Are you living fearlessly?

You were made for something special.  You have a dream that you were meant to live. 

Unfortunately, we often hold on to certain attitudes that keep us from pursuing our dreams.  We may not even be aware of these false beliefs.

You need to assess your attitudes to see if one or more of these is holding you back from fearlessly and boldly going for what you really want.

3 Common Attitudes You Need to Beat

Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves – regret for the past and fear of the future. ~ Fulton Oursler

These three common attitudes produce fear that lead to regret.  Regret that we didn’t live the full and complete life we truly wanted.  This is why it is so crucial to recognize and beat these attitudes.

Here are the attitudes that keep you from living fearlessly:

1.  The Attitude of You are Not Enough

You may lack confidence that you will succeed.  You may think you are good, but not great.  At least not great enough to really make it at your dream.  It is often easier and definitely a lot safer to simply stay where your are than to risk failure.

For example, you may want to be a writer, actor, musician, engineer, parent, or doctor.  Whatever your dream, you want to be more than what you are right now.  As Amanda writes in I Want to Be Wilder, “I feel like I’m a sleeping person.  I feel drugged and lame and as if I’ve been living under water my whole life.  And I don’t want to anymore.”

Feeling like you are not enough is part of what keeps you in this “drugged and lame” state.  It holds you back.  It keeps you stuck in a state of fear.  It holds you under the water where you move in slow motion.

It is time to break free.  You are enough.  You have everything you need inside you to succeed.  You just need to believe in yourself and start taking bold steps in the direction you want to go.  Is it really this easy?  Yes it is.  In fact, it is the only path toward your dream.  If you face your fear head on, you will be amazed at how you rise up to the challenge.  You need to start believing you are enough.

2.  The Attitude of Maybe Later

It is always more convenient to pursue your dreams later.  You might pair “maybe later” together with one or more of the following:

• When the kids are grown
• When the economy is better
• When I have more money
• When I finish this project
• When I have more time

These are all simply excuses.  They are delays designed to keep you from having to face your fear.  They protect you and make you feel safe because they keep your dream at arm’s length.  They hold it out there where it can’t make you uncomfortable or afraid.

As Barrie points out in The One Simple But Essential Ingredient for Achieving Your Goals, “Boldness is your willingness to follow through on your priority actions regardless of the circumstances that life throws your way on any given day.”

Later will never come.  You have to act boldly now.  You’ve got to step out and make something happen and stop hiding behind the attitude of “maybe later”.  Time passes faster the older you get and one of these days you are going to wake up with a lot of regret if you don’t get going.

There is no reason to delay any longer.  The time will never be perfect.  Recognize that this attitude is simply one of fear.  Shuck it aside and start working on your dream today. 

3.  The Attitude of Scarcity

Finally, you may get tied up with an attitude of scarcity.  Scarcity is the belief that there isn’t enough to go around.  For example, let’s say you want to start a business, but someone else is already doing the same thing in your community.  As a result, you believe you missed your chance.

This is a false belief.  There is plenty for both of you.  You just need to find your niche.  You may be able to offer a slightly different twist on the same thing.  You may provide better service or more unique offerings or an enhanced atmosphere.  Whatever you do to set yourself apart, there is more than enough to go around between the two of you if you are providing something that people want.

Another way scarcity gets us is by thinking we don’t have enough money to pursue our dream.  You may not be able to go for your dream exactly how you imagine it, but what if you get creative?  As Jonathan points out in Are You Ready To Claim the Life You Really Want?, “Until we are willing to adjust the way we do things, it’s unrealistic to think that we can make meaningful changes in our life.”

Instead of going back to school full-time like a teenage college student, you may have to go part-time at night so you can work to pay for school.  Instead of buying a franchise to start a business, you may have to build your dream from the ground up to avoid the overwhelming start-up costs. 

Don’t let a scarcity mentality rob you of your dream.  There are ways to make modifications or adjustments to make it work.  You just need to open your mind to find the right alternative that works for you.  It may not be perfect at first, but at least it is a step in the right direction and isn’t that better than just staying stuck where you are at?  Do not let scarcity hold you back any longer.

Beat These Attitudes to Live Fearlessly

Did you recognize any of these fear-producing attitudes in yourself?  If so, it is time to take a bold step forward.  It is time to push these attitudes aside and reach out for more.  I want you to know without a doubt:

• You are enough. 
• The time is right.
• There is plenty.

Your dream is waiting on you.  Will you live fearlessly?

Photo by Thales

Like most people, you have that fervent desire for success in various aspects of life. Be it in a fulfilling career, a business pursuit or finding love and making it last, you would do your best to hold all these.

Many other people do, too. But you’re probably a few steps ahead because you know the value of setting goals and a course of action to reach something.

