Parents tell children they can do anything they put their mind to. We encourage them by stating they can be anything they want. The sky is the limit! We want our children to be successful, and tell them they are only limited by their imagination. I know I’ve certainly told my kids these exact same things. But let me ask you a question; When was the last time you told yourself these things? Do you believe it?
We tell children they can accomplish anything they put their minds to, but as adults we don’t believe this for ourselves.
Life tends to make people cynical. Through time we realize just how hard accomplishing those childhood dreams can be. To borrow from Les Brown, one of my favorite motivational speakers, people become comfortable. They stop growing, and stop stretching themselves. They stop believing that their dreams are possible.
If you feel your dreams are no longer achievable, ask yourself if this is because they are really out of reach, or is it because you’re not taking specific actions to make them a reality? Have you become comfortable in your daily routine? Have you become cynical that your dreams are not possible?
Think about people that are successful. People that seem to have everything they want. People that you envy. Whether it be financially, health, or any aspect of life. These things didn’t just happen to them. Professional athletes work tirelessly at their craft. Successful inventors spend endless hours tinkering with their products and endure countless failures to find that one idea that makes it big.
Successful people actively work on achieving their dreams.
If you aren’t actively working towards accomplishing your financial dreams, here’s a little exercise that may help you get going again:
Write Down What’s Wrong
Using three pieces of paper, write down three things that aren’t going as well as you want; one on each sheet of paper. Examples might be not saving for retirement, missing a payment from time to time, or seemingly always running out of money before the next paycheck.
How Could You Improve?
Next, on each sheet of paper write down two ways that you could improve these issues. For example, if you miss a payment from time to time, one potential improvement would be to have an easily accessible list of all your bills and what day of the month they’re due.
Specific Actions
For each way that an issue could be improved, write down a specific action that you can do to remedy the situation. Following our same example, one could state that a “bill worksheet” word processing document will be created listing each bill, when they’re due, and the amount of each payment. This worksheet is stored digitally so it can be easily changed, but a hard copy is printed out and retrieved when bills are paid.
Take Action!
Finally, pick one action to do immediately, and DO IT! While it would be great if you could change your entire financial system at once, change is best when it’s done incrementally. Follow this by performing an action a week until they are all done.
Then, repeat the process!
Dreaming is not just for young children, in fact I would assert that dreaming is the first step towards being successful. Then, you have to actively work to make them a reality. Dare to dream!
How about you EOD Nation, have you given up on your financial dreams?
Great stuff, Travis. It’s so easy to give up on dreams when you get into adulthood. We read a lot of success books here, which really helps us stay motivated to go for our own successes.
Travis, Great article. I know for myself it’s easy to fall into a routine that derails any ambitious goals I have. One routine I’ve had over the last year is being content with my current job. I have stopped looking for the next big opportunity and I know it’s not going to fall into my lap without action on my part. I’m going to try your steps out. Thanks!