Archive for dream
A word about VISION
Posted by: | CommentsHow important is Vision in leadership? I believe that there’s no such thing as a leader who doesn’t have a vision. What do you think?
Today’s post features a Minute with Maxwell on VISION. Click to view the video:
I love doing A Minute with Maxwell. It’s my opportunity to coach and empower you a little every day. The program is totally free, and anyone can view it. To be notified by email every day, when a new Minute is posted, simply fill out the following form:
Quitting is more about WHO you are than WHERE you are.
Posted by: | CommentsBack in December, I wrote about the importance of starting well. In the comments, many people agreed with me, but they also pointed out the critical nature of continuing after you start. They were right. Like I said at the time, starting and finishing are the two covers of the book. The main part – the pages – represents the day-to-day labor needed to achieve your goal.
Unfortunately, in many ways starting is the easy part. Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, “The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings.”
What about you? Are you merely a starter? When the enthusiasm for a new idea fades, when the passion cools, when the odds against you increase and the results diminish, when it looks as if success is impossible, will you maintain your intensity and keep going? Are you tenacious?
Consider the fact that Admiral Robert Peary attempted to reach the North Pole seven times before he succeeded. Oscar Hammerstein produced five shows that were flops on Broadway before staging Oklahoma, which had a record-breaking run of 2,212 performances. Thomas Edison failed in his attempt to create a workable lightbulb 10,000 times before creating one that finally worked. To achieve your dream, you need to be able to keep going when others quit.
To develop tenacity, keep in mind that…
Quitting is more about who you are than where you are.
Everyone faces difficulty when working toward a dream. And if someone fails, he can make excuses for what went wrong, how the unexpected happened, how someone let him down, how circumstances worked against him.
But the reality is that the external things do not stop people. Those who achieve their dreams don’t have an easier path than those who do not. They just have a different internal attitude about the journey. The great artist Leonardo da Vinci once declared, “Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed on a star does not change his mind.”
The one who achieves the dream sees the journey differently.
Instead of thinking, “Not enough people believe in me. I’ll never make it,” he says,
“My belief in myself is enough; I can make it.”
Instead of, “It’s taking too long to realize my dream,” she reminds herself,
“Dreams are realized one day at a time.”
Rather than, “Enough is enough! I’ve taken enough hits!” she declares,
“I’ve come too far to give up now.”
Instead of, “I don’t have the strength to hold onto my dream,” he tells himself,
“Hold on a little longer. The darkest hour comes just before the dawn.”
Novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe said, “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
And I love how H.E. Jensen expressed an achiever’s way of thinking: “The man who wins may have been counted out several times, but he didn’t hear the referee.” The only real guarantee for failure is to stop trying.
So when things go wrong, when the obstacles seem too great, when the difficulties get to be too much, when your dream seems to be impossibly far away, your job is to simply keep going. If you stop, it won’t be because of what happens around you. It will be because of what happens in you. Choose to see things differently. Success is probably closer than you think. Just keep moving forward.
Fight for your dreams in 2011
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Image courtesy of photobucket
Happy New Year! If you’re like me, you spent some time in the past few weeks reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to the coming one. I’m already excited about what’s in store for the next twelve months!
What dreams do you have for 2011? Or maybe a better question is, do you have dreams for 2011? For some people, dreaming is easy. Your mind is full of dreams just waiting to be expressed. But what about those who find it hard to dream? What if you’re not sure if you have a dream you want to pursue?
Let’s face it: Many of us were not encouraged to dream. Others had dreams, only to see them actively discouraged. The world is filled with dream crushers and idea killers. Why? Some people without dreams of their own hate to see others pursuing theirs. Other people’s passion and success makes them feel inadequate or insecure. Others think they’re being helpful: keeping us from risk or hurt.
Business professors Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad wrote about an experiment conducted with a group of monkeys. Four monkeys were placed in a room that had a tall pole in the center. Suspended from the top of that pole was a bunch of bananas.
One of the hungry monkeys started climbing the pole to get something to eat, but just as he reached out to grab a banana, he was doused with a torrent of cold water. Squealing, he scampered down the pole and abandoned his attempt to feed himself. Each monkey made a similar attempt, and each one was drenched with cold water. After making several attempts, they finally gave up.
