Remember in my last blog post how I said your dreams do not just have to be dreams? Well, here I am checking in on you. Have you made progress? Did you go full send for 48 hours promising yourself that nothing and no one would get in your way but now you are back to where you started? Did you make a commitment to yourself that you would try the 4 steps provided but got sidetracked and never actually got around to it?
Right now is a better time than ever to sit down with paper and pen, and go through the 4 steps I spoke about in the previous post:
- WRITE YOUR DREAMS OUT (pen and paper)
- Until you write out what you want in your life, it is just going to sit in your brain and not get the attention it deserves, just like all of those pictures on that throwaway camera or your phone that you promised yourself you would get developed by now.
- CREATE A PLAN
- Know that it is okay to create a plan to get you started. It does not have to be the exact plan that is going to get you to the finish line. The point here is to get you to take action.
- BE REALISTIC
- Know that it is okay to create a plan to get you started. It does not have to be the exact plan that is going to get you to the finish line. The point here is to get you to take action.
- LOOK AT IT EVERY SINGLE DAY
- Look at your dream every single day, especially on the bad days. (hence why I said write it out on a physical piece of paper). Stay in tune with WHY you want this dream and do not let those bad days funnel you down the road. Stand firm in who you desire to be and be relentless.
Hi again! I hope that was a great refresher for you, but I have more to say. Here I am again giving you some tough love, screaming from the top of my lungs reminding you to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE!
And when I say take responsibility for your life, what I actually want you to do is to own up to all of the choices you have made in your past, your present, and make the choice to control the trajectory of your future because you are in control of your own life!
Quick hint: Do not sit very long on your past and allow yourself to feel bad, ashamed, or bummed out. Your past is simply just DATA! It allows you to grow and continually improve. So, if you are finding yourself caught up in the “past” trap, reframe and alter your mindset towards your past. Look at your past, simply as data, and nothing more.
This topic of making your dreams a reality is one that I am incredibly passionate about and let me tell you why:
I know what it feels like to crave a life that is completely different from the one you are living. I know what it feels like to stare at other people in the gym, in the office, in life, and think to yourself, “If only I could be as talented, smart, and well-known as them.” I know what it feels like to wish that the bad days would come to an end, only to discover that when you wake up, nothing about your reality has changed.
And if you remember the last blog post, you then know that who you show up as on those “not so great days” and how you decide to make the most out of those days, is ultimately a very telling sign of how much you are willing or not willing to put forth the necessary amount of effort to make your dreams your reality.
So let me give you an insider secret about those “people” I referred to a few paragraphs ago… YOU CAN BE THOSE PEOPLE. Want to know how I know this? Because at one point in their life, they were not who they are now, and they were possibly in similar shoes that you are in right now at this moment. Go ahead and ask your parents, your boss, your coach, and your mentor. They will share some stories with you that will probably shock you and open your eyes to the actual beauty that lies within the “not so great days” as well as the benefits that come from fighting like hell to make your dreams your reality.
If I don’t have you already getting out a piece of paper, writing down your dream life, then keep reading…
You owe it to yourself to see what you are capable of, to see who you actually can become. You owe it to yourself to learn how to develop the skill of inviting challenges and change into your life.
But here is the problem that I continue to see suffocating many of us from fighting through the uncomfortableness that comes with the bad days … We continue to live in fear of challenge. It is so easy for us to give in to the thoughts in our minds that make us doubt ourselves and ultimately make us believe that there is more value in comfort than there is in change.
This fear possibly is a direct result of always being presented with ribbons and awards even if we did not do anything to really deserve them. You know what I mean right? I can remember vividly getting a trophy when I was younger at basketball camp that I worked so hard for and yet Sally slept in, missed every shot, and she too got an award. Not cool and not helpful in our future.
So how do you dig deep and fight through those bad days to make your dreams come true?
Well for starters, do the 4 steps above. If you tried the 4 steps already, try them again and DO NOT GIVE IN. I want you to WANT to feel yourself fighting like hell, and digging deep into your soul to make your dreams come true. This does not come easy, so do not expect it to be easy. Getting a new PR on your snatch is NOT easy. It takes hundreds and even thousands of repetitions focusing on a multitude of technical errors that you might have, just to get 1 more pound on the bar.
So hear me out: If you are not willing to fight on the bad days, then it is possible that the “dream” you are seeking, is not one that you actually truly desire. This is not WRONG or BAD so do not beat yourself up. Instead just sit down with yourself and get real. Ask yourself what you really want and who you really desire to be.
When you ask yourself this question, I want you to consider one aspect of yourself that most of us FORGET to plug into the equation: WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE?
Okay, so you want to lose 25 pounds. Are you willing to sacrifice going out to dinner five times a week and cooking at home more often? Are you willing to invest in a nutrition coach? Are you willing to give up your Netflix binge-watching and instead spend that time walking around the neighborhood?
This is a must. You have to wrap your head around the sacrifices that you are going to have to make. You may not be able to recognize all of them but recognizing one is better than recognizing none.
So to wrap this up, YOUR DREAMS DO NOT JUST HAVE TO BE DREAMS. They can be your reality. Stop settling and getting comfortable. Remember you owe it to yourself to see what you are capable of. Challenge yourself to change.
Do the 4 steps and follow it up with the cherry on top …. Be willing to acknowledge and recognize the sacrifices that may or may not need to be made so you can set yourself up for success.
You are in control of your life so what choice are you going to make?
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