It is that time of the year when most of us subconsciously rewind the tape of our life with reference to the year gone by. We certainly do fondly recollect the good events and times, we may also painfully remember the hard times that passed us by. However, what we dwell on often are the numerous lost opportunities, the chances we did not take, the actions that we could have done differently and possibly got another outcome and the slow motion picture of the broken new year resolutions, the plans that never took off and the remorse of having wasted our time either because we didn’t get around to chasing our dream or because our dream didn’t materialize despite our best efforts.
It is easy to brood. Easier still is to give up on our dreams. So then we decide that making New Year Resolutions is a waste of time an exercise in futility or we rationalize that it is a silly custom or idea. If at all we get down to writing some resolutions we might resolutely decide not to add any of the previous year’s unfinished work since it brings back painful memories. That leaves us with broken dreams, unfulfilled hopes and a sense of regret and frustration. Fortunately time is a great healer. It is also a great leveler. Far more important is the fact that we are blessed with an imagination and can dream bigger and if we commit ourselves to realizing this dream you can do it. Dreams have no expiry date so no matter what age you are, no matter what the size of your dream, no matter what impediments you visualize along the way; if you write down your dream and commit it to it and start working on attaining it, you will wake up and live your dream.
Define and develop your dream – Having a wish or a hope is merely making castles in the air. To have a realistic dream one has to define it in terms of a tangible goal and develop it by outlining all the intermediate steps that one has to progress through before realizing the dream. The more vivid the dream the more purposeful and realistic it becomes for there is shape and structure that one can identify with. Doing well in an exam is too vague as compared to having an aim of scoring 80%. When the later is clearly defined, it is relatively more easy to outline the steps required to reach it.
Revise and reorganize your plans – While one must be largely rigid and hold fast to the dream one has, one must make allowances for changes around, unanticipated hiccups, a drastic change in the assumptions made and even revision forced by pragmatic considerations. While the goal is not to be diluted or changed the means to the goal could undergo a major metamorphosis. This is merely to ensure that one is realistic and in tune with the circumstances prevailing.
Expect and experience difficulties – Even the most well laid out plans may not go as expected. There will be delays, obstacles, confusion, differences of opinion, dilemmas to be resolved along the way. This is to be expected because life is never linear and we need to adapt to the flow. Experiences will prepare us better to meet bigger emergencies and also sometimes assist us in reframing our path or expanding our goal.
Act and attain progress – Paralysis by analysis is a common refrain. This happens because most times we try to ensure perfection in plans, little realizing that this is an oxymoron. The key to attaining anything in life is action. By initiating the action we begin our quest to glory. Action is painful, it requires effort, it needs sustainace and most of all it means commitment. As a couplet goes’ Sitting still and waiting makes no person great; the good lord sends the fishing, but you must dig the bait.
Make and meet success – Dreams are not realized by accident; they are to be made by dint of good planning, hard work and complete commitment. You meet your dreams not when asleep but when you awaken to the reality that you have built it. Even as you read this post many thoughts are swirling in your mind. Some may find the post inspirational, others mere shrug it off as one amon many such proclamations, others may have more to say and many would want the learning from the post to work for them. The question is ‘What are you going to do after reading this?’
Try these:
- Make a list of last year’s New Year Resolutions that you never attempted or didn’t progress in any worthy manner. If you haven’t even made any resolutions last year make a list now.
- Commit yourself to one social service resolution. Now work out a plan to ensure that you spend at least 20 days in a year in pursuit of that goal. If possible also outline what you expect to achieve when pursuing this goal, by the year end Dec 2016.
- Is there a change you plan to bring about in your habits / mannerisms / style of functioning / relationships that you hope will make you an even better person? Outline the steps you propose to bring about this change in you.
This post is courtesy www.actspot.com
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