Sunday, January 20, 2008

Dream makers vs. Dreams breakers: Knowledge

Anyone who has been around me long enough will not be surprised by this week topic, which is Knowledge.

I am going to be really brief on this one because I am exhausted and its really simple.

You cannot succeed in something before you master it. No matter what your goal is and whatever aspect of life it reaches, for you to achieve it, you need to educate yourself about it.

For example, if your goal is to make more money (note that this is not a true goal for reasons cover in previous articles) here are a few areas of study:
- Educate yourself about how to make money.
- Educate yourself on how to make your skills more marketable.
- Educate yourself about the possibility of getting a higher education.
- Educate yourself on how to manage the money you are making right now.
- Educate yourself on different type of investments and how to be a good investor.

Brian Tracy said “To accumulate wealth, you must study and emulate those who have acquired it before you.”

The idea is: No matter what your goal is, chances are there are few people before you who had the same goal. Chances are they have accomplished it and wrote about it. Find that information, that piece of knowledge and put it to good use.

God bless,
Jephtée E.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Dream makers vs. Dreams breakers: Fear

Today’s topic is really a tough one, for we have all experienced it in our life and chances are its part of your daily life. Dream maker/Dreams breaker # 3 is FEAR.

As humans we were born without doubts and without fears and as we become older, we start experiencing all kind of fears; fear of failure, fear of rejection, specially a fear of success. Vic Johnson said “I believe our greatest enemy in life is fear, because fear keeps us from doing many of those things we would like to do that would make our life more complete and more enjoyable.” And I completely agree with him.

What is fear? Here are two of my favorite definitions:
F.E.A.R is “False Evidence Appearing Real.”
F.E.A.R. is “Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real.”

So what is the difference between people who achieve their goals and those who do not? They have just learned to master their fears instead of allowing their fears to master them.

How do they do it? They do it with courage and faith.
Ambrose Redmoon said: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."
In other words when you realize what is at stake and how great the reward might be, you will gather the courage to make your goals happen in spite of your fear.

"You can cancel out fear with faith. For there is no force in this world more powerful than faith." Wrote Norman Vincent Peale. I am not only talking about faith in God (which in my opinion is crucial for our success) but also faith in yourselves and your abilities.

Let me leave you with one of the most beautiful and profound piece I have ever read:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Speech by Nelson Mandela originally written by Marianne Williamson

To a week without FEAR,
Jephtée E.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Dream makers vs. Dreams breakers: Motivation

Today I want to introduce Dream makers/Dreams breakers # 2 which is Motivation or lack of Motivation. Our anonymous friend from sunny St. Lucia mentioned it very well in his comment for last week post.

It is true that our ability to stay focus on the task at hand, on a project or on a goal has a lot to do with motivation. When the human mind is motivated, it will accomplish miracles. The opposite is also true when someone suffer from a lack of motivation; they can barely get themselves to accomplish anything. They will start but never finish. Jump to something else, only to quit before bringing it to an end. As we all know, in most cases it’s not the beginning that counts but the end.

So how relevant this is for your goal setting process?
It is very relevant because it will help you to either accomplish your goal or to quit on it. So what you must do when setting up a goal, it’s to always ask yourself this simple question: what will my motivating factor for this goal be? In other words, what is the reason I want to accomplish this? If you cannot find that factor, do not waste your time; scrap it from your list of goals to accomplish because let me assure you, you will never be motivated enough to get up and go for it.

Examples of goals and motivating factors

Goal: loose weight
Factor: health crisis, self-esteem, upcoming wedding etc…

Goal: secure a better job
Factor: ability to use full potential, offer a better life for children, ability to save, to travel etc…

Goal: go back to school
Factor: better lifestyle at the end, accomplishment etc…

In other words, always find that factor. When you think about it, it should get you energized, and will get you going. It will give you that little kick…. (where you know you deserve it).

To a week full of accomplishments,
Jephtée E.