Then researchers removed one of the monkeys from the room and replaced him with a new monkey. As the newcomer began to climb the pole, the other three grabbed him and pulled him down to the ground. After trying to climb the pole several times and being dragged down by the others, he finally gave up and never attempted to climb the pole again.
The researchers replaced the original monkeys, one by one, with new ones, and each time a new monkey was brought in, he would be dragged down by the others before he could reach the bananas. In time, only monkeys who had never received a cold shower were in the room, but none of them would climb the pole. They prevented one another from climbing, but none of them knew why.
Perhaps others have dragged you down in life. They’ve discouraged you from dreaming. Maybe they resented the fact that you wanted to move up or to do something significant with your life. Or maybe they were trying to protect you from pain or disappointment. Either way, you’ve been discouraged from dreaming.
Take heart. It’s never too late to start dreaming and pursuing your dreams. My friend Dale Turner asserts, “Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.”
If you haven’t done any dreaming yet this year, set aside some time to explore possibilities and commit yourself to new opportunities. It’s never too late to dream.
~Adapted from my book Put Your Dream to the Test
Wherever you go, there you are.
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Travel is a big part of my work now. And this week’s schedule is especially heavy. In seven days I’m teaching in Louisiana, California, Ohio, Georgia, then Ohio again. Of course, it’s not a hardship because I get to connect with and pour into so many wonderful people. One connection that I especially enjoy is one-on-one, when I set aside time to chat and answer questions before or after my teaching sessions.
And there’s one topic that is often brought up: writing. Specifically, people come up and confide in me a desire to write. They want to know how I became a writer, and more importantly, how THEY can become a writer.
The first question I always ask is, “How much writing do you do right now?”
Some answer with a list of articles and other pieces that they’re writing or have already written. But I bet you can guess what most people answer: “Well, I haven’t really written anything yet.”
“Then you need to start writing,” I explain. “You’ve got to start small and work up to it.”
It’s the same with any endeavor. Take leadership: You’ve got to start small and work up to that. A person who has never led before should start by attempting to influence just one other person. Already have some influence? Then try to build a team. The key is to take the next step, not focus on the step a mile ahead.
Your dream may look unreachable. Of course, you could give up in the face of that. Or you could be like a friend of mine who went back to school in her late 40s.
“At first I was discouraged,” she said. “I’ll be a 52-year-old when I get this degree and start a new career.
“But then I thought about it. No matter what I do, I’ll be 52 in four years anyway. At least with this plan, I’ll be a 52-year-old college graduate.”
St. Francis of Assisi said, “Start doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” No matter how far away your dream is, you’ll only reach it by moving toward it. Everyone starts in the same place:
Where They Are.
The small responsibilities before you now comprise your first great conquest. Want to conquer the world? Start by conquering your backyard.
Destiny calling? Let VISION be your guide
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What is your destiny? Where will you be in five years? Or 10, or 30?
Of course, no matter how hard we search, no one can answer that question with certainty. But while we can’t know our destiny, we CAN know and change our direction.
The journey toward destiny always begins with VISION. Vision is the roadmap to your destiny, the picture of your purpose. Without it, you may find yourself off course — or worse, going nowhere.
I feel so strongly about the power of a vision that I devoted my 2009 book, Put Your Dream to the Test, to that very subject.
But even without the help of a book, you can start discovering your vision today. How?
Take some time to LOOK…
- Within you: What is your passion?
- Behind you: How have past lessons and experiences prepared you to pursue your passion?
- Around you: What’s happening to others in this area (the trends)?
- Ahead of you: What do you want to accomplish?
- Above you: What part does God play in your life and dream?
- Beside you: What resources are available to you?
- Alongside you: Who can partner with you in this pursuit?
Hubert Humphrey was a man with vision. He took his first trip to Washington, DC, in 1935, and wrote the following to his wife:
Honey, I can see how someday, if you and I make up our minds to work for bigger and better things, we can someday live here in Washington and probably be in government, politics, or service… Oh gosh, I hope my dream comes true – I’m going to try anyhow.
Hubert Humphrey’s dream carried him all the way to the United States’ vice-presidency. Where could your vision carry you? The vision you have truly will shape the person you become.
