Pursue Your Dreams

Eric Garner

If you want to achieve the things you dream of, then you have to develop 5 qualities to a very high degree. The good news is that you don't have to look very far to find them. They're already in you. The not-so-good news is that you'll have to work at them if you want to get anywhere. But if you do, you won't just achieve your dreams; you'll achieve more than you ever dreamed possible.

1. Self-Belief. All those who succeed against seemingly impossible odds have huge amounts of self-belief. They simply know that they can't fail. Gail Borden was a 19th century inventor who came up with a string of crazy ideas that got nowhere. He invented a cure for yellow fever sufferers that involved freezing them. Doctors turned it down. He then invented a sailing boat pulled by a horse wagon that sank. And he developed dehydrated meat biscuits for the Army that produced muscular cramps. Undeterred he turned his attention to a milk product that could be put in a tin. In the process, he invented condensed milk. Today, the condensed milk business is a $3 billion world-wide industry.

2. Single-Minded Immersion.One of the common features of all those who pursue their dreams relentlessly is a singleness of purpose. They don't get distracted or diverted. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this "flow" and says, "Painters must want to paint above all else. If the artist in front of the canvas begins to wonder how much he will sell it for, or what the critics will think of it, he won't be able to pursue original avenues. Creative achievement depends on single-minded immersion."

3. Ignore The Critics. When you march to a different drumbeat from others, the hardest thing you have to face is the critics who try to put you off. If you are pursuing a dream that others don't understand, then listen to the story of Buddha and the Squirrel. Buddha who had set out to search for truth was so long in finding it that he became discouraged and decided to return home. As he was leaving, he came across a squirrel dipping its tail into the water of a lake and shaking it over the land. "Little squirrel," he said. "What are you doing?" "I'm emptying this lake," said the squirrel. "But you will never be able to do that," said Buddha. "If you dipped your tail into the lake a million times, there would still be nearly as much water there as before." "Well," said the squirrel, "I shall still persevere." Buddha learned the lesson and resolved to continue his search for truth.

4. Persistence. When we persist in following our goals, a number of things happen. First, we learn something new every day. Even if we fail, we learn what doesn't work. Second, the action itself is creative. And third, you never can tell what will happen, as the story of the Two Drowning Frogs reminds us. Two frogs happened one day to come upon a milk churn standing in the farmyard. Feeling thirsty, they both jumped in and drank their fill. When they sought a way out however, there was none; the sides of the churn were too smooth and slippery. After battling for some time, they were both exhausted. "Come on," encouraged the younger frog; "there must be a way out." "No," replied the older frog. "It's no good. We've had it." And with that he sank to the bottom of the churn and drowned. The younger frog refused to give up. He kicked and kicked for what seemed hours until suddenly with one leap he was free. When he looked back to discover what had enabled him to get out, he saw that, with all his kicking, the milk had turned to butter.

5. Practice. Practice may not make us perfect but it gets us close to our goals. Psychologist Michael Howe of Exeter University has spent years studying the lives of great men and women. He rejects the theory that geniuses are somehow different from the rest of us but believes that so-called geniuses become high achievers because they practise their art with patience. For example, although Mozart began to compose at the age of five and wrote the score of Allegri's Miserere at 14, he had by the age of six spent 3500 hours of studying and practising music. Howe also found that 73 of the 76 leading composers in the world were all well advanced in their careers before their major works were written. The top 200 contemporary musicians are simply those who practise the most.

Pursuing our dreams is one of the most important things we can do in our lives. Just as flowers need to bloom and birds need to sing, human beings need to create. It is in our nature. Do it with these 5 qualities, and you'll not only reach your dreams, you'll go way past them.  

(c) Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com. If you enjoyed this article, why not sign up to our FREE 10-day Leadership Skills e-course? All you have to do is send a blank email to [ManageTrainLearn] (link: mailto: leadership@freeautobot.com) now. Manage: to get it right! Train: to stay on top! Learn: to be a success!

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