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Even though it is tempting to believe that your good intentions could outwork the necessary action required to achieve your dreams, the reality is quite the opposite. For any transformation to occur, you need to have a positive bias toward action in the right direction. In his book, The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley writes that, “Direction — not intentions, hopes, dreams, prayers, beliefs, intellect, or education — determines destination.” There are certain principles that must be followed to turn your dreams into reality. Let’s understand what these are.
The Principle Of Showing Up
Author John Maxwell wrote about this concept using an analogy of a tree that needs to be cut down. He says, “If you grab an ax and take five good swings at the tree each day, eventually you will chop it down. It may take a month to fell a small tree, while a big tree may take years to topple. The size of the tree isn’t the issue; the real question is whether or not you diligently take five swings at it every day.”
Likewise, the first step to achieving your goals and dreams is to just become available. The experience will come. The talent will grow. And the opportunities will increase. But first, you need to show up!
The Principle Of Consistency
Imagine a person wanting to build a muscular body. Do you think a once-in-a-while visit to the gym will help him get to his goal? Of course not! He will need to be there every day, maybe even two to three times a day. He will need to monitor his sleep pattern, his food habits, protein intake, supplements and a lot more. Unless he takes deliberate action consistently over a long period of time, he’s not going to get the results he’s hoping to achieve. It is not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, it is what we do daily. Showing up is extremely important, but it is not enough. You need to show up consistently. That’s where the magic happens!
The Principle Of Burning Desire
Burning desire is the pre-requisite to achieving anything extraordinary in life. It is what keeps you awake at night. It is what wakes you up each morning and inspires you to fight for your dreams. Irrespective of how you feel, it motivates you to keep going. It gives you the mental resilience needed to pursue your goals and dreams even in times of adversity. The burning desire for fulfilling your dreams implants success consciousness in your being, which unlocks the door to personal excellence. Likewise, every person who desires to succeed in any undertaking must be willing to burn all the bridges behind them and cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can he or she be sure to maintain that state of mind that is critical to success.
The Principle Of Paying The Price
There are no free lunches in life. There is a price for everything. You are either going to pay the price of success or pay the price of staying where you are. If you continue doing the things that you’ve always done, you will end up with the results you’ve always had. If you want to change your life, if you want to achieve your goals and dreams, if you genuinely want to be successful, you will have to pay the price of success.
Which means you will have to continue even when you feel like quitting. You will have to show up consistently even on the days when you don’t feel like it. You will have to take some risks and deal with the uncertainty of the outcome. You will have to get out of your comfort zone and get uncomfortable. You will have to forego an easy life and become more disciplined. You will have to make tough choices and take tough decisions. You will have to choose the people you associate with wisely. You may even have to lose a few old friends in the bargain — the ones who don’t resonate with your new thinking.
No one said paying the price of success is going to be easy. But, in my experience, it’s going to be worth it. You will have to give up to go up. The choice is yours — pay the price of success or pay the price of mediocrity. But remember: The price of negligence is far worse than the price of commitment.
The Principle Of Delayed Gratification
In our instant gratification culture where we want everything right away, this is probably the toughest principle to understand. We often forget that between the planting of a seed and harvest comes an important period of cultivation. So just showing up consistently with the right attitude alone is not going to cut it. You’ve got to put in the hours over the long haul to see any meaningful results. This can be extremely hard because we often overestimate what’s possible in the short-term and underestimate what’s possible in the long-term. And the realization that it may take longer than what we had originally estimated can be extremely frustrating. This is the reason why most people give up on their goals and dreams in the first few months. To protect yourself from falling into that trap, you must stay focused on cultivation like a farmer. Committing yourself to the process rather than the end result is what’s going to keep you going when the initial motivation fades. Rest assured that the results will eventually follow.
Start today and work to master these principles, applying them to your business, so that you can realize your dreams.
