Writing down your dreams and goals is the first step to success. I have yet to meet someone who achieves success accidentally.
If we have a big, beautiful ship and we put no captain or crew on it, where do you think it will end up? Our life is the same way; we need to set a direction of where we are going in life.
The sad statistic is that only 5% of the population have goals. Guess what? It's the same 5% that achieve wealth and financial freedom. The Bible says, "Ask and you will receive". Many instances, Jesus would ask a sick person what they wanted before He gave them the miracle that they wanted. Most of us are not good "askers". Sometimes I don't ask because I cannot comprehend how God is going to give it to me. Talk about lack of faith! When I was a child and I ask for something, I never once wonder how my dad will be able to give me that I asked for. It's this child-like faith that we are encouraged to have with our heavenly Father. We do it all the time without knowing it. When we order our food at the restaurant or when we place an online order, we don't constantly think about how they are going to prepare my food or fulfill my online order. I simply just believe it's on the way to my table or my house. Be specific when you ask too. As a parent, who do you think will get what they want? A child who asked for a toy or a child who show you a picture of the toy with all its description on Amazon?
What do you desire that God does for you in your life? What are your dreams if money is not an issue? If you had a magic wand, what would you like to see happen in your life right now? Write those down. If you don't know, go on a retreat and ask God to show you. In CR we learned to be brutally honest with ourselves and others. Remove all the "should's" in your thinking process. Don't judge your dreams when you write them down. Those dreams are good in benefiting you and your family and the world. Remove the invisible ceiling of limitations. Dream Big and reach for the moon. How easy for us to put this off until later! It's important but not urgent, which means we can put it off for a long time and not realizing that we are paying a huge price for it. I just recently wrote down my dreams on paper about three weeks ago. The ideas swam in my head for years, but I wrote them down because I had an accountability partner who is doing the same thing. Don't share your list of dreams with anyone. No one should know except for you and God. People don't understand, and they will poo-poo your dream. I often wonder if Joseph should have shared God's dream with his family and how he felt when they reacted the way they did. Once your dreams are written on paper, thank God for them because He gave those to you. Who do you think created you uniquely YOU and put those desires in your heart to begin with? Of course God did.
If you have done it correctly, your dreams should be so big that it's nearly impossible to achieve if God didn't help you. If your dream is something you can do in a week, go back and rewrite it because it's too small. Now you will need some time each day to think of small steps towards that goal. For example, if your goal is to lose 20 pounds and maintain it, you will start by walking 15 minutes a day. Then once that became a habit you can add something else. Break down your dream into bite-sized goals that is doable. Set daily goals, 3-months goals, yearly goals and 5 year goals....etc. Most people overestimated their short-term goals and underestimate their long-term goals. If you use the ax and hack a big tree 5 times a day consistently, what will happen to the tree in time? It will fall. The length of time depends on the size of the tree but at the end it will fall. For sure. Writing down your goals require a lot of thinking, but isn't it important enough to spend that time and chart the course of your voyage?
A reminder that when you do take action on writing down your dreams and goals, it puts you on the top 5% of the population. Do not conform to others in the 95% of the population. A survey was conducted to ask a question, "why do you work?" Most don't have an answer. Their answer was "Doesn't everyone work?" That's conformity and following the crowd. You're not like them. March to the beat of your own drums.
One of my favorite messages on success is by Earl Nightingale called the Strangest Secret.
The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale quality recording - YouTube
It's only 30 minutes and I listen to it over and over again. It's a very old recording, but truth never goes out of style. In summary, our minds are like fertile ground, it doesn't matter what kind of seeds you sow, it will give you a harvest. The Bible says, "As you sow, so shall you reap". Use your mind to figure out things; take time to think because "We become what we think about". That's the strangest secret to success. What happens if you sow the seeds of poison ivy accidentally? The ground will produce poison ivy. Not only we want to be sowing the good seeds, but we also want to be careful of the seeds that are accidentally sown in our mental ground. Make good choices as to what you allow in your mind. Be careful what you watch and listen to. Guard your mental property and put a fence around it. Rick Warren said that some people are so open-minded that their brains fall out.
Why don't most people take time to think? Because our mind comes as standard equipment to us at birth; It's free. We don't tend to value the things that costs us nothing. But the truth is that our minds are the most powerful thing we have, it's the acre of diamonds that we ignore in our own backyard. Everything you see right now started with an idea in someone's mind. God gave us a good mind and He wants us to use it to benefit the world. Again, when we do our part, He will partner with us and do what we are unable to do. He will bring the resources and connections needed at the right moment. Spend the time to write down your goals of adding value to you and others. Blessings will come your way, guaranteed.
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