Dream Your Life...

Copyright © Success Network Group
www.SuccessNetworkGroup.com

Impossible is Just a Word

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody important. Who hasn't fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn't dreamed of being the Homecoming Queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our lives. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher. The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can't do this. It's too hard. It's too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumblebee, no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers. Strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header; the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As of the items you wrote under 'things I could do' are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’

As you iterate through this process you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic. Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, no gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

As Always ... Make it a GREAT day!

About the Author:

Lou and Robin Bonaventura have been Professional
Network Marketers for the past 4 years. They attribute
much of their success to personal development and
consistent learning. Visit their Learning Center
for more insight into how personal development can
benefit you.

Your Secret To Success - Have A Vision Of Who You Are And Who You Want To Be.

Copyright © Success Network Group
www.SuccessNetworkGroup.com

Life Mapping: A Vision of Success

Success is more than economic gains, titles, and degrees. Planning for success is about mapping out all the aspects of your life. Similar to a map, you need to define the following details: origin, destination, vehicle, backpack, landmarks, and route.

Origin: Who you are

A map has a starting point. Your origin is who you are right now. Most people, when asked to introduce themselves would say, “Hi, I’m Mary and I'm a 17-year old, senior high school student.” It does not tell you about who Mary is; it only tells you her present preoccupation. To gain insights about yourself, you need to look closely at your beliefs, values, and principles aside from your economic, professional, cultural, and civil status. You can also reflect on your experiences to give you insights on your good and not-so-good traits, skills, knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses. Upon introspection, Mary realized that she was highly motivated, generous, service-oriented, but also impatient. Her inclinations were in the biological-medical field. Furthermore, she believed that life must serve a purpose, and that wars were destructive to human dignity.

Destination: A vision of who you want to be

“Who do want to be?” this is your vision. It is important that you know yourself so that you would have a clearer idea of who you want to be and the things you want to change whether they are attitudes, habits, or points of view. If you hardly know yourself, then your vision and targets for the future will also be unclear. Your destination should cover all the aspects of your being: the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Continuing Mary's story, after she defined her beliefs, values, and principles in life, she decided that she wanted to have a life dedicated in serving her fellow mankind.

Vehicle: Your Mission

A vehicle is the means by which you can reach your destination. It can be analogized to your mission or vocation in life. To a great extent, your mission would depend on what you know about yourself. Based on Mary’s self-assessment, she decided that she was suited to become a doctor, and that she wanted to pursue that career. Her chosen area of expertise was being a medical doctor. Describing her vision-mission fully, it was to live a life dedicated to serving her fellow mankind as a doctor in conflict-areas.

Travel Bag: Your knowledge, skills, and attitude

Food, drinks, medicines, and other traveling necessities are contained in a bag. Similarly, application of this concept in conjunction with your life map, you will bring with you certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These items determine your competence and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there is a need for you to assess what knowledge, skills, and attitudes you have at present and what you need to gain along the way. This two-fold assessment will give you insights on your landmarks or measures of success. Mary realized that she needed to gain professional knowledge and skills on medicine so that she could become a doctor. She knew that she was a bit impatient with people so she realized that this was something she wanted to change.

Landmarks and Route: S.M.A.R.T. objectives

Landmarks confirm if you are on the right track while the route determines the travel time. Thus, in planning out your life, you also need to have landmarks and a route. These landmarks are your measures of success. These measures must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. Thus you cannot set two major landmarks such as earning a master’s degree and a doctorate degree within a period of three years, since the minimum number of years to complete a master’s degree is two years. Going back to Mary as an example, she identified the following landmarks in her life map: completing a bachelor’s degree in biology by the age of 21; completing medical school by the age of 27; earning her specialization in infectious diseases by the age of 30; obtaining employment in local public hospitals of their town by the age of 32; and serving as doctor in war-torn areas by the age of 35.

Anticipate Turns, Detours, and Potholes

The purpose of your life map is to minimize hasty and spur-of-the-moment decisions that can make you lose your way. But often times our plans are modified along the way due to some inconveniences, delays, and other situations beyond our control. Like in any path, there are turns, detours, and potholes and we must anticipate them and adjust accordingly.

As Always ... Make it a GREAT day!

About the Author:

Lou and Robin Bonaventura have been Professional
Network Marketers for the past 4 years. They attribute
much of their success to personal development and
consistent learning. Visit their Learning Center
for more insight into how personal development can
benefit you.

A Positive Attitude Can Change The World Around You!

Copyright © Success Network Group
www.SuccessNetworkGroup.com

The Powers of a