Last night I heard a lecture by John Maxwell entitled, "How to Make Your Dream a Reality." He gave us 10 questions we can ask ourselves to find out if we are on the right path. Here are my notes from the lecture:
You have greater odds of success if you have many valid reasons for achieving your dream. The dream journey is long, difficult, and filled with challenges. If you only have one reason to get there, you'll most likely lose heart.
Put your dream to the test; here are ten questions:
1. OWNERSHIP: Is my dream really MY dream? Most people are living someone else's dream. You can tell if it is really your dream because you won't make any excuses for not achieving it. You BUY it; you have pride of ownership. You bet on yourself, and invest your own money, reputation, and time. There is a difference between believing in your dream and buying into your drea. You can have a really big dream planted right where you are; don't use your current circumstances as an excuse.
2. CLARITY: Do I clearly see my dream? If I don't know what it looks like, I won't know if I have it. You won't be able to see the whole journey laid before you, but can you clearly see what the end looks like? It's kind of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle; you need to keep your eye on the box so you know how the pieces fit together. As you move closer to your dream, the picture becomes clearer. Once you have a clear picture you can prioritize correctly.
3. REALITY: Am I depending on things within my control to achieve my dream? Reality is the foundation upon which you build your dream. It must be solid. The following statement is not true: "If you can believe it, you can achieve it." It's not true because it doesn't factor in reality. If I really believe I can be a ballerina but I'm built like a linebacker, it's never gonna happen. You see it every year on American Idol. People really believe that they can win, but they have absolutely no talent for singing. You cannot achieve a dream if it depends on talents that you have not been gifted with. The things within my control are CHOICES (attitude, discipline, kindness), ABILITIES, and NATURAL GIFTEDNESS. The things not within my control are outside circumstances and abilities that I do not have and cannot learn.
4. PASSION: Do I love the dream journey? I have to love the journey, not just the end result. Passion is the source of the energy necessary to persevere. Passion will get you to do things you shouldn't be able to do, like a 27-year old conductor successfully performing a difficult piece that seasoned professionals are too afraid to tackle, using young musicians and limited resources. Passion will keep you from getting discouraged when the going gets hard, and the going WILL get hard.
5. PATHWAY: Do I have a strategy to reach my dream? Again, you won't see the entire path, but do you have some idea of how to begin, and which path to take to get to your dream?
6. PEOPLE: Who do I need to include to achieve my dream? If your dream is a big dream, you can't get there by yourself. A nightmare = big dream + bad team. If you have a 10 dream but a 2 team, you'll get a 2 result. Who will you need to include on your team?
7. COST: Am I willing to pay the price for my dream? At the beginning, dreams are free. Things will come easy as the universe conspires to help you get started. The moment you begin to actively pursue your dream, you start to pay the price. The price will come SOONER than you think, it will be HIGHER than you think (way higher), and you will have to pay it MORE THAN ONCE. The dream journey is a toll road. Know how much you are willing to pay. It is possible to pay too high a price for your dream; if you are not careful you can lose your health, your values, and your family.
8. TENACITY: Am I moving closer to my dream? How do you move closer to your dreams? The secret to your success is determined by your daily agenda Every day you are either PREPARING or REPAIRING. If you do all the right things today, then you will be prepared for tomorrow. RULE OF FIVE: No matter how big a tree is, if you take five swings a day at it with an axe, it will eventually fall. What five things can you do EVERY DAY that will move you steadily toward your dream. They are different for every one. Dr. Maxwell suggested that you spend the next few months deciding what those five things are for you, and then be tenacious about doing them every day. That means EVERY DAY. Weekends, Christmas, Birthday. EVERY DAY.
His dream was to write books, so his rule of five is that every day he does the following:
READ
FILE (quotes and stuff)
THINK
ASK QUESTIONS
WRITE
His first book took him 365 days to write 100 pages. He's not particularly good at writing books, but he's tenacious. He has written 54 books using this method.
We can accomplish less than we think we can in a week, but more than we think we can in a year -- if we follow the RULE OF FIVE. What are your five things?
9. FULFILLMENT: Does working toward my dream bring me satisfaction?
10. SIGNIFICANCE: Does my dream benefit others? Does it add value to other people? Success is all about you. Significance is about other people.
Dr. Maxwell suggests that we give our dreams a score based on the above questions. The closer we are to scoring a 10 on each question, the more successful we will be in achieving our dream. How does your dream rate? What can you do to improve your odds?
This lecture by John Maxwell is based on his book, Put Your Dreams to the Test, part of a multimedia package. You can buy The Dream Bundle at JohnMaxwell.com.
holy cow. thank you. R
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