2808, 2010

Destiny

By |August 28th, 2010|Destiny|0 Comments

I love this video because so often we only hear half of the story of following your dreams.

You see there is a myth about highly successful people– it’s that they are simply born highly talented. The truth is, you may be talented, but no-one reaches their potential unless they are willing to work hard to get there. Do you know that only four Wimbledon boys champions in the last 60 years have ever gone on to win the Men’s title in their career (Federer, Borg, Edberg, Cash) and only three girls champions have developed into Women’s champions (Mauresmo, Hingis, Haydon). Did you know that more than 50% of millionaire entrepreneurs never finished college (Robert J. Kreiegel and Louis Patler, If it Aint Broke … Break it ! ). There are no shortcuts to success and anything worthwhile.

You see our dreams very quickly turn into hardwork, commitment, perseverence, diligence, mental touchness, sacrifices, chices and so on. And the thing is, when most people think of hard work, they would rather (and in most cases naturally) take the easy path. Getting fit without exercising. Losing weight without watching their eating. Cultivating good healthy relationships without putting in effort to make them so. Playing a musical instrument well without practising.

Muhammad Ali is quoted as saying “The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses; behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance on those lights.”

Winners do not shy away from hard work. In any arena and facet of life. Not just sport. In fact they embrace it. They train harder and dig deeper than others. They learn to derive satisfaction and pleasure from doing things well in the face of something that is hard. They welcome an environment that is stimulating, challenging and demanding. They learn to enjoy the process and the process inevitably includes hard work.

So whilst I firmly believe we should all Dare to Dream and follow our dreams … that is only half the story.

Destiny doesn’t decide your success. YOU do.

My challenge – What are you going to do to make it happen ?bot-only-image

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2108, 2010

But I don't know what my dreams are ?

By |August 21st, 2010|Dare to Dream, Finding your dreams|6 Comments

There are so many books, songs, articles, blogs, websites that encourage us to go after our dreams. I absolutely agree.

But what if you don’t have any particular dreams ? What if you don’t know what they are ?

In this blog I want to give you a whole series of questions that you can use to think and ponder on to help you discover those dreams and passions inside of you. Use these to scribble. To write. To brainstorm. To dairise. To journal. To think on. And remember that dreams evolve and grow. They are not always  clear from the start. Like a little spark you discover them and then as you pursue them they will either grow or die out. And the ones you want to follow are those ones that gorw and grow. They excite you and energise you as you think about them and as you take step after step to follow them.

o      Who am I ?

  • I spend a lot of time thinking about ?
  • If I could be anyone I would be ?
  • I love myself when I ?
  • I am happiest when I ?
  • My greatest talent is ?
  • My strengths are ? Or if this is difficult – my friends and family would describe my biggest strengths as … ?
  • My weaknesses are ? Or if this is difficult – my friends and family would describe my biggest weaknesses as … ?
  • I am most confident when ?
  • I would like to become ?
  • The 3 things I like most and least about myself are ?

o      What do I like ?

  • If I could do any job I would ?
  • If I was free to do anything I would ?
  • I love doing ?
  • What do you do that you find easy and would be happy doing all of the time ?
  • If the doctors told you that you had only a year to live how would you shape your life ?
  • What am I good at ? (there should still be a matching of talents to desires)
  • The three people I admire and respect the most are ? Why ?

o      What do I want ?

  • When I was growing up I wanted to be ?
  • My dreams as a child were ?
  • I want to start ?
  • I want to tell the world that ?
  • I will never ?
  • What excites me is ?
  • What would make you most excited to wake up in the morning to another day ?
  • I want my life to ?
  • Name 1) one place to visit 2) One thing to do before you die 3) one thing to do daily 4) one thing you’ve always wanted to learn

o      My greatest moments of joy and fulfillment in my life so far have been …

o      What would you do if there was no way you could fail ? If you were ten times smarter than the rest of the world ? (Don’t judge or fool yourself. Be honest and play like a child. Do not limit yourself. The time for getting ‘realistic’ is not here. This is a time for reversing repression and discovering those things deep down in your heart and soul.

o     What would you do, day to day, if you had $100 million in the bank ?

o     What would you do if you were told that you were going to die next year ?

o     How would you change the way you lived NOW if you were told that you could never retire


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1408, 2010

All bets are off !

By |August 14th, 2010|Dare to Dream, Passion|0 Comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkBOI4lNfYs

Life is a funny thing isn’t it. Often it is unpredicatble. It doesn’t make sense. It isn’t all scripted and set in place. But isn’t that the thing that is exciting. WE can make our life whatever we want it to be.

And here is the point. YOU DECIDE YOUR DESTINY. Noone else. Not your friends. Not your schooling. Not your background. Not your parents. Not just your talents and abilities. Not money. Not your circumstances. You are 100% responsible for your own life and it isn’t scripted. Regardless of what anybody tells you. Regardless of the statistics. Regardless of the experts. You don’t have to be limited by someone else’s expectations. It is always impossible until it is done. People will happily tell you that you can’t do something or you shouldn’t but when you do … well, I never see them running to tell me ‘You know what, you were right !’. And in any case … who says you can’t ?

So forget other people. Pursue your passions. Determine how you want your life to be and follow YOUR dreams. Make your life what you want to be for in life just as in sport .. ALL BETS ARE OFF !

My challenge … think about something you really dream of doing and now think … WHY instead of WHY not ? … and from that place … well let the rest be history …bot-only-image

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708, 2010

The Game

By |August 7th, 2010|Money|0 Comments

How many seminars are there on getting wealthy ? How many books on the way to become a millionaire ? How many times have we said to ourselves “If only I had more money !” ?

And as a result most people work with the following goal in mind: “I’ll just work until I have X dollars and then I’ll do what I want.”

The problem with this as I see it in two-fold …

  1. Do we really want to BE millionaires. Or do we actually just want what their millions can buy. Holidays. Butlers. Exotic travel. Perhaps a massage on the deck whilst you listen to waves lapping against the  timber posts of your thatched-roof bungalow. It all sounds good doesn’t it ! The fantasy isn’t the $1,000,000 in the bank – isn’t it the lfestyle of complete freedom it supposedly allows. Isn’t the aim to create freedom of time and place so you can do whatever YOU want. Rather than more, don’t we want more quality and less clutter. Don’t we want freedom from doing what we don’t like and the ability to pursue our dreams without reverting to work for work’s sake ?
  2. Do we actually know what X is ? If we don’t define the “what I want” activities the X figure just increases indefinitely to avoid the fear-inducing uncertainty of this void we live it. And will X be enough anyway when even $1,000,000 is not very much in a world where traditional retirement could span 30 years and inflation lowers your purchasing power 2-4% per year.

Our solution to date has been to resign ourselves to 9 – 5 (and more usually) drudgery in exchange for (sometimes) relaxing weekends and the occasional keep-it-short-or-get-fired vacation. The life of a lemming. The blind quest for cash. An all-consuming routine which conveniently stops us from having the time to consider our dreams and consider how pointless the routine of the money wheel is. We sacrifice the most physically capable years of out life for the retirement solution way down the track. Deep down we know it is an illusion, but with everyone participating in the same game it’s easy to forget what the real game is. Do we really want to be those people 20 years ahead of us with the

The real game is more than money. So what do you WANT ? Freedom and excitement I’m guessing. But what does that mean  ? Define it. What would excite you ? What does freedom mean for you ?

Ponder this and start by realising that the real game is far more than money. bot-only-image

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