Monday, August 4, 2008

Double Dare—Dreaming and Doing…

Self-reflection (it's not just for breakfast anymore). *smile*

"The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore." --Dale Carnegie

To achieve your greatest goals requires two things. First, you must believe you can reach your destiny. Second, you must take action.

Dreaming and Doing are the keys to success.

Let's start with dreaming. What distinguishes a daydreamer from an active dreamer? Dreamers often hold up their pleasant fantasies up as a balm against their negative beliefs. They fantasize about winning the lottery (for many writers, that amounts to hitting the NY Times bestseller list!) as a way of feeling better about the lack of success in their life. "Wouldn't it be lovely…" they sigh, followed by "but of course that will never happen."

Excuse me? Let's rewrite that sentence… *smile*

An active dreamer recognizes that anything is possible.

They actively visualize achieving their goals and reinforce that visualization with reminders that this "dream" is not only possible but can and will happen as long as they continue to take action. These active dreamers are found in so many fields it's mind-boggling. Olympic gold medal winners, CEO's, famous authors, actors. Ever hear the story of how Jim Carrey kept a check in his back pocket made out to himself in the amount of ten million dollars? He'd pull it out and focus, telling himself he would achieve his dream.

That's the way!

To achieve our dreams, we need to believe we can.

"A man's doubts and fears are his worst enemies.” – William Wrigley Jr.

Action is imperative but unless we believe our destiny is possible, we're more likely to encounter obstacles than success. Belief pulls towards us circumstances that reflect our attitude. Doubts and fears are like kryptonite against our super-visualization powers. *Grin*

I remember years ago, I let a friend talk me into rock-climbing. This is not my forte at all, let me tell you. Ask me to dance wildly in front of a crowd and I'm fine. But place my slippery hands on a ledge with sharp rocks waiting below and I'm a wreck. So there I am, shaking so hard one friend called it "sewing machine legs" (picture my knees bouncing like a needle bobbing up and down). My grip is slipping and this guy says, "Just grab a rock and pull yourself up," all casual-like, totally ignoring my fear. He didn't seem to grasp that unless I conquered my fear, the abject terror that had me paralyzed (except of course my shaking legs and trembling hands—oh, Lordy), I truly could slip and fall.

Another friend figured it out, scooted down and calmed my fears. After I stopped shaking, I did manage to climb up and avoid certain calamity.

Fears are real. They can paralyze you and hold you back. Even worse, the embarrassment over your fears can lead you into a self-destructive cycle. Yikes! So, what do you do? Surround yourself with like-minded folks who can reassure you past your embarrassment, calm your fears and talk you up that rocky mountain wall.

"We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs." ~Kenneth Clark

Once you've moved past your fear, you can develop a positive attitude and help your fellow writers up their own mountain!

"Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?" --Anonymous

Dreaming and doing…

Let's focus on "doing" next.

"Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned." ~ Peter Marshall

We must set goals and work to achieve them.

Anyone can dream of hitting the NY Times bestseller list. Only "doers" will work to reach that goal. Word goals, page goals, query goals, revision goals, whatever your focus, set your benchmark and push until you get there. Did Tiger Woods say, "I'll practice today if I can make the time?" *grin*

"Don't wait. The time will never be right." –Napoleon Hill

"Success will never be a big step in the future, success is a small step taken just now." -- Jonatan Martensson

Take the double-dare, my friends!

Dream of success and Do what's necessary to Become Your Destiny.

We Are Writers. We Are Successful, Published Authors. Let's make it happen!


"What is opportunity and when does it knock? It never knocks. You can wait a whole lifetime, listening, hoping, and you will hear no knocking. None at all. You are opportunity, and you must knock on the door leading to your destiny. You prepare yourself to recognize opportunity, to pursue and seize opportunity as you develop the strength of your personality, and build a self-image with which you are able to live—with your self-respect alive and growing." –Maxwell Maltz

Ah, the beginning of August. The Double-Dog-Dare You days of summer are upon us. How many goals can we accomplish this week? Hmmm?

My goals:
15 pages of WIP.
Weekly essay.

Dream and Do!

--Chiron

22 comments:

Renee Knowles said...

Yes! And "active dreamer." I like that!

I agree about going after your goals. In fact, I teach a class on business plans for writers that talks about this very thing--breaking down the bigger goals into smaller objectives and making them trackable and attainable.

Thanks for another great post, Chiron :) BTW, I added your blog to my website!

