Do you really want it?
Lots of money; holidays; cars; clothes; lifestyles…..?
Do you really want it, or do you just want the end result, the reward? Do you want the omelette but are not prepared to break a few eggs and spend time whisking?
Everything of value to you has to be fought for. A struggle is often needed to move forward. This could entail time; working all hours, repetition; over and over again until you get it right; changes to relationships; being with patient people who share your dreams, and so on. Whatever you do requires effort. How much do you want that dream, that wonderful end result that will make you happy? Are you prepared to struggle to achieve it, to work through the process time and again and again until the outcome is secure?
I meet many people who claim to have a dream, a goal, an objective, but have not yet asked themselves these questions. In fact, too many have not even made a plan or mapped out the route they would need to take to get to where they want to go. (Have you?)
Here’s an example (names and figures have been made up to protect the guilty):
John wants to be successful – how successful John?
John’s dream is to achieve a turnover of £100,000 in 5 years – where are you now John?
So, John needs to find and win £85,000 of new business within 5 years – really?!
That is as far as John gets with his dream.
John’s approach is to keep doing what he is doing to make the business grow.* He believes that “opportunities will arise along the way which will boost the business”.
Hands up who is surprised when, in 5 year’s time, John is turning over £32,000, and most of that is from a couple of clients who are personal friends. John’s expansion plans are on hold.
Did John achieve his dream, his goal? No. Why not? Probably because he chose a goal without considering the process, the effort, the struggle that would be needed to set his sights that high.
Every dream has a cost. That cost includes the time and effort, the loss of focus elsewhere, the reduction of short-term-gain in favour of long term benefit. Likely there will be disappointment, fatigue, despondency, even despair in yourself, and possibly those close to you. Is it worth this struggle, or is it likely to damage other things you value more; your family, friends, principles, standards, enjoyment?
If you have considered all this and it is worth it, then go for it! Or, as I read on Facebook last year: ‘Don’t downgrade your dream to match your reality, upgrade your faith to match your destiny’!
However, if the process, the struggle, the ‘pain’ proves too high a cost; lower your sites. You can still win, and enjoy the journey.
* Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.