The Impact of a Dream: (Part 2 of 2)

Friday, January 15, 2010

“A day lived without doing something good for others is a day not worth living.” -Mother Teresa

Here is the second half of the ten questions you need to ask yourself when you pursue a dream:

6) Have you included other people to help realize your dream? No matter the size of your dream you will be interacting with other people eventually. In order to realize your dream, you must be willing to let others help you. Examine any story of a successful person and you will find he or she was surrounded by people who helped make it happen. What kind of people should be on your “dream team?” First, you need people who inspire you. When times get tough, you need encouragement to compel you to continue. Next, you need people who are honest with you. This simply means you want people who are willing to give constructive feedback. If you’re unaware of your shortcomings, you can’t possibly fix them. Be willing to listen to criticism. It may hurt in the short run, but it may make all the difference later on. Finally, you need people whose skills complement your own. Since you can’t do everything by yourself; you need help in certain areas to help you accomplish your dream. Everyone has different skills, abilities, and experience—together we can achieve more. No significant dream can be achieved alone–get help!

7) Are you willing to pay the price for my dream?  If there’s one question people avoid more than any other it’s this one. If you want to achieve a dream you must pay a price for it. Some pay with their lives, others their freedom, relationships, or finances. Here are a few things to keep in mind when trying to attain a dream: At first, a dream is free; you are a believer in it and all you see are the potential and possibilities that can come from it. The first step you must make is to transition from believer to buyer of the dream. Next come to grips that the price will be paid sooner not later. The moment you take the step of declaring your dream, the problems will begin to surface. This is a hard reality to face and many people give up when the going gets tough. Invest in your dream, the more you pay now the more the return later! The third thing to keep in mind is that the price will be higher than you think it will be. Why are dreams so hard to achieve? It’s because the cost is far greater than we expect. You must be willing to come to grips that the sacrifices you will make will be difficult and hard to make at times. Another truth to paying the price is that it will most likely be paid more than once. Expect to face countless sacrifices along the way. The only way to reach the summit of your dreams is to lose the excess weight as you climb further up. You can’t continue to pile things up and keep moving upward towards your dream.  The weight will bury you if you let it; be willing to let go of things that are in the way of your dream. Finally, remember that it is possible to pay too much for a dream. Some costs are not worth the risk. For example compromising your values, sacrificing your family, or destroying your health are not costs worth paying. Your values need to dictate your dream, not the other way around! What are some prices you need to pay for? It may be a financial, criticism from others, overcoming your fears, or simply hard work. Although it will cost you a great deal to realize your dream you must to willing to do whatever it takes. The rewards are worth the effort!

8) Are you moving closer to your dream? In order to see your dream come to life you must have the tenacity to keep moving towards it. No matter how bad things look, and even when your results diminish; you must keep fighting for it! Thomas Edison failed to make a working light bulb ten thousand times before creating one that did. This is an excellent example of someone who wouldn’t give up no matter how many times he failed. In order to do this keep the following in mind: It’s not the external things in life that stop people from reaching their potential–it’s the internal. Don’t make excuses. The only way you guarantee failure is to stop trying. Keep moving forward. Another way to move closer to your dream is to improve your vocabulary. Pay close attention to what comes out of your mouth and the thoughts that enter your mind. The words you use and your thoughts have a much larger impact on your dream than you realize. If you say you don’t believe in yourself you will guarantee your failure. Remain positive, tell yourself you can do it and your chances of success are far greater. Don’t wait for perfect circumstances because they’ll never happen! Don’t let a few unfavorable circumstances discourage you. Keep the commitment for action despite what you’re faced with. Life rarely goes exactly the way we what it, be willing to adjust. Finally, change your mind set. The difference between successful people and those you aren’t is all in the mind. When it comes to failure, successful people see it as a part of the process instead of avoiding it like the plague. Keep trying no matter how many times you fall down. In 2 Chronicles 15:7 it says: “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”  Every time you fail you draw one step closer to succeeding!

9) Does working on your dream bring satisfaction? If your dream doesn’t bring you joy and fulfillment then you need to ask yourself if it’s really worth pursuing. Here are some ways to find out if your dream is worth all the time, effort, and price it’ll require: First, realize the difference between the dream and its realization. Idealistic dreams depend on everything being perfect and with this mindset you will never be satisfied. Leave room for imperfection and remember that not everything will go exactly as planned. Next, keep dreaming while making the journey. Just because you have success doesn’t mean you should stop dreaming. Keep yourself inspired daily to new ideas and new methods of doing things. Finally, appreciate each step forward you take in the journey towards your dream. Most people want their dreams right away without any effort or work. This, however, is not how dreams come into being. Achieving a dream is usually slow and the results are rather uninspiring most of the time. This is why you need to take satisfaction in your journey. Savor every moment, it’ll make the journey a lot more manageable if you do. The process itself is everything. Who you become in the process is what really matters in the end. When you achieve your dream and look back do you want to look on it with regret wondering why you were so miserable in the process of attaining it. Or do you want to look on it with admiration and joy knowing it was well worth every ounce of energy you put in it. The choice is yours to make!

10) Does your dream benefit others? The final and most important question of all is to ask if your dream is going to have a difference in others lives. The greatest people in history are those who gave up themselves for people and causes that lived beyond them. It is very rare indeed to see someone hold closely a dream that will cost them everything in order to see it come true. There are three statements you must make in order to see this happen in your dream: First, do something significant for yourself. At first glance this seems like a very selfish and contradictory statement. Why isn’t it? Because it is impossible to help others if you haven’t taken care of yourself. You must build a personal strong foundation in which you can work and serve in. This could be an education, a career, or earning a sum of money. Whatever it is, remember in order to invest in others, you first must invest in yourself! The second statement is to do something significant for others. Early in life we achieve things for ourselves and for our own benefit. Then you are faced with a choice–to keep living for yourself or work towards helping others. You don’t have to save the world–just start small! Just help someone because no act of kindness is too small to be worth doing. The final statement is do something significant with others. If you want to make a real difference in others lives, you must come to the realization that it cannot be done alone. You need others to embrace the same dream as yours. When people embrace a dream together it expands their possibilities as well as your own. A dream isn’t worthy of your life if it doesn’t benefit others and it doesn’t bring fulfillment if it isn’t achieved with others.

In conclusion, remember that a dream can have a lasting impact on people’s lives. By reaching out and making a difference in just one person’s life it can change countless others as well. This is the ripple effect. The difference that is made in one life can be carried over to countless others through communities, families, and even generations to come. You don’t have to be Martin Luther King, William Wilberforce, or Billy Graham—just be you! Use your gifts, abilities, personality, and passions to further God’s kingdom. Don’t compare yourself to what others are dreaming. God made each of us unique to reach a certain person, group, or cause. First , you must discover who this is. Just keep in mind that you need to stop focusing on the overwhelming picture of trying to reach everyone all at once,  just see who’s in front of you and start there. You’ll never know the impact you can have  if you don’t try. The road of good intentions is well traveled, but it’ll never get you anywhere. It’s safe–but it accomplishes nothing. Every act of kindness, love, and mercy that you give will cause a ripple effect that will be felt throughout all eternity. So don’t just plan the details and wish for a better tomorrow-start taking action now! Don’t give up on your dreams, the world is counting on you. So take the first step towards living your dream. Just remember it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish that people will remember you by. Dream on!

**Next week I’ll change course on topics and discuss Apologetics. Some of the questions I will address: What is it a study of? Why is studying it so vitally important to us as Christians?  And what are some of the areas of Apologetics that can be studied? God Bless.**

Sources: John C. Maxwell Put Your Dream To The Test. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2009