Having just celebrated the Martin Luther King holiday and being reminded of his famous “I have a dream” speech, I think it’s important to give some thought to being able to differentiate between dreaming and doing.
All success and achievement starts with a vision (dream) of what we want to accomplish or what we want to achieve. But the reality is that success and achievement are about doing – not dreaming. Once we have our dream clarified – and on paper – we need to take the necessary action(s) to make our dream a reality. Here are a few action steps to take to make sure your “dream” comes true.
1. Take full responsibility for making your dream come true. You may need help from others along the way but you and only you are responsible for making your dream a reality.
2. Choose your friends and associates carefully. The people we spend time with directly impact our thinking and our behavior. Spend time with positive, successful people you can share your dream with.
3. Remember the enemy of success is complacency. Momentum is the key to success and achievement. Success breeds success. Keep achieving – one small victory after another. Remember the tortoise and the hare?
4. Remember too that failure isn’t fatal. In fact, you’ll have no success without failure. The great lessons in life come from our failures – not our successes.