How to get Started towards your Dream?

American Novelist, George RR Martin quotes, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who doesn’t read only lives one.”

Books tell you stories, books give you wisdom, and books are your best friends. They lift you, make you smile, give goosebumps, help you regain your emotional side. They provide the emotional shift required to persevere, mental toughness to deal with changes.

“Books are mirrors: You only see in them what you already have inside you.” – Carlos Ruiz, Spanish Novelist. It is true that we are born with umpteen potential. Books provide you ways so that we can awaken our thoughts. We just need to realize and pursue our talents. With practice we keep getting better.

Books provide solutions to all your problems. Whatever we experience or go through has already been experienced, tackled in history. And solutions are in the books of wisdom, books by visionaries, leaders, masters in their field. Whether be it any area, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual health, management. They might not serve you things as on the plate but provide  you ways to deal with things as your nature permits.

Read autobiographies of leaders who inspire you. Read their stories, how in the tough times they toughened up instead of giving up. Read how luck favoured them, and the mindset with which they lived their life and succeeded.

How about reading a book in a week, you read about 50 books a year. Imagine whatever you want to become, how easy it gets acquiring the wisdom in just a year.

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Individuals, friends you surround your life with matters. Always surround yourself with people who are a good mouth to motivate you, and those who keep you down to earth as they give you constructive criticism.

I came across this TED Talk video which suggests 33% law of life. There are 33% people who know little lesser than you. You ought to inspire them through your stories (Giving back what you learn). There are 33% people who are equivalent as your thoughts, knowledge, experience who are mostly your friends. And there are 33% people who are superior than you in terms of success. Who have succeeded 10 times more than you. For the source, refer this video Tai Lopez, Importance of books, mentors

Always have a mentor in your life. Whatever you aspire to become, find out who has succeeded. Who has 10 times more knowledge, experience than you in your respective field. And reach them. These people are at self actualization stage as per “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.” They do help people. As once they were at your place. They just test your patience, and will to learn. So be patient, reach them multiple times smartly through numerous ways. One of the clever way is to write letters to them in written and mail both. Their address is available on website, search engines, or behind their book in ‘About Author section’, turn up at their office and go inside the lift as they enter the same.

Mentors not only guide you throughout your path, also teach you some characteristics which are essential to survive and flourish. They are more as expert genius friends. Always a role model inspiration you look upto.

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One of the most important factor in SUCCESS is to set goals so that you achieve.

Setting Goals is a concept which always seem tough. We don’t know what goal to set, and how to achieve them.

The key to reach higher goals is to set everyday short-term goals. These short term goals compile in no time and your real GOAL becomes achievable. A goal is half achieved when its written on paper. You hold yourself accountable for it. Stick the papers in every common places of your daily life. On your bathroom mirror to remind you at the morning, your dressing room to motivate you with passion and hope as you head towards work, your bed room to ensure you chant your goal in your mind as you go to sleep.

For example:- The goal is to acquire a new art skill, dance, painting, public speaking, writing, learn new language, or becoming fit and lean.

The short-term goals should be to deconstruct short skills to acquire the bigger skill. To name as few, learning posture, body language, looking at the mirror and self praise. Differs from different field to field. Write short term goals for everyday.

And then you practice as you learn side by side. It is a principle to achieve goals one needs to practice while learning new thing. Lets say you learned how to push up. You need to practice everyday for 15 mins in the beginning and then increase the practice time as you form it a habit over the course of time, as the saying goes, “practice makes a man perfect.”

According to Josh Kaufman, Ted talk speaker, you can learn anything in 20 hours. Please watch this video for some highlights of the text in this post.Learn a new skill in 20 hours- Josh Kaufman

And finally review with self assessment tests, and journal your progress day by day. It helps you to connect with your goals to achieve in the duration set.

Lastly I would say, anything is achievable. Think BIG. Dream BIG. Have courage. For the ones who speak negative, show them how it’s done. Follow the ones who succeeded. Read their stories, make them your mentor, set SMART goals. Don’t listen to the failures. Excellent achievers know the ways to achieve and more importantly the ways you could be defeated.