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Jul 15, 2001
How to realise your wildest dreams... and still stay a little bit sane!
How to find and realise your passions in life (Inspirational)

According to Bill Gates there are 3 keys to success in any new venture: 1) Being in the right place at the right time. (You could well be already there!) 2) Have a vision of where the industry/business you're working in is going! 3) Taking Massive and Immediate Action! (It is time to act!) "The future belongs to those who believe in the quality of their dreams." Was it Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the famous German poet and philosopher who said those wise words? Here are my 15 steps to fulfilling my wildest dreams...

HOW TO MAKE YOUR WILDEST DREAMS A REALITY

(AND STILL STAY A LITTLE SANE)#

#* enough "s's"

By Craig Lock

=========================================

According to Bill Gates there are 3 keys to success in any new venture:

1) Being in the right place at the right time. (You could well be

already there!)

2) Have a vision of where the industry/business you're working in

is going!

3) Taking Massive and Immediate Action! (It is time to act!)

"The future belongs to those who believe in the quality of their

dreams." Was it Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the famous German poet

and philosopher who said those wise words?

Here are my 15 steps to fulfilling my wildest dreams...

1. KNOW YOURSELF. Know and accept your weaknesses and faults (we

all have them), but even more so your strengths, abilities and gifts.

Build on your strengths and try to minimize or improve on your weaknesses.

An honest, objective analysis of yourself is the first

step in preparing you for success and realizing your dreams.

Celebrate you for just being you, a unique creation.

Aim for mental clarity about what you most want out of life. Think

about it and write it down. If it's happiness, what do you mean

by happiness: a sense of belonging, recognition, independence, love,

money or security? If you don't know where you are and where you

want to go with your life, how will you ever get there? Aim at

nothing and you're sure to hit it.

2. GET PASSIONATE Don't apologize for getting passionate. What

excites you the most? If you are not enthusiastic and excited

about what you're doing, your path in life, you'll never get others

to share your dream. Once you find your passion, you will have

found your POWER, MEANING and PURPOSE in life.

3. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE PASSION Always be aware.

Negative people will poison your dream faster than anything else.

Motto: "If you can't be positive, shut up!" Try and stay positive...

even in the face of negativity.

4. ACCEPT FROM THE START THAT YOU WON'T PLEASE EVERYONE

You're going to be misunderstood, misquoted, hurt some feelings, perhaps

even lose some friends (for the time being). Motto: "What other

people think of me is none of my business!" Repeat this statement

to yourself, especially when you doubt or feel discouraged.


5. ALWAYS BE YOURSELF To thine own self be true. (Shakespeare's

"Hamlet", act I.3) This is supremely important, no matter what the

world may think of you. The masses are conditioned to mediocrity

and other people's success can make them not feel inferior for their

own insignificant little lives.Accept yourself. Learn from others

-- but don't be intimidated by them, or pretend to be someone you're

not; because... "We are most effective when we're being ourselves."

6. DON'T BE SCARED OF MAKING MISTAKES The only real mistake is

one from which you learn nothing. Motto: "Far better to try something

and fail, than try nothing and succeed!"

7. ACCEPT THAT IT WILL NEVER BE EASY Realizing your dream may

be the hardest, most uphill thing you'll ever do. A truth ... "You

can't coast uphill." The key ingredient in success is never giving

up. Keep on keeping on with your quest. It has been said that "success

is 99% made up of failures" (remember Edison's persistence!).

8. STAY HUMBLE (no matter how successful you may be.) Don't ever

think you've made it and arrived - there's always a lot ahead, more

to do, higher mountains to climb. Motto: "The greatest way to do

our thing has yet to be discovered!"

9. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE YOURSELF There is incredible power in

yourself (in the form of the unique human mind), but far more so

in the forces of God, the Universe. Make them work for you by living your

life in harmony with these natural forces. Like positive energy attracts like.

Enough "spiritual" thoughts! Back to the "real world" and you.

Avoid developing an inferiority complex (Who am I, a 'nothing'?").

Don't be filled with feelings of self pity ("nobody likes me"),

or think "I can't do it". These negative thoughts will steal your dream away from you.

10. HAVE FUN Nothing is ever as bad as it seems--don't get too

solemn, or serious or too downcast when things go wrong (as they

surely will from time to time). Take a leaf from Thomas Edison's

book: "I never did a day's work in my entire life: it was all FUN!"

Laugh at life's funny moments...and there are plenty of them. "The

secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking

what one does." -J.M. Barrie

11. DEVELOP 'THE WILL TO LIVE' There will be plenty of times when

you'll face the death of your dream. When failures, disappointments,

and criticisms come you need the will and faith to keep going.

Remember: We learn far more from our failures than our successes,

because failures show us what doesn't work. So, failure is just

one step closer to ultimate success. Often the difference between failure

and success is trying just one more time, picking yourself up off

the canvas after being knocked down time and again.

12. DEVELOP 'THE WILL TO HELP AND SERVE OTHERS'. Success on its

own (i.e., for its own sake) will pollute and corrupt you--it's a

dead end street unless you have meaning in your life. The years of struggle

breed fortitude and character. The gold may be an inch away from the

seam, where your fellow miners have given up. You need to succeed for

a reason, a purpose, a cause that's bigger than you! and IF (a very

big if) you've fulfilled all the above requirements...

13. ALWAYS BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR OPPORTUNITIES. They are all around

you. There are no permanent problems--only solutions, possibilities

and opportunities. The Chinese word for 'crisis' means 'danger' + 'opportunity'.

14. If you truly believe in what you are doing, DEVELOP THE 'WILL

TO SUCCEED' with absolute commitment. It is not enough to just

survive, aim at being the best you can possibly be! Keep your dream

big, bold and even outrageous--don't water it down or settle for

mediocrity... even if others think you are crazy! Trust in your

judgment, your intuition and your creative mind to overcome any

obstacles. "Be bold and mighty, unseen forces come to your aid."

I love that quotation.



15. ACT AS IF IT WERE IMPOSSIBLE TO FAIL

I've been living that for years.



N.B:

16. REALLY BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN DO IT - IN ABSOLUTE FAITH.

This is the hardest obstacle for most people to conquer, including this writer.

and finally...

17. NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM! Be PATIENT. Don't be in too much

of a hurry to achieve your goals and dreams, because it may take you far longer than you think.

As the saying goes, 'Winners never quit and quitters never win.'

Always remember, when you think you've exhausted all your

possibilities, you really haven't--there's always another way,

a better way...and even more importantly, there's always another day!



Be persistent and never quit. WITH ENOUGH FAITH AND PERSISTENCE YOU WILL GET THERE IN THE END.

Life is not a dress rehearsal, it's the main event. GO FOR THAT

DREAM. It is within you and within your reach, if you JUST TAKE FIRST STEP STEP .



Good Luck

Craig

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Craig Lock has studied and written extensively on the subjects of

self help, personal success and how to live your dreams.

Craig is a writer, who believes in encouraging and helping others to

find their talents and gifts, strive for and accomplish their dreams in life, whatever they may be.

He truly believes people can

overcome obstacles, rise to any occasion, and accomplish their entire

dream with enough faith and commitment....

# and at least he's still a "little bit sane" after finding and following his dream for many years (at least he thinks so!).



Creative Writing Course

http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/creative.html

Craig's various books are available from:

http://www.novelty-gift.com/

or

http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/books.html

Contributed by:
Craig Gerald Lock
©2001 Craig Gerald Lock
Email: clock@xtra.co.nz
Website: Creative Writing Course