But even with set goals, some things still hold you back. It’s mostly forceful questions of your strength and will to sustain your action plan toward success.

Will it work? Will it be easy? Will the achievements come soon?

Well, it’s a matter sticking to your goals and keeping yourself inspired to work for its success.

People often have great dreams and even their crudest means to achieve something fantastic are inspiring to a certain point. They did set goals, but somehow they failed to follow through for various reasons. In the end, they sulked at the thought someone might flash the “L” for loser in the next corner.

Now definitely, you wouldn’t want that. You are determined, after all, to make the “L” sign be two fingers flashing a “V” for the victory you will have. Or it could be the V for “peace” that you find, knowing you did stick to your guns – or goals! – and the blissful contentment that comes with the success.

So how do you stick to your goals till you achieve your dreams? Here’s how:

1. Have a Clear-Cut, Specific and Realistic Goal

Be it in time element or the courses of action, your goals need to be very clear. This makes it so much easier to accomplish instead of just generally saying, “I will be rich!” Of course, anybody can dream to have all the bucks, luxurious wheels and homes and a flashy or comfortable lifestyle. But you MUST have the picture of what you want.

Having a specific desire or dream gives you a reality check. It’s easy to say, “Someday, I’ll be a famous rock star!” or that in ten years time you’ll dine with corporate giants. Say all your wild dreams, and then follow it with questions like, “Do I have the talent to be a rock star?” or “Do I need a degree in business or just climb the corporate ladder like mad without a background of the industry?”

The point is, you need to have a dream – BUT first make sure it’s something you can work on and have the potential to achieve. The secret to achieving something is to have measurable or quantifiable answers to the general questions. If you have a clear-cut goal, you have a picture of the outcomes as well as the necessary steps to achieve all of it.

Once you have the clarity of goals and valuation of yourself and your potentials, then you could make realistic goals that COULD be achieved. Clear goals mean clear course of action, working well with positive and negative pressures around you, and not being distracted from your focus.

2. Create Your Atmosphere of Success

Often, even the most determined people end up failing because they are overwhelmed by negative forces surrounding them. But you can stay glued to your goals when you are surrounded with people who inspire you, push you further and even make room for you to work harder. These people can be family and friends, or they can be workmates or peers who share the same mindset about achieving goals.

You can also stick to your goals if you fill the spaces you move in with reminders of your desire. Write motivational words on the fridge door, have similar inspiring lines on your coffee mug at work or a framed picture on your bedroom wall. These reminders will be your constant “silent” cheerleader as you pursue victory. You could even fill your iPod with songs that bring you back to the reasons why you’re working on the goals, and have one theme song as your phone’s ringtone!

Study other modes of how to make your goal a powerful magnet wherever you are, and do make yourself a forceful element moving towards it – all the time!

3. Act Now and Party Later

Many people lose sight of their well-set goals because they opt not to take action right away.  Unknowingly, their goals are slowly moving farther away as they put off until tomorrow the work they could do today!

Seize the day, make the wisest choice and act now. This is the right mindset of someone who wants their goals at hand. On the sad side, the people who wallow in dreams and don’t take immediate action wait for tomorrow. Once a door of opportunity opens, they scramble and act unknowingly, resulting in haphazard attainments, if at all. Now, you wouldn’t want to do that, right? You want consistent movement toward your goals, you desire smooth and educated actions and you definitely want to be prepared for whatever challenges come.

So instead of a laid-back approach to achieving success, map out the routines you will need to undertake. Have a well-scheduled action plan as this will help you determine what you will need for each step along the way. Consistently pursuing your goal will also push you to always be ready, and make each of your endeavors more meaningful. It gets you excited at the challenge of a new task as well as elevates your joys in each completed task of the road toward success.

With this, you need not leave your laid out actions and plans for tomorrow or get distracted by the trivialities that pull you away from your goals; instead, you do the tasks for today and congratulate yourself for the results, and have a quiet celebration that you’re a few steps closer to your dreams.

Ready to do all these? Here’s my “V” for you…it means I wish you peace with the certainty of a good road ahead; and it’s also for the victory you will get every day until that final moment when you reach your set goal!

Arina Nikitina is a blogger who shares practical goal setting, motivation, and productivity tips at http://www.arinanikitina.com

Photo by ivanlanin

Many of us have dreams we would like to pursue.  The question is will we ever do anything to make our dreams a reality?

John C. Maxwell in Put Your Dream to the Test: 10 Questions that Will Help You See It and Seize It helps us evaluate whether we are ready to successfully launch a pursuit of our dream.  This is truly the best book I have ever read on this subject.

Maxwell doesn’t just pump you up with a bunch of motivational enthusiasm.  He asks tough questions that will really help you judge just how likely you are to achieve your dream.  This is the kind of stuff a true mentor should be asking us to see if we are being realistic or just engaged in wishful thinking.

