focused. There are no insurmountable obstacles, only wonderful opportunities to be creative to get to the result you really and truly want.
It is great to have a wish list and how many of us have had that at different points in our lives.
€ I wish to travel the world.
€ I wish to meet the man/woman of my dreams.
€ I wish I was a multi-millionaire.
€ I wish I had a great home.
€ I wish €¦€¦
€ I wish €¦€¦
€ I wish €¦€¦ you fill in the blanks.
Typically every 1st January many people make a wish list. The thing is, often there is no real substance, no real commitment, no real clear decision, no real time lines, no real desire, no real focus to achieving their wish list.
Let's get real. The wish list is not going to come true unless and until you make it happen. And yes, it can happen and you will make it so through concerted focus, concerted action, concerted decision making, concerted help, support and guidance, taking appropriate steps be they small or large each and every day to achieve your heart's desire. And, of course, this is all done in a context of getting the environment you are operating within right.
Let's take the wish of wishing to travel the world. Specifically, what parts of the world do you want to travel to? How much will it cost? How long will it take to get the money to turn this dream into a reality? When will you go? Who will you go with? These are very real questions that need to be answered before the dream can come true.
Our environment really is one of the key deciders to the extent to which we are consistent with achieving the result areas we set ourselves. If we do not get our environment right (and, as explained earlier, that means people €" friendship/peer groups, places €" organisations/clubs we belong to and things €" our resources €" books, motivational tapes etc), then we make it increasingly hard on ourselves to set ourselves up for success. Our environment is a key component in our success strategy. This really should never be underestimated.
In terms of the people with whom we associate, there will be those who will tell us that we cannot do it, we cannot achieve what we want, and they will be able to provide us with many examples of why we cannot do what we want to do. More than that, they will be able to provide us with examples of where other people have set out to do what we are setting out to do and have failed. Make no mistake. These nay-sayers have done their homework. They will leave no stone unturned to `prove' it to you that what you want to do and are setting out to do is a complete waste of time and energy. And for a while you may even listen to them, so convincing is their argument. I had a friend once who was really quite brilliant at law.
At the time, she was studying for her `A' levels and believed that she would not achieve good enough grades to go to University so she only applied to Polytechnic €" which at that time these establishments accepted lower grade exam passes.
She had been told all of her life that she was not good enough. And somewhere deep within her she believed that to be true. She got a `A' and a `B' €" two of the highest exam passes she could have got at that time and only the option she permitted herself was to go to Polytechnic, so convinces was she that she wouldn't make the grade €" she didn't even apply to University. Her life chances and choices had been diminished because she believed what people around her told her about her abilities. Our environment is of such crucial importance to our life chances and choices that it really cannot be over-stated.
Before taking what they say at face value, I would suggest that you examine their lives. Are they living a life that speaks of their purpose? Are they asking themselves the question, what do I next want to achieve in my life? Are they focusing on how they can build rather than destroy? Are they focused on how they can add value to the life of a man, woman or child outside of themselves? Are they living a life of abundance and joy? Are they living a life that is positively focused? Are they living a life that is lived in the present, rather than the past? Are they living a life that is focused on the future? Are they focused on what is possible, rather than what they consider to be impossible? If these questions cannot be answered in the affirmative, then I have some questions for you. Why are you listening to them? How can they possibly enhance the quality of your life and its future direction? How? Something to think about!
The chances are, and without wishing to devalue anyone, these same people are unlikely to be paying attention to focusing on their own lives. Further still, it is likely that they are living lives that they have not examined for some time, if at all. Who are you going to listen to? The nay-sayers, the doom mongers, the people who have given up on the possibility of stepping out and designing their canvas called life in a way that would really serve them? Or are you going to listen to your own inner guide, the one that tells you to dream up your plan, plan your work and work your plan? Work your plan. Work your plan. There is no substitute for you working your plan.
It is great to have a wish list and how many of us have had that at different points in our lives.
€ I wish to travel the world.
€ I wish to meet the man/woman of my dreams.
€ I wish I was a multi-millionaire.
€ I wish I had a great home.
€ I wish €¦€¦
€ I wish €¦€¦
€ I wish €¦€¦ you fill in the blanks.
Typically every 1st January many people make a wish list. The thing is, often there is no real substance, no real commitment, no real clear decision, no real time lines, no real desire, no real focus to achieving their wish list.
Let's get real. The wish list is not going to come true unless and until you make it happen. And yes, it can happen and you will make it so through concerted focus, concerted action, concerted decision making, concerted help, support and guidance, taking appropriate steps be they small or large each and every day to achieve your heart's desire. And, of course, this is all done in a context of getting the environment you are operating within right.
Let's take the wish of wishing to travel the world. Specifically, what parts of the world do you want to travel to? How much will it cost? How long will it take to get the money to turn this dream into a reality? When will you go? Who will you go with? These are very real questions that need to be answered before the dream can come true.
Our environment really is one of the key deciders to the extent to which we are consistent with achieving the result areas we set ourselves. If we do not get our environment right (and, as explained earlier, that means people €" friendship/peer groups, places €" organisations/clubs we belong to and things €" our resources €" books, motivational tapes etc), then we make it increasingly hard on ourselves to set ourselves up for success. Our environment is a key component in our success strategy. This really should never be underestimated.
In terms of the people with whom we associate, there will be those who will tell us that we cannot do it, we cannot achieve what we want, and they will be able to provide us with many examples of why we cannot do what we want to do. More than that, they will be able to provide us with examples of where other people have set out to do what we are setting out to do and have failed. Make no mistake. These nay-sayers have done their homework. They will leave no stone unturned to `prove' it to you that what you want to do and are setting out to do is a complete waste of time and energy. And for a while you may even listen to them, so convincing is their argument. I had a friend once who was really quite brilliant at law.
At the time, she was studying for her `A' levels and believed that she would not achieve good enough grades to go to University so she only applied to Polytechnic €" which at that time these establishments accepted lower grade exam passes.
She had been told all of her life that she was not good enough. And somewhere deep within her she believed that to be true. She got a `A' and a `B' €" two of the highest exam passes she could have got at that time and only the option she permitted herself was to go to Polytechnic, so convinces was she that she wouldn't make the grade €" she didn't even apply to University. Her life chances and choices had been diminished because she believed what people around her told her about her abilities. Our environment is of such crucial importance to our life chances and choices that it really cannot be over-stated.
Before taking what they say at face value, I would suggest that you examine their lives. Are they living a life that speaks of their purpose? Are they asking themselves the question, what do I next want to achieve in my life? Are they focusing on how they can build rather than destroy? Are they focused on how they can add value to the life of a man, woman or child outside of themselves? Are they living a life of abundance and joy? Are they living a life that is positively focused? Are they living a life that is lived in the present, rather than the past? Are they living a life that is focused on the future? Are they focused on what is possible, rather than what they consider to be impossible? If these questions cannot be answered in the affirmative, then I have some questions for you. Why are you listening to them? How can they possibly enhance the quality of your life and its future direction? How? Something to think about!
The chances are, and without wishing to devalue anyone, these same people are unlikely to be paying attention to focusing on their own lives. Further still, it is likely that they are living lives that they have not examined for some time, if at all. Who are you going to listen to? The nay-sayers, the doom mongers, the people who have given up on the possibility of stepping out and designing their canvas called life in a way that would really serve them? Or are you going to listen to your own inner guide, the one that tells you to dream up your plan, plan your work and work your plan? Work your plan. Work your plan. There is no substitute for you working your plan.