Hugs,

Renee
www.reneeknowles.com

Misty Evans said...

Hi Chiron! I love this motivational post. I've always believed that success comes from committing yourself to your dreams. The two go hand in hand.

Misty
www.readmistyevans.com

Sandy said...

Hi Chiron,

I firmly believe on focusing on your dream and never letting it out of your sight while you work towards it.

Sandy

Anonymous said...

Dreaming is the easy part. You're right to remind us that without actions dreams remain just dreams.

Elaine Cantrell
www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com

Chiron said...

Hello Renee!

Yes! By seeing the Big Goal as a series of steps, our dreams become quite do-able. "Trackable and attainable." Perfect!

Thanks so much for adding my blog to your website!

Smiles to you,
Chiron

Chiron said...

Hi there, Misty!

You're so right. We must commit ourselves to our dreams. The perfect relationship. *smile*

Thanks!!

Smiles,
Chiron

Chiron said...

Hello Sandy!

I agree completely. We must focus and never let our dream out of our sight. Staying focused is key.

Thanks so much!

Smiles to you,
Chiron

Chiron said...

Hi there, Elaine!

Thanks for your lovely comments. Action plus dreams equals success!!

Smiles to you,
Chiron

BESA KOSOVA said...

Chiron,

Last year, I wrote a quote for myself, "Writers write while dreamers procastinate." It was with my writers group and they made me a certificate as a result. One writer said that I had inspired her to finish her book. Every day I look at the (now framed) certificate and it somehow enourages me to take those small steps, even if it is just one page or writing a query...

Well said! I truly beleive in what you say and thank you for inspring me once again!

Besa

Chiron said...

Besa,

What a lovely story! Such an inspirational quote... It warms my heart to hear how you were honored for your insights. (((hugs)))

I love that quote, and will be thinking about your words all week!!

Once again, thanks so much for stopping by and brightening up my day!

Smiles,
Chiron

Sheryl Browne said...

Ooh, facing the fear. How about, huge, scurrying, hook-legged, hairy, black spiders. Feeling that fear? I did and I faced it. Don't love 'em, but can live with them now (as opposed to accosting strange men off the street to get them for me ;). That coincided with getting published and my editor believing in me (which she gently reinforces every so often--thank you, Laura Kelly, editor of excellence!).

Writing is facing the fear—of rejection, as you point out, Chiron. But, as someone I know points out, “every rejection is a step nearer success”. You can turn rejections into positives, by learning from them. Some rejections are wrong or just plain rude, but often there is advice therein. I try to use it, as constructively as I can—once I’ve extracted my head from the oven!

Um, someone else imparted me a piece of valuable advice recently. If you want to win the lottery, it helps to buy a ticket. If you want to get published, I suppose it helps to keep writing!

Thanks, Chiron. Sorry for late comment.
xx

Chiron said...

Hi Besa!

Funny, I responded to this comment yesterday but today it's gone. Hmmmm...

I wanted to say how wonderful your quote is! I love that... And hearing how you were honored by your fellow writers for your insights is amazing.

How uplifting to hear!

Thanks again for stopping by, my dear!

Keep writing!

Smiles to you,
Chiron

Chiron said...

For anyone reading these comments:

I noticed a glitch today with comments not showing up. The response to Besa I added yesterday was gone, and today, as I entered the new one, yesterday's appeared! Poof! Strange magic going on.

So... Sheryl, I received your lovely comment by email but for some reason it's not showing up here. Sorry about that. Hope Google/Blogspot sorts it out soon...

Thanks, everyone!

Chiron said...

Hi Sheryl!

Yikes! Spiders! Ah yes, facing the fear...

Good for you and huge congrats on finding your editor. (((HUGS)))

And yes!! You're so right, if you want to win, you have to play the game--no matter What arena you focus on.

We can't expect to get published unless we write, revise & query!

Congrats again, and thanks so much for stopping by!! It's always so wonderful to *see* your smiling face...

Smiles to you,
Chiron

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Tiffany James said...

Chiron,

Loved this post! I'm going to take a hint from Jim Carrey! I do something similar, actually. Every month when my RWR arrives, I write my name on the page where the first sale authors are listed! :0)

Tiffany James

Chiron said...
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Chiron said...
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Chiron said...

Hello Tiffany!

What a brilliant idea!! Bravo!

I love that... Now THAT'S visualization!

Smiles to you,
Chiron

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