Think great thoughts, take great actions, and you will enjoy the rewards of success!
Imagination is the beginning of creation. One of the wonderful aspects about human imagination is that it can see things not as they are now, but as they can be; it can foretell the future, based upon our beliefs and expectations, in an almost uncanny way; it can draw the colorful mental images that can someday turn into reality. Starting today, use your imagination, create a clear inner vision, a mental picture if you will, of what you want in life: your family, your home, car, career, everything that you desire in your life and then get started on achieving it. If you can see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hand. Thoughts become things, thoughts become reality!
As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Never let anybody steal your dream or your vision! Your thoughts reflect the life that you are living today. If you want to change or improve your life, change your thoughts.
Achievers know that success isn’t a matter of luck; it is a matter of deciding what you want and then going for it. When you decide you want a life filled with happiness, health, and wealth, you begin to attract all the things that will lead you in the direction of your dreams. The more you think about what you want in your future, whether you’re looking at tomorrow, the next few weeks or the next few years, the greater chance you have of making your life better.
You will always find plenty of critics. Those well meaning people who want to “protect” you from your “unrealistic fantasies.” And that never seems truer than when you’re pursuing a dream. But I would tell you; the only opinion about your dream that really counts is yours. The negative comments of others merely reflect their limitations, not yours. Look at these examples of people that critics tried to discourage, and what their critics said.
- Your timing is all wrong. In 1987, prior to accepting Paramount’s offer to host a late-night talk show, Arsenio Hall was told by everyone: “It’s too hard to crack into the late-night ratings. Television isn’t ready for a black talk show host. This is America, and you can forget it.”
- Why don’t you get a real job? Not understanding his desire to become Mr. Universe, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s family pleaded with him, saying: “How long will you go on training all day in a gymnasium and living in a dream world?”
- It’ll never work, you’ll lose everything. Weeks before she opened her first store, cosmetic tycoon Mary Kay Ash’s attorney said: “Liquidate the business right now and recoup whatever cash you can. If you don’t, you’ll end up penniless.”
- You don’t have enough talent. Responding to his desire to become a recording artist, Ray Charles’ teachers said: “You can’t play the piano, and God knows you can’t sing. You’d better learn how to weave chairs so you can support yourself.”
- Don’t even try; you’ll just be disappointed. When auditioning for a part in a high school musical, a teacher rejected Diana Ross saying: “You have a nice voice, but it’s nothing special.”
- You don’t fit the mold OR you’re not the right “type.” A well-known fashion photographer told Cher she would never make the cover of Vogue because she didn’t have the right look. When Cher did make the cover, Vogue sold more copies than it had ever sold before.
- Don’t give up your day job. A New York publisher told James Michener about his first unpublished manuscript: “You’re a good editor with a promising future in the business. Why would you want to throw it all away to try to be a writer? I read your book and frankly, it’s not very good.” Michener’s first book, Tales of the South Pacific, later won a Pulitzer Prize and was adapted for stage and screen as South Pacific.
- There’s no market for it. When hearing his plans to launch Perrier in the United States, several consulting firms advised Gustave Leven: “You’re foolish to try to sell sparkling water in the land of Coca-Cola drinkers.” In 1988, Perrier sold 300 million bottles in the U.S. This accounted for 80% of our imported water market.
Fortunately these people ignored the negative input and went on to achieve their dreams. There is nothing unrealistic about a dream that aligns with your purpose, ignites your passion, and inspires you to plan and persevere until you attain it. On the contrary, it’s unrealistic to expect a person with such drive and commitment not to succeed. If there is one ingredient that sets the successful apart from the rest, I would have to say it would be their passion. So choose to be unstoppable! Do what you love to do. Do those things that bring joy into your life.
Fill yourself with love, joy and gratitude. If you fill yourself up with these powerful positive emotions there will be no room for anything negative to get it.
There is so much in life to be grateful for. Stop occasionally, and take the time to acknowledge and be grateful for the many things that people all too often take for granted. The more that you do this; the more you will attract things and experiences to be grateful for. Fill yourself with joy and happiness. It seems to me that too many people get the idea of joy and happiness backwards. They go for the things they want, thinking that these things will bring them happiness. Sure, if it is a new car that you want, a new home, more money or whatever, having these will make you happy. So as you pursue your dreams you do want to feel the joy and happiness that you will experience when you have these. But don’t depend on these things for your happiness. Look at what you have now. As my Sensei told me, “Look for the beauty and the miracles that surround you, fill yourself with love, gratitude and joy, right now, for what you have.” When I asked him what miracles he might be talking about he told me, “Look at the flowers and the trees, and if you really need to see a wonderful miracle, look at a new born baby.” He was telling us to be grateful for the many things that others may take for granted. He was telling us to find inner peace and happiness. Abraham Lincoln shared this bit of wisdom with us, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” So I would suggest that you find a balance, first learn to be grateful and happy for what you have. Then set your mind on dreams and pursue those dreams with passion, faith and belief. Take time each day to “See” the most magnificent version of you and it will come to be, use your imagination and see what you want, as absolute fact, and see it now.
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right!” – Henry Ford
Henry Ford was reminding us that our beliefs and thoughts always influence our reality. If you want to change and improve your results…you need to change and improve what you think, say and do. Your current thoughts are creating your future life. What you think about the most or focus on the most will appear as your life. In the end, you only hit what you aim at. Therefore, it is best to aim at something high. And remember this, if you don’t know where you’re going, if you have not created goals and a vision of the life that you wish, then you can wonder through life on any old path, and it will take you there. You are only limited by the thoughts you choose. So fill your mind with great thoughts. There is every reason in the world for you to achieve your grandest dreams. Create a vision; your imagination, plus motivation, will certainly equal realization.