This past weekend I had the chance of attending a couple of meetings and left inspired and charged up so I figured I really need to share - sharing is caring :-). Indulge, and hopefully once you're done reading and watching the few videos I'll post you will not only be inspired but also have an unquenchable urge to get out of your own way and utilize whatever God has given you. Coincidentally, today's Rick Warren Daily Devotional What Will You Do With What You're Given touched on the very same thing I learnt over the weekend. It kinda felt like God was trying to drum in the message.
How many times have you made excuses about not pursuing that dream you have? Are there times when you've started and frozen midway worrying about what people will say? Have you encountered a challenge & felt like giving up, throwing your arms in the air & screaming - "I'M DONE NEVER AGAIN"? Ever felt your dream is a duplicate/triplicate - so many others have done the same thing before, what makes me think I can do this? I've been there, done that & got myself a Tshirt :-). Allow me to share one experience. A couple of years ago when blogging was catching on, I started a blog and committed myself to keeping it up to date. About five posts later, I grew coldfingers feet and pulled it down faster than I had created it. I wondered whether it was good enough, whether it made sense & also worried so much about what people would say. I convinced myself I wasn't much of a writer, in fact I encouraged myself with my experience while in Media School where print units used to give me the chills. The days we had Newspaper Writing/Reporting, Feature Writing & Sub Editing all bunched together one after the other were the days my mind would take that long awaited virtual vacay to The Bahamas. Needless to say, I poured cold water on that ka-dream of writing and moved on but somehow, I always had these random ideas that needed an outlet. I decided to once again start a blog on one condition - that come what may, I wouldn't get rid of it. Even if I rarely post, it would always remain online. This is the point where I wanna do the Happy dance -). I kept to my resolve and guess what, I now post often {roughly once a month for starters}. Trust me, it feels great because anytime I get random ideas I know they have a home to come to. I'm still chasing one other dream that is WIP, I will give an update of it before the year ends. I'm excited to start working on it come October. Keep it locked for that experience.
Moving on swiftly, if you have a dream and the thought of it doesn't scare you or make you second guess yourself, trust me I doubt you are dreaming big enough. Denzel in the motivational video below says, "Dreams without goals remain just dreams and ultimately fuel disappointment". Having a dream isn't good enough, you need to snap out of it, wake up & set out goals - yearly goals, monthly goals, weekly goals, hourly goals, "minutely" goals, "secondly" goals {not sure these last two are proper English but you get the point right?}. He adds that between your goals and achievement is discipline & consistency. Trust me, you've got to be disciplined enough to keep at it and keep pushing until something gives. Consistency makes a huge difference between someone who intentionally pursues their dreams and one who doesn't.
Below are a few quotes on chasing your dreams that I like.
How many times have you made excuses about not pursuing that dream you have? Are there times when you've started and frozen midway worrying about what people will say? Have you encountered a challenge & felt like giving up, throwing your arms in the air & screaming - "I'M DONE NEVER AGAIN"? Ever felt your dream is a duplicate/triplicate - so many others have done the same thing before, what makes me think I can do this? I've been there, done that & got myself a Tshirt :-). Allow me to share one experience. A couple of years ago when blogging was catching on, I started a blog and committed myself to keeping it up to date. About five posts later, I grew cold
Moving on swiftly, if you have a dream and the thought of it doesn't scare you or make you second guess yourself, trust me I doubt you are dreaming big enough. Denzel in the motivational video below says, "Dreams without goals remain just dreams and ultimately fuel disappointment". Having a dream isn't good enough, you need to snap out of it, wake up & set out goals - yearly goals, monthly goals, weekly goals, hourly goals, "minutely" goals, "secondly" goals {not sure these last two are proper English but you get the point right?}. He adds that between your goals and achievement is discipline & consistency. Trust me, you've got to be disciplined enough to keep at it and keep pushing until something gives. Consistency makes a huge difference between someone who intentionally pursues their dreams and one who doesn't.
Below are a few quotes on chasing your dreams that I like.
- "So many of our dreams at first look impossible, then they seem improbable, and then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable", Christopher Reeve.
- "All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them", Walt Disney.
- "Passionately pursue your dreams and strive to have a good spirit while you do, for it will greatly help you make those dreams a reality", Rachel Sazon-Reyes.
- "Don't let other people's opinions distort your reality. Be true to yourself. Be bold in pursuing your dreams. Be unapologetically you", Steve Maraboli
- "Don't ever let someone tell you that you cannot do something. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. When people can't do something themselves, they're gonna tell you that you can't do it. You want something? Go get it. Period", Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happiness.
In short, all I am saying is that you only have yourself to blame if you decide to sit on that dream or relegate it to the back of your mind because you figure it's too tasking or too complicated to pursue. I encourage you to abandon the status quo, stretch your limits and rock the boat. Keep pushing and always put God first in your pursuit - Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." I want to finish the post with the video below. It is such an amazing motivation video.The effects on it and the way it has been packaged gives you enough goosebumps to get out of your way and pursue your dreams.
If you forget everything I've said, don't forget this - "I don't know what that dream is that you have. I don't care how disappointing it might have been as you've been working toward that dream. But that dream that you're holding in your mind - that it's possible.........for those of you who have experienced some hardships - don't give up on your dream." {Excerpt from the video below}
If you forget everything I've said, don't forget this - "I don't know what that dream is that you have. I don't care how disappointing it might have been as you've been working toward that dream. But that dream that you're holding in your mind - that it's possible.........for those of you who have experienced some hardships - don't give up on your dream." {Excerpt from the video below}
"IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL YOU WIN"