Tag Archive - Personal Growth
dreambig

Dream Big, Act Big

Today’s post comes from a guest Maren Kate  an entrepreneur who blogs about her escapades at Escapingthe9to5.com where she chides people to dream big, act bigger and run screaming from the status quo. My kind of thinker. Enjoy.

It is a wonderful thing to dream, but it’s an even better thing to act upon those dreams. Throughout my life I’ve dreamed of a certain lifestyle, certain freedoms and the chance to do the extraordinary, but it wasn’t until after college that I realized dreams were just realities waited to be acted upon. This realization changed my life, up until about 21 I’d always assumed that you could dream but life happened to you regardless. This couldn’t be further from the truth and as I ‘wake up’ more and more from the fog of ‘the real world’ I see that your life can be as big as you dream it but your dreams can only be as big as you are willing to act upon.

This is actually reason for celebration, it means you don’t have to wake up everyday and think ‘what will life hand me today’ instead you can literally happen to life, all it takes are baby steps. The way I act upon my dreams is three fold, I’ll explain my ‘action plan’ below: Continue Reading…

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TRY > FAIL > ADJUST

I’m pretty sure I learned this little tidbit when I was invovled with Quixtar, but it’s a pretty simple princple.

Most people who try something and then experince failure just give up and quit. That’s the wrong approach. After you experince a failure you need to simply readjust what you are doing and try it again. If you fail again, ADJUST WHAT YOU ARE DOING AGAIN. Keep doing this until you succeed.

I’ve failed in business a couple of times. Most recently I tried to start an IT company with a friend. I very quickly learned that two heads is a monster, especially when you both have different ideas about the direction the company should go. The whole thing turned out to be a big waste of nearly 3 months. Complete failure.

Did I give up and go looking for a job? NO! I adjusted my plan for business, this time, minus the business partner. New name, new plan, new strategy, and now I’m 3 months into a successful web development company.

The simple point here is if you fail, get up and brush the dust off your feet. Take a look at what you did wrong, learn from it. Adjust your plan and try again. If you fail, adjust and try again until you end up with this formula Try = Success!

You Have to Make It Happen

We’ve got a real problem in this country with people and what they believe. No I’m NOT talking politics. We’ve bread a culture that believes things should be handed to them, that they no longer have to work hard for success, but that it should be handed to them.

This is a wrong way of thinking; one that needs to change. If you want something, you’re going to have to go out and make it happen.

I’m learning this first hand. For years I talked about business and being successful. In reality I was waiting for success to land in my lap. I was hoping it would be handed to me with the least effort possible, and in turn my first couple of businesses were mediocre. I applied the least amount of effort to everything I did.

And then one day a light bulb went off.

I’ve found a lot of success already, because I’m pouring blood, sweat and tears into making it happen. I’m getting out there and hitting the pavement, shaking hands, staying up late working on projects, making phone calls, doing follow ups, going to networking events, building my following on twitter, keeping up with it on facebook, etc. I’m putting in the work, not just sitting back and hoping it will come to me. I stay up late and fry my eyes with two 24inch computer screens, doing favors, hoping for some return. I’m taking a huge risk on all of this right now. But with risk, comes great rewards. If this thing is going to happen, I’m going to make it happen.

Now, here’s the deal. We all know this principle. So why are so many of you waiting around for success to land in your lap? Equally, why are so many of you thinking that you should be handed that next big promotion without doing any work?

If you want something, you’re going to have to pursue it. You’re going to have to bleed out of your eyeballs to make it happen. You’re going to have to be relentless in some cases. You’re friends will probably think you are crazy. Forget them. Your friends are probably losers anyways. Stop dreaming pie in the sky and start making the pie. (Does that even make sense?) You’ll probably have to get outside your comfort zone for starters.

My wife wants to buy a Hummer. A freaking Hummer in this economy! And guess what, she’s going to drive a freaking Hummer because WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Only one way that is going to happen. Not by me sitting around hoping to get lucky, but by me getting out there and MAKING IT HAPPEN.

Stop waiting for lady luck, get up off your ass and MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Word of the wise, there are NO SHORT CUTS to SUCCESS. So avoid the MLM’s.

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Action Cures Fear

Fear is the one thing stopping you from taking action. And guess what. Not taking action is what is stopping you from having everything you want.

If you want to succeed at anything chances are you’re going to have to get outside of your comfort zone and face some fears, take some risks and take some ACTION.

How do you face that fear?

With ACTION!

Stop thinking and trying to rationalize your fears and learn to take immediate action. If you’re afraid to talk to people, then start talking to people. Start by saying hello to random strangers where ever you go. The more action you take the more the fear will cease to be.

When you take action you’ll begin to grow and your comfort zone will begin be stretched. If you really want to grow, get outside your comfort zone and stay there.

Keep taking action. Whatever it is you want to achieve in life, it’s going to have to begin with you taking action. And if fear is the one thing holding you back, then the cure to that fear is ACTION.

Bonus Advice: Desire Follows Direction - You ever have one of those moments when you just don’t feel like doing it, but you know you need to do it? Well JUST DO IT ALREADY. Desire follows direction, act now – feelings later. If you ever did something that you didn’t feel like doing and then later on you usually felt better for doing it, you applied this principle. See your desire and feelings will follow the direction the ACTION you take.

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Just Do It Anyways!

What are you holding back on in life? What do you want to do that you are afraid to do because you are too busy worrying about what others might think?

Listen to me carefully. It does not matter what other people think of your idea. If you have something you want to do, some idea or some perspective, just do it. Share it with the world. Don’t worry about what others will think or say. You will be better off for having done it, then not.

I made a post about my perspective on Porn and I’m pretty sure that 90% of people don’t agree with me on it. So what? I had something I’ve been wanting to share for awhile and I did it. And I feel better for sharing it. Rather than just being quiet about it. It doesn’t matter if I failed to convince anyone to see my perspective. What matters is that I did it.

When I quit my job a lot of my family members said I was nuts. It was the end of the world. “Oh no what are you going to do now” they said. But it didn’t matter, I had a dream and I wanted to start my own business, I wanted to get free from the template lifestyle and to live life my way on my terms. So I just went out and did it.

That’s what you have to do. Even if it’s rude to others, ignore them and pursue it.

So my question stands. What are you holding back on in life?

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