We all have dreams we want to one day realize

Everyone has a dream.  We all have a vision of what we want in the future.  Your dream may involve one or more of the following:

• Opening your own business
• Becoming a actor or actress
• Writing a book
• Traveling around the world
• Becoming a recording artist
• Retiring to the lake or beach
• Raising a successful family
• Getting married
• Accumulating a fortune
• Winning an Olympic Medal

Your dream may be bigger or smaller than those listed above.  It doesn’t matter.  The bottom line is that it won’t happen until you decide to make it so, but before you do I highly recommend considering Maxwell’s questions to give yourself a reality check.

1.  Is my dream really my dream?

Sometimes our so-called dreams are visions planted in our heads by others like our parents or spouses.  You are only going to accomplish your dream if you take full ownership of it.  Dreams don’t come easy and if it isn’t 100% yours, then you’ll likely give up before you see it through.  Is your dream really yours?

2.  Do I clearly see my dream?

You must have a clear and vivid picture of exactly where you’re going before you depart.  You are likely going to need to inspire others to help you along the way to achieve your dream.  This is only possible if you know exactly where you are headed.  A clear vision will help you stay on track and motivate others to join you in your quest.

3.  Am I depending on factors within my control to achieve my dream?

Luck is not what makes dreams come true.  Sorry to burst that bubble!  It takes a lot of hard work, determination and perseverance to see a dream through to fruition.  Dreams are all about aiming high, but they also must have a dose of reality.  Dreams need to be anchored in our areas of greatest strength and talent.  For example, if you can’t sing, then there is no way you are going to win American Idol.  Some of us just don’t have a singing voice and there is nothing we can do to change that.  Is your dream rooted in reality?

4.  Does my dream compel me to follow it?

Are you so passionate about your dream that you have no choice but to pursue it?  There are usually a lot of potholes and detours on the way to achieving a dream.  Passion is the fuel that drives you forward and keeps you going even when times are tough.  Would you pursue your dream even if no money, fame or admiration were involved?  Are you being lured by the fantasy of success or is this truly what you’ve always wanted?

5.  Do I have a strategy to reach my dream?

You must have a well thought out plan to reach your dream.  It must be definite and clear.  A dream without a strategy is just wishful thinking.  It has no legs.  It isn’t going anywhere.  The more complete your plan is for achieving your dream, the more likely it is that you will get there.  What is your strategy for reaching your dream?

6.  Have I included the people I need to realize my dream?

Dreams are big and therefore cannot be pursued alone.  It always takes other people to help a person reach their dream.  Do you have the right people on your team?  You need people that inspire you, challenge you and complement your skills to help you make your dream a reality.  You’ve got to be able to transfer the vision of your dream to others and successfully recruit them to get you where you want to go.  Do you have a dream team?

7.  Am I willing to pay the price for my dream?

Every dream has a cost.  There is a price you must be willing to pay.  There are many sacrifices along the path to achieving a dream.  Have you counted up these costs and considered them?  Is your dream worth the cost?  This is a valid question.  A dream might take too much time away from your family to pursue.  It might involve too much financial risk.  It might cost you your privacy.  The cost will likely be more than you think.  Are you willing to pay the price?

8.  Am I moving closer to my dream?

It often takes years to achieve a dream.  Dreams are realized by taking at least one step every day toward their fulfillment.  What have you done lately to move toward your dream?  Have you given up?  Do you have the grit necessary to achieve your dream?  Look at what might be holding you back and be sure you have the tenacity it will take to conquer your dream.  Are you closer to your dream today than yesterday?

9.  Does working toward my dream bring satisfaction?

Maxwell points out that a great dream is about more than just the destination, it is about the journey.  You should find fulfillment in pursuing your dream, not frustration.  Working toward your dream should energize you, not drain you.  You have to love the journey to reach the dream.  Does pursuing your dream bring you satisfaction or zap your strength?

10.  Does my dream benefit others?

A dream has to have significance to be worth it in the long run.  At first, it might be all about you, but over time a dream that doesn’t benefit others will lose steam and die.  When your dream has significance it takes on a life of its own.  Others will buy into your dream if they see its benefits.  How does your dream benefit others?

Put your dream to the test to see if it holds up to scrutiny

How did you answer the 10 questions?  Maxwell says that if you can’t answer yes to most, if not all, of them, then you might need to re-evaluate your dream.

I highly recommend reading Put Your Dream to the Test to explore the viability of your dream further.  Maxwell provides a lot of great guidance in the book to help you accurately answer his 10 questions. 

I especially appreciate his down-to-earth, practical approach to this subject.  So often, when authors talk about dreams, they fill you with the old “if you can dream it, you can achieve it” mentality, but Maxwell doesn’t do that.  He provides real-world guidance that I believe is valuable to anyone wanting to pursue a dream.  Read the book!

