I was on Facebook this morning and I noticed a YouTube video about a 13 year old boy named Andrew Johnston who sang on Britain’s Got Talent. I have included the video here and I wanted to point out something that is said in the video. It is when Simon Cowell asks young Andrew if his friends support his singing (paraphrased):

Simon: Do you friends support your singing?

Andrew: Well, I get bullied a lot at school.

Simon: Why do they bully you?

Andrew: My mates say they don’t like that kind of music.

Simon: And how do you deal with it?

Andrew: I just carry on singing.

Sometimes, it takes a child for us to see how our fears stop us. What is it that you enjoy doing? What do your friends think of it? Are you going to carry on or are you going to let them tell you what they think and leave your dreams behind?

It’s your choice, not theirs.

What is it exactly?

The top level is the main house with the kitchen, semi-circular dining balcony, living room and hallway to office and master bedroom. The master bedroom has a glass shower that faces out to the private courtyard.

The second level is where the bedrooms are for our three children, plus their common bathroom. This is accessed from a circular staircase that matches the curve of the semicircular dining balcony.

The third level is where the guest rooms are located, along with the outdoor kitchen that they could use. Behind this is where the car would be parked. The two lines in back represent the driveway that would wrap around below the pool and to the bottom of the property. Notice that the pool has an infinity edge that would allow those coming up the driveway to see the water coming over the edge.

The green areas that you see are, as much as possible, the natural slope of the property. There will be a lot of trees on the property, I just haven’t bothered to put them into the model.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

The “A” stands for Actionable or Action Oriented. This means the when you write out your goals, you have to write them in the form of an action. This is important because the achievement of your goals requires action on your part. What that action is depends on what you want. By making the goal action oriented, you are being more specific, which as we have already seen, is a key to the whole process of achieving your goals.

So it is not sufficient to write down “Ferrari Modena” on your goal list. This doesn’t tell you whether you want to own one, rent one, see one, see a picture of one, or just dream about one. You need to turn this into an action so that your mind can understand how it is going to help you achieve this goal. And don’t forget to be specific.

Let me give you a couple of examples:

“I want to own a 2007 Ferrari Modena 430 in Ferrari red with tan interior.”

“I want to rent a Ferrari Modena and drive it on the streets of Las Vegas, Nevada.”

Notice in the first case that I put in the year and model of the car. There may be something specific that you like about one particular year. Also, colors are very important because it is easier to capture the image in your mind.

In the second case, why do you want to rent a Ferrari? Where do you envision yourself driving when you do? Add as much detail as you can. What does it sound like? Feel like? Smell like?

That’s it for today. I am going to look at some Ferrari Modena photos and videos now.

The fact is, your dreams of today may be very different than your dreams of days gone by. As we learn new things, we develop new dreams. Or, your dreams may simply be tweaked into a new, clearer form. Or maybe you still want to be a fireman and just haven’t taken action to make it happen.

Whatever you dreams are and whatever state they are in, don’t let your fears hold you back. Make a plan to achieve your dreams and then…Take Action! The hardest part of taking a great journey or making a great change in your life is to take the first step. Once you set yourself in motion, the journey gets easier and easier. You may be faced with obstacles along the way.  Just correct and continue.

It is said that an airplane is only on course 5% of the time. The changing winds are always working to push the plane off course. The pilot must constantly redirect the plane to reach its final destination. Be the pilot of your life and diligently focus on your goals and dreams and make any necessary adjustments to reach them.

I’m going after my dreams. I’ve always wanted to travel extensively with my family and maintain a lifelong committment to education and personal development. I am searching for experiences. I have made mistakes and hit many obstacles. I just continue to focus on my dreams and how important they are to me and I find ways to overcome the many different situations and continue on my journey. I look at my challenges not as difficult, but as different.

Have you forgotten your dreams?  No you haven’t!  Your mind is only hiding them from you because it perceives them as a threat. Your mind remembers everything in your life. Your dreams are still there. Take control of your life and rediscover your dreams and show the world what you can do.

The only job of our mind is to keep us “safely” in our own personal comfort zone. Just think about all of the things that our mind has kept us from doing throughout our lives. When we are faced with a new situation, our mind tells us to do what we have always done in order to keep us comfortable. Maybe you didn’t ask out that girl or guy you had a crush on. Or maybe you didn’t make that investment that turned out to be a winner. Whatever it was, you didn’t take the risk.

Even if you had made the decision and it turned out to be the wrong one, you could have learned from that mistake ( Of course, I’m not saying you should take on a risk without first understanding the consequences). If the girl or guy had said “No!”, that’s it. No harm done. If you understood that, the next time it would have been easier to ask. What if the investment goes bad? Get out. Get out  and analyse why it went bad and don’t make the same mistake again. If you don’t take the risk, you won’t ever get the benefit of success and you will never learn from the mistakes that “might” have been.

As Wayne Gretsky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Many successful people say that their success is not a result of not making mistakes. If fact, they made many mistakes over their careers, some of them very large. Their success is almost always attributed to learning from those mistakes and moving forward. They are not afraid of getting up again, dusting themselves off and moving forward. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Just be sure to learn from them.

When you are faced with a situation that appears difficult, just remember that it isn’t difficult at all. It’s just different.

More from Wayne Gretsky – The Great One

Our teaches, our families and our friends were there for us. They were always there looking out for us and making sure we didn’t get into trouble. “Don’t do that, you might get hurt!” “Don’t do that, you might get in trouble!” Unless you were a rebel you probably listened to them. While you didn’t get hurt or get in trouble (not as much anyway), you also never got to find out for yourself. They stopped us from really experiencing anything for ourselves. You never got to make your own judgements or decisions.

This is how we create fear in our children. Children are not born afraid of the dark. They learn to fear it. Don’t let your children see your fear and don’t lead them to believe some things are to be feared. Teach them to be safe and allow them to have their own experiences. Make sure they don’t forget their dreams.