After many years of living, looking, philosophizing, making mistakes, succeeding, falling on my face, watching others fall on theirs, I have come to a conclusion about how to succeed in life. It’s a real killer – but it works. And it only works if you have the courage to do it.
- DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH IN YOUR LIFE.
- DO IT.
Sounds too simple doesn’t it? You would surprised how many people are not living their dream but are following the mediocrity handed to them by others. It’s a fact.
Generally speaking, we all set out with goals in our life – and along the way, “reality” sets in and we are convinced, bit by bit, that we have to compromise, that we must “accept our limitations”. It’s absolute hogwash.
I would save you the pain and embarrassment (to yourself) of arriving at your midway point in life, normally called “mid-life crisis” only to discover that you have been following a path which doesn’t even vaguely make you happy or fulfilled. When you get to that point and you discover that your life is half over and you haven’t accomplished anything nearly close to what YOU wanted to do with it – that is a wake-up call.
I would happily suggest that you not wait until that point – because shifting gears can sometimes be more challenging.
I managed it, somehow. After over thirty years surfing the waves of corporate America, living a rather exciting and adventurous life – I came to that very conclusion; “Where the hell am I heading to?” And so, at the age of 52, I jumped ship. I swam out into the wide open ocean, cleared my head and then I re-set my ship on course. In less than six years I have accomplished what I wanted to do my whole life – which is not to say that the game is over, far from it. The game has really begun.
It’s a wonderful feeling to empower oneself by making one’s deepest motivation come to fruition.
But that is life, that is the real game – pursuing a purpose and staying the course. Then you know that you are living YOUR life and not that pallid, beaten, trite, overused pair of pants which society hands out and says, ‘Here you go, guy, these should fit you.’
There is nothing wrong with your goals. There are those who will tell you that you are biting off more than you can chew, that your dreams are unreal, too large, and that you are setting yourself up for failure – it’s absolute, unadulterated crap. Such people are merely admitting that they have already failed to accomplish their goals.
What is reality but the accomplishment of the dreams of men and women before us?
We would not be where we are today if it were not for the individual men and women who dreamed big and then persevered in the accomplishment of their visions, in spite of daunting obstacles.
That is the secret to success. Decide where you are going, and start walking. If the road gets rough, suck it up, bite the bullet. If you get knocked off, hit, run over, pick yourself back up and keep going. No one is going to get you to your goals except for YOU. That’s the big secret.
Ask anyone who has achieved some semblance of their goal in life, and I guarantee you that in the majority of cases, they will confirm every word of what I have said.
I am not advocating that everyone has to jump ship and abandon their current lives in the pursuit of their dreams – but I am most certainly recommending that if you feel unfulfilled by the course of events, re-evaluate for yourself what you wanted to accomplish in life, work out how you can get there – and do it.
Don’t ever give up on yourself – because you are the best thing that you have – so splurge on YOU.
Taken from the talk entitled Navigating the Waters of Your Career by Réal Laplaine
Réal Laplaine is an author and speaker. For details, please visit his sites at www.reallaplaine.com and www.reallaplaine-lectures.com
The Unquantifiable 