DON'T JUST DREAM, ACT ON THE DREAM
Time and time again people make decisions based on what
goes into their minds. The decisions are influenced by inspiration of
excitement or fear. These decisions come in different forms; from small to big,
short-term to long-term and so on. The questions that may be asked is; how have
you benefited from these decisions? How many have you implemented? If none or
few, why have you not implemented your dream?
Many of us have
areas that we can point as having benefited or succeeded. Others it is quite
the opposite, their decisions are linked to how they have failed, how they are
regretting and how miserable their lives are. Day and night people are faced
with over-sized images of their regrets. Others are haunted by images of dark
fears; fears from past failures, current failures, parental descriptions of
negativity, community rejections, business failures, academic failures, relational
heartbreaks as well as regrets of “could have”, “should
have”, “would have” that never materialized.
There are many other things that are attached to
failures, fear and poor achievements in various areas. These failures have
actually created permanent “imaginary” labels ascribed to us.
How does one move from failure to success, from losing
to triumphant living, from struggling to make significant progress? What is the
difference between losing and winning people? What attributes are contained by
those who have significantly achieved their goals, and made a success of
themselves?
The difference
·
Successful
people do daily what poor people do occasionally.
·
Successful
people have declared independence from the world.
·
Successful
people are bold to take the first step, the opposite (timidity) is true for
failures.
·
Successful
people view failure as a wrong sharpening of their rod, not as permanent rejection.
Getting things done
1. Watch your habits
·
Habits
repeated are results repeated.
You can change everything in your life, but if your
habits have not changed, the results will remain the same. It is said that the
definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and
expect different results.
·
What
you tolerate in your life, you cannot change.
If you have accepted defeat, failure, weakness, etc.,
in your life, no matter how hard you try to change it, you will keep struggling
with it until you determine to refuse defeat. Joseph in the Bible had many of
the things that he decided not to tolerate; his brothers’ negativity, rejection
and resentment towards him. He was so much resented by his brothers for dreaming
but he did use their negativity as his yardstick, he believed that the dream
will come to pass, even if it takes time. His resilience made him succeed his
brother’s hatred, being sold to slavery, accused by his master’s wife and
wrongfully arrested and sentenced for years in prison for rape he did not
commit. Despite all this negativity that surrounded him, he emerged
victorious and lived to enjoy his God given dream.
2. Change your thoughts and language
Whatever you keep talking about will eventually
multiply. Your thoughts build a path for you to follow. Your silent thoughts
are to a certain extent silent prayers in your life, whether you realize it or
not.
Your thoughts/ meditation build your character. They
determine what you say and how you respond to external stimuli. Once you change
your thought pattern to a more positive, ambitious, and bold and possibility
focused, you will get things done. Note that your thinking pattern is far worse
an enemy than the devil.
Watch also what you say. Young Joseph kept talking
about his dream. The great proverbs of all time teaches the power of words; the
tongue of the just is like choice silver… the lips of the righteous feed many
(Proverbs 10:20-21). A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his
mouth (Proverbs 18:20).
Learn to speak positive about yourself and to yourself all the time,
it will eventually start to build in you and make up who you are.
3. Learn new skills
The reason for
learning should not be to acquire a certificate of qualification. It should be
to get new skills or to sharpen the current set of skills. There are many
people with certificates of completion or degrees and diplomas that do not
certify competency.
Learning is for the purpose of bridging the skills
gap. What you do not know is killing you right now. Knowledge changes and
empowers people. Note that you cannot change where you are, but you can change
how you are, how you will be and where you will be by changing what goes into
your head
4. Take charge
It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we
cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities. One of the
reasons why people don't get things done is that they took their time to think
and plan but never tell themselves to act on their thoughts. When things do not
go their way, they blame it on the education system, on parents, on government,
etc.
Start to learn and master your “WHY’s?” Once you have
answered the “WHY” question, you can endure anything.
Remember, a rejected opportunity to sow is a rejected
opportunity to reap. don't let opportunities pass you by.
5. Aim for the big fish
Let the small fish be used as bait for the big fish.
Small talk, small thinking is for mediocre people and should be left at primary
level. Think big, plan big and act like wise. The greatest heights achieved by
many were not achieved overnight, those who did toiled through the night while
their counterparts were sleeping and snoring.
Many people miss great opportunities because they are
busy chasing small things other than chasing their dreams.
Note: Starting small is not a problem; it becomes a problem when your small beginning
becomes what you die for. Aim for the world. Aim for global impact.
6. Master your strengths
When David killed Goliath in battle, he had focused on
what he is capable of doing. While the entire Israel including the king at the
time focused on how great their enemy was, they failed to realize how strong
their army is.
Know your strengths, build on them and capitalize on
them each day. As a matter of fact, your skills, if sharpened can be your gold
mine
