Our dreams are important. If they weren’t we wouldn’t set out to chase them. So what is that transforms a dream into reality? The answer is quite obvious… take massive action.
Sounds so simple. First, see the dream. Next, draw up a map to get to your dream. Finally, arrive at your dream. There is flaw in this simple plan. The flaw, as you can see, is no action.
Imagine this, if you intend to get to the second floor of a building and elevator is broken you need to climb the stairs… one step a time. You need to exert energy moving your feet and heading in the direction of the second floor. The same applies to living your dream. You have to take action and climb the stairs toward your dream one step at a time.
Here are several ideas for taking massive action.
Get off the couch – The couch is your enemy. The couch is mediocrity and failure. Choose to ignore those soft cushions and climb your dream steps by replacing couch time with massive action time.
The ten-minute rule – I love this one. When I was in sales I learned the ten-minute rule. Part of sales is rejection and rejection can lead to stagnation, dread, and failure in the business if you are not strong enough to plow through that dark moment. By using the ten-minute rule you can jump-start your massive action button. Make a deal with yourself that you will work on your dream for ten minutes only. I know this will lead to more than ten minutes because once you are engaged it become easier to continue.
Create the habit – It has been said that it takes twenty-one days to create a habit. I have no scientific proof that this is correct or not. What I would say is pick an amount of time that you are willing to commit to, say five day or seven, and honor your commitment to take massive action over that period of time. This is creating a habit that will help you continue on toward your dream.
Life or death – Here is a fun way to get you to take massive action. Play this game. Say to yourself that today is the last day you will be able to realize your life long dream and the only way to achieve it is through immediate and massive action. I have referred to this in the past in my blog post “Five steps for leading a team forward” when I wrote about acting as if.
The carrot and the stick – Sometimes we need a motivator to help us move forward. I know I need it now and again. Make deal with yourself. If you do X then you will be rewarded with Y.
Remember your values – Part of creating a personal vision for your life is to also create values that you subscribe to and agree to honor. Ask yourself if you are living your values by waiting on your dream or engaging in moving massively toward what you have visualized. If you are on that couch and waiting, you are not honoring, you are creating guilt in your mind. Stop it and choose to honor what you agreed to live by.
Ultimately, achieving your dreams in life is about will power. Will you or won’t you do the things you need to do to realize the life you imagine.
How would you rate your will power to truly live what you visualize and what will you do right now to begin the journey?
Great post, I needed to hear this today. Lately I have been wavering in perusing my dream. I’ve worked so hard for so long and feel as if I have hit a road block. Guess it’s time to plan a way around that road block and get to work! One things for sure, I’ll never get past it by sitting here thinking about all the stuff I should be doing!
Thanks!
Hi TC — We are only human. We ebb and flow in regards to our motivation, our diligent thrust toward what we envision for our lives. As John Maxwell says, we are failing forward. The key is to never quit. You may rest but you can never give up. Take one action every day for the next thirty toward you dream and see where you are at the end of those thirty days. I bet you make progress. And, I want to know how much progress you made. Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
These are such a important factors to taking action. I really like the self motivation and getting off the couch. These are so important to know and remember when it comes to reaching our dreams and doing something great. I think one of the things holding people back the most is getting off the couch and chasing after their dreams.
It’s a good question.
I’d say in the past 6-8 months I got tired of talking and started doing…
That doing involved some of the very things you mention in this post and some others that I haven’t… yet.
So thanks for the reminders.
As Dan Black says above: action. Action action action.
This is really good. I love the practical ideas that you offer, specially the one “Life or Death” I feel the best thing for leaders is to stay hungry for your passions. Great job!
benjaminaharrington.com