What is your dream and how’d you do on the questions?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Photo by zenera

That’s my goal and why I write this blog.  I want to experience the best life has to offer on a daily basis.  I don’t believe this is found in a superstar, jet set lifestyle.  On the contrary, I seek to live life to its fullest while carrying on my common activities.

Life is short.  We don’t know how things will turn out tomorrow.  It is best to get the most from life today!  This doesn’t give us license to be irresponsible, but it encourages us to drink as deeply as possible of all the good things life has to offer.

Words that paint the perfect picture of what I’m trying to achieve

I continually look for ways to capture exactly what it is that I want from life.  I love inspiring quotes which I share regularly via Twitter.  These help me develop and maintain my dreams and vision for where I’m steering my life.

Recently, I ran across the words below from William Arthur Ward.  Ward was an author, educator and motivational speaker.  These words paint a great picture of exactly what I believe it means to live life to the fullest.

I will do more than belong – I will participate.

I will do more than care – I will help.

I will do more than believe – I will practice.

I will do more than be fair – I will be kind.

I will do more than forgive – I will forget.

I will do more than dream – I will work.

I will do more than teach – I will inspire.

I will do more than earn – I will enrich.

I will do more than give – I will serve.

I will do more than live – I will grow.

I will do more than suffer – I will triumph.

~ William Arthur Ward

Wow!  If we started every day with these intentions, then I’m convinced we would truly experience a very full and rewarding life.

What inspires you to press on toward your goals in life?

The words above stir my imagination.  They ignite my passion for life!  They inspire me to reach a little further today.  I genuinely hope that by striving to live as Ward suggests above, that together we can live life to its fullest!

What inspires you?  Where do you turn for encouragement and hope?

Leave a comment below and share it with me and my other readers!

Photo by Tom Mascardo

Every big success started as an idea in someone’s mind.

The automobile, the phone, and the computer were all simply ideas that an ordinary human being had before they became the phenomenal successes they are today.  These ideas were no different than the ideas you and I have.  Look at Bill Gates, the world’s richest person according to Forbes, who at 20 had an idea that he sold to a computer company which in short order led to the founding of Microsoft.  When Gates first contacted his prospective buyer, he didn’t have anything more than an idea.  The small action step he took in contacting the computer company to see if they would be interested in his idea started the ball rolling which led from one opportunity to another.  By consistently taking this kind of action, Gates built a net worth that today exceeds $59 billion!

All thoughts are energy. 

In the physical world, potential and kinetic are two types of energy.  A compressed spring stores large amounts of potential energy.  When and if the spring is released, BOING, its potential energy is unleashed as kinetic energy.  Kinetic energy is the work done to propel an object into motion.  Your ideas are like stored up energy that is waiting to be released.  When you take action toward achieving your desires you release the BOING.  The action you take is necessary to unleash the potential energy of your ideas and create momentum.

Momentum builds speed. 

Once you have speed on your side then it is difficult to stop your ideas.  A racing locomotive has a lot of momentum.  It takes a really big obstacle to stop it.  When you do the work necessary to get your ideas in motion, they become like the locomotive.  It is practically impossible to stop them from becoming a success.  How awesome would it be to see your greatest desire with this kind of momentum?  It can happen and it all starts with one little step in the right direction.  It all begins when you do the work.  The movement may be hard to detect at first, but it will build on itself.  Once you get things going they can move quickly.  For really big dreams, it may take months or even years of work to really get moving, but you never know.  The one thing that is certain is that if you don’t take the first step toward your dream, then it won’t ever have a chance.

Can you imagine what you will accomplish if you live your life as Kettering suggests?

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.
~Charles Kettering, Inventor

If you believe and act like it is impossible to fail, you will take the steps needed to make your greatest desires a reality.  Where would you be today if you had started one, two, or five years ago to work on your dream?  What about a month ago?  Why not start today? 

Take action right this minute!  I mean it.  Get a pencil and piece of paper and do the following:

1. Write your dream or desire at the top of the sheet.
2. List the first three steps you need to take to make your dream a reality.  These should be straightforward action steps.  Nothing complicated.  Start them with a verb.  For example, if you were going to make a presentation, you might write down, “Reserve a room“.
3. Now immediately, without thinking about it, do the first item on your list.

Congratulations!

If you did what I suggested above, then you just created momentum.  Go on to the next item on your list.  Waiting to take action will let fear and doubt creep into your mind.  This is usually why our dreams never become a reality.  Of course, now that you are aware of it, you will avoid delay.  You will take action and do the work to start living the life you dreamed of when you were little!

Photos by Xseriesthree and Charles & Clint