New Beginnings, Dreams, and Happy Endings
Fail Frequently – Part 5 of 6
This is the 5th in a 6-part series on failure. Today’s topic is the failure to follow through, to finish; in other words – to quit, to give-up, to have low resilience and tenacity. After today, this won’t be you!
Life handed you an unexpected or unwelcome change. You have to start over. You had dreams in the past, those dreams got buried when you got too busy with everyday life, and now with time on your hands and no other options, you are beginning to dream again. Dreams are your lifeline to hope!
But what is the difference between a daydreamer and someone whose dreams come true? It is not intelligence. It is not degrees and certificates. It is not where you came from or what opportunities you had or didn’t have. The difference is mindset. That’s all.
Dreams come true to the people who don’t quit, who don’t give up, who are resilient, who persevere, who are accountable for their own failures and who keep learning. The reason you hear so often that 80% of all business start-ups fail isn’t because they actually failed, it’s because people gave up, quit, and walked away. They didn’t look at what they may have done to contribute to the failure, learn from it, change course, and salvage the parts that were working.
Dreams are crucial to your life and business. But you can’t eat dreams and they don’t put a roof over your kids’ heads. They also don’t put money into your checking account today. To put dreams into play requires long-term thinking, the ability to accept delayed gratification, and the understanding that you can’t place blame on external things and use that as an excuse to walk away or give up when things get hard.
If you’ve submerged your dreams, here are some inspirational thoughts to give you permission to dream again:
• Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. Harriet Tubman
• Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the action stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living. Anais Nin
• Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain
• Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born. Dr. Dale E. Turner
• If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. Henry David Thoreau
• Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. Albert Einstein
What is important about dreams is what happens to you when you implement them. Ultimately, the material thing you get as a result of the dream is insignificant compared to the value of developing your abilities to strive, to learn, and to grow your personal power – your creativity, resilience and tenacity.
So how do you improve your resilience, your tenacity, you ability to stay the course through the tough stuff? Here are 4 simple, but not easy, things to begin doing today:
• Acknowledge that you can’t change circumstances but you can change your response to them. For example, when things keep going wrong, look in the mirror; don’t post on Facebook how someone’s ego screwed you over again and allow yourself to wallow in a community that will commiserate with you.
• Welcome making mistakes as an opportunity to learn. Elevate that learning by refusing to blame your mistakes on someone or something else (learning comes from accepting full responsibility); the people who get ahead are the ones who 1) make the most mistakes and 2) learn from them.
• Have a dream and define your goal. It makes your decision to keep going easier when you can clearly define it. For example, foregoing drinks or dinner out with friends because you’ve decided to ‘save money’ may be hard to maintain, especially during the holiday season. But if you’ve determined to save $333 per month so that in 5 years you’ll have a $20k down payment for a house, it will be easier only accepting 2 invitations per month and limiting your spending to $50 per event (even if that means no alcohol). Do you want to go out for unlimited drinking with friends again, or do you want $20K so you can go buy your house. Drink today or house soon? In short order you won’t even have to expend energy thinking about it; it will be a clear choice!
• Consciously change who you spend time with. If you are surrounded by dream killers, complainers, excuse makers, whiners, and angry or fearful people, it is exceedingly difficult to maintain your composure and stay your course. Instead, seek out people who value learning, who set plans and understand their learning curve may be 5 years or more of daily effort and setbacks as they work towards their goals. Seek out people who are interested in achieving wealth, not making money. (Think of wealth as measured in time; how many days can you go forward without needing to go out and earn more money? That is wealth.) Simply put, surround yourself with achievers and you, too, will acquire tenacity and resilience and accountability as your own value-set.
In summary, with the right mindset you can grow your personal power and learn to follow through when you dare to dream and when you dare to put forth the effort to bring your dreams to life! As Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true when we have the courage to pursue them.”
Are you looking for the Perfect Gift for Christmas and the New Year? Jamie Wolf’s new book is it! ‘Start Over, Start Now! Ten Keys to Success in Business and Life’ is a great gift to show how much you care! Buy a copy today for the people in your life who could use a FRESH START! Who couldn’t? Available for purchase on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble in Hilton Head, and in Beaufort at Simply Southern Too, 705 Bay Street or the Beaufort Book Store, 2127 Boundary Street. Also, Start Over LAUNCHED on 12-12-12 so I invite you to take a look around: www.thestartover.com
