Achieving Your Dreams

I would like you to take a moment – take a step back and

reflect on your life.

Where exactly are you?

Have you achieved your dreams?

Do you know exactly what your dreams are?

Are you any closer to achieving your dreams now, than when you

first began to desire them?

What’s the real secret?

You MUST invest in yourself.

Switch off the world around you for a moment, take a step

back and absorb everything you are about to read.

Start your journey of success and achievement NOW.

Forget everything which you believe is limiting you,

when you learn these simple methods you

simply cannot fail – it is your right to be successful.

To begin with, you must discover and determine what success

means to you.

I am about to show you how to begin your journey by making it

personal and helping you find a deep desire to succeed. Having

a dream is fundamental to success, it is what will drive you

and keep you focused when you are confronted with obstacles.

Very often, when we are not committed to something, it tends to

get pushed to the back of our minds – things will find a way of

making you stray from your goals and aspirations. Why? Because

we are only human and life is unpredictable.

Committing to a goal and seeing it through, not only brings

success but also a feeling of wellbeing and great achievement.

Doing so even when it seems that the world is conspiring

against you is what makes you great.

If you read biographies of the people you admire,

you will notice a pattern emerging, successful people do not

leave anything to fate, they make a decision to achieve

something then they follow their dreams letting go of or

rolling over

everything that prevents them from doing so.

Set out with a goal and then they DO it without question

and with the mindset that failure is not an option.

One thing you need to bear in mind is that success is not

measured

in money, it is measured in achievement. When you set out to

do something and then do it, that is success.

This is the first and last thing which you need to consider when

undertaking any task. Success feels good.

What is even better is that it doesn’t need to be a huge

achievement.

You can start small and allow your successes to

accumulate one by one until your goals and dreams are realized.

It is my personal belief that almost everyone has the

potential to

succeed and that in all but the rarest cases, failing is a

personal choice.

As far as ultimate failure is concerened, it is only possible to

fail if you have stopped trying.

Unless you have given up, you are still doing what you

have set out to achieve, and therefore still on the journey to

success. In effect, you only ultimately fail if you give up,

and this is

the choice we make. This is also true for those who don’t begin

in the first place, falling at the first hurdle and not taking

any action at all, this is failure because you have decided you

want to do something and not even begun.

Obstacles will appear on your path.

It’s how you deal with these obstacles that determines

whether you succeed

or fail, whether you are a successful person or an unsuccessful

person.

It is this single lesson which will determine the rest of your

life, career and

any other pursuit you undertake. So many people have overcome

difficult obstacles, why not adopt this attitude;

“who am I to give up when people in far more difficult

circumstances strive onward.”

Success starts with a decision, “I am going to…” and then

continues with action.

Apparently, you have already made a decision that you want to

learn how to

succeed.

BEWARE!

Success is addictive!

Once you have had your taste of it you want more.

By taking action and striving to achieve something

you will find that opportunities come your way and obstacles of

any size can be overcome if you just keep MOVING.

One of the main reasons that they give

up and ultimately fail is that they do not have a definite

purpose, the goal has no context.

Many people pick a goal and

blindly aim for it?

It’s ridiculous. One of the bizarre teaching in NLP is that

“why” doesn’t matter.

Oh yes, it does.

If you think “why” doesn’t matter, I assure you, that you will

ultimately fail.

Period.

You do need to decide WHY you want to

pursue that goal.

This is what will motivate and keep you

focused.

Two examples.

John said “I am going to earn a million dollars this year.”

Sarah said “I am going to earn a million dollars this year

because I want to use some of that money for my children, help

out my family, free up my time and take off the pressures of

everyday life so that I can spend more time doing the things

that I want to do.”

Is it obvious which is more powerful?

Is it obvious which is more likely to succeed?

Which one do you think is going to be more

motivated to overcome the obstacles put in their way because

they have a clear and definite purpose?

If we assume they both came up against the same obstacles, what

would differentiate John and Sarah? Sarah could ask herself,

“Am I going to let this obstacle get in the way of my dream? Is

this obstacle going to rob me of my freedom and rob my children

of their security?”

A clear and definite purpose for achieving

your goal is essential to your success.

If you set a goal, decide on the purpose. Choose something

that is important to you. That “higher calling” needs to be the

most important thing in the world to ensure your success. Pick

something that is really important to you, make success your

ONLY option.

Take some time to write down some things about your desires.

Life has a habit of making them seem less important,

eventually we get into the habit of submitting to life’s

every whim and existing instead of living.

By allowing life to control us, we lose control. By

taking this step back to take stock of our goals we can regain

that control and focus on what is really important to us.

What is your dream(s)?

I want you to write down as many things as you can, they can be

as big or as small as you like.

Financial freedom, skiing on the slopes of an exclusive resort,

sailing your own yacht in the Caribbean, spending more time

with the

people who are important to you. Don’t discriminate between the

ideas yet, just write down anything you’ve ever wanted to do.

Now, which of these really burns into your heart?

Which single one of these is going to make you feel best?

Feel really good about yourself?

Which will bring you the most happiness?

