George Guzzardo continues to share success wisdom on his blog. In this article, he teaches how to build dreams and overcome obstacles. Claude Hamilton whole life is an example of building dreams and overcoming obstacles. If you are tired of just getting by in life and want to accomplish bigger dreams, then perhaps the LIFE Business is for you. Any worthwhile dream will take sacrifice, like Orrin Woodward says, "We don't promise easy, but we do promise worth it." What dream would be worth sacrificing for in your life? What are you waiting for?
I was looking at the wall in my office and saw an old crumpled up yellow paper clipped on my bulletin board with the title ‘Build Dreams / Overlook Obstacles’. It’s been with me for years ever since Orrin Woodward asked me to describe the LIFE I’ve always wanted. I’ve recently added one more question, “What are three things or causes in your life that you’re passionate enough to cry over?”
Unlike a lottery ticket, the LIFE business is a vehicle that helps us think and act about which direction we want our life to move. Is it time to re - awaken the vision about where we want our life to go? That vision is the first step in moving toward your desired destination. Look around the world today. It’s not hard to see that most people are aimlessly wondering through life. The standard program is to have achieved a level of success after school and dig in for the long journey ahead. Sooner or later we find out that there is more to learning about life than school. What if there was a way to master the skills necessary to get you where you really wanted to go?
Some pieces must come together to begin the journey. Association is critical so find out how you can get around those who have made a commitment and are moving in the direction of their vision. You can find them at one of the weekly Team Opens. If someone is succeeding so can you. Find out who is making progress. You will typically find people who are called ‘power players’ at the LIFE monthly seminars. The second piece is to become humble enough to allow yourself to learn the necessary skills. By all means avoid contradictory beliefs like being powerless to change and being unworthy of the goal. You are now ready to take some steps toward your goal.
A few small steps can be taken to help get what is important to you. First, use visualization or imagery. Begin to tap into the power of the subconscious mind. Author Peter Senge wrote about great basketball star Bill Russell who said, “It’s not what the vision is, it’s what the vision does.” Visualization creates a tension between our current reality and our destination. If that tension is strong enough we will be willing to go through some learning, better known as mistakes. Vision transforms our view of mistakes into learning experiences. Mistakes simply become the gap between your current reality and your destination. Failure becomes the opportunity to learn. Also, learn how to fall in love with the practice. In sports you practice an unfamiliar movement until you get better at it and then you enjoy it. The master of any game is usually the master of practice. In their best selling book ‘Launching a Leadership Revolution', Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady describe the Tri – Lateral Leadership Ledger where one can measure progress in the area of relationships, character, and work ethic. Building these skills and developing a compensated community is a very satisfying experience. It’s worth honing these skills in each of these areas as we achieve our vision.
In the business of compensated communities you can measure movement toward your goal like showing the plan (having 15 conversations about your business) in a thirty - day time frame or following through (making a friend and finding a need). By understanding the overall purpose of the movement like showing the plan or following through you can then measure the reality of getting to your destination more clearly. For example, weekly activities should lead to monthly depth and Team system numbers growing.
Dr. Benjamin Bloom from the University of Chicago did a five year study and found clues of leading artists, athletes, scholars from various fields. He discovered that it was drive and determination – not talent – that led to success. As author Eddie Cantor said, “It takes twenty years to become an overnight success.” Chris Brady says in the CD ‘The Art of Promotion’, “The dream leads to the drive that leads to depth that leads to the results.” Remember it all begins with what Orrin Woodward says, “Vision is tomorrow’s reality expressed in an idea today.” The old Alchemists used their knowledge about chemistry to turn lead into gold. Like the Alchemists of old, it’s time to take the information that you learn from the LIFE business and the TEAM system and make those elements transform you toward your goal. Start the process and become the master of your life! God Bless, George Guzzardo