Spend some time imagining doing each of them and let your

feelings

guide you on this.

How much will it cost to fulfill your dream?

This is an important piece of research you will have to do,

find out EXACTLY how much it will cost because this will form

part of your plans, you will need to earn your dream. By

knowing exactly how much it will cost to fulfill your dream, you

can easily check your progress and how far you have left to go.

What would you do to get there?

Next up: Write down the things you would do to

achieve this dream. Don’t just write ANYTHING IT TAKES, this is

unspecific and will not call you into action.

For example; are you prepared to work extra overtime,

sacrifice a few of the treats you pay extra for, are

you prepared to start a small or part time business, are

you prepared to spend some of your time

working towards it, are you prepared to sell some of your knick-

knacks and possessions to help fund the venture?

These are suggestions that can be used on your list.

If you can’t populate your list with at least

5-10 things which you WOULD do to achieve your dream, I suggest

you pick another one because that dream isn’t the one you

ultimately see yourself doing.

When you have a burning desire to fulfil our dreams you will

do anything it takes.

So again, write down all the things you could or would possibly

do to put you in the

position you desire.

Why do you want it?

Think of the emotions it brings with it. Imagine yourself

sometime in the future.

You’ve achieved your dream and you’re there, experiencing it

right now.

What does it look like, what does it sound like?

What does it smell like, what does it taste like?

What does it feel like?

When I think about my number one dream I get

shivers, huge surges of energy.

What does your dream mean to you?

Write down all the feelings that come with the dream.

When do you want it?

I suppose you’d really want that dream to be your present life

experience

yes?

OK. The next thing I want you to do is to write down the

following statement in a

way that is specific to your own dreams.

I am going to (earn the necessary money) and do (the necessary

things) because I am going to (achieve my dream), I am going to

achieve this dream because it is the most important thing to me

for the following reasons, (write your reasons here). I want it

NOW, every day I am not on the path to achieving my dreams is

another day I am postponing it so I am going to take action NOW.

If it seems impossible to achieve, you need to consider the

following statement.

When someone says, “it can’t be done”, someone else is out

there proving them wrong.

It takes effort to achieve your dreams, but when you’re there

would you look back and regret what you did to make it happen?

Or would you enjoy what you’ve got, thankful for your

determination.

Take 5 minutes out of each day to visualize and totally immerse

yourself in your ideal situation, experience that dream as if it

were real.

Now, imagine yourself driving down the road towards your

destination, your destination is your dream, you’re half way

there when your car breaks down… do you walk towards your dream

or back home?

What does it take to be a successful person?

They have a dream.

You must have a dream, a definite purpose.

We have already determined that a dream is the

fundamental factor of success.

It is what drives you when you are faced with obstacles. It’s

what tells you that you can make it, when others say you can’t.

They have a plan:

A plan is your road map to success. It takes you from where

you are now, to where you want to be.

I Hate cliches, but this one is true:

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

If the dream is the foundation,

then the plan is the architect’s drawing. The “how-to,” step-by-

step instructions as to how you will achieve your dream.

They are willing to work hard:

Successful people don’t always need to work hard, but the key

word is “willing.”

They do what it takes to make their

dreams come true, as opposed to those who will simply give up

when it is too much effort. When you work hard at doing

something the end result is always that much more enjoyable.

They don’t take no for an answer:

Nobody has any right to stop you from achieving your dreams.

Successful achievers are focused:

By concentrating on the goals and objectives, you will find

that you achieve more. You won’t get sidetracked and you won’t

procrastinate. By focusing, you will be able to do things

effectively and be highly productive.

Achievers get things done:

To succeed takes action and you need to do what it takes. When

you don’t know how to do what it takes you must learn how to do

it.

Expanding your knowledge base is essential in achievement.

When you do know how to do something, you do it and then move

onto

the next thing. Never waste time, you are only delaying your

enjoyment of your own dream.

Achievers don’t make excuses:

Successful people make decisions:

When you make a decision, follow it. If it doesn’t work out,

learn from it.

Don’t put off making decisions for fear of making a wrong one.

Achievers learn from their mistakes:

Mistakes are something to learn from. If you make a mistake,

correct it, then move on.

Achievers are passionate:

When you are passionate about something, you will find that

people respond positively to you.

Opportunities will be presented to you and you will be

ready to receive them. Who would you rather be around,

someone who is excited or someone who is not motivated?

Successful people are personable:

Be friendly, learn how to lead and influence people. When you

are someone who other people want to be around, when people want

to help you, you will find that you will succeed much faster.

Everybody needs help to succeed, simply by being a nice person

you will find that others are far more likely to offer their

help and support. Nobody wants to see you fail if you are a

nice person.

Help others, and they will help you.

Achieving Your Dreams

Ready for more free resources on how to achieve your dream? Look in the left hand column at http://www.kevinhogan.com/ for all the resources you’ll ever need.

Kevin Hogan, Psy.D., Professional Motivational Speaker, is the author of 16 books including The Psychology of Persuasion, Selling Yourself to Others, and Irresistible Attraction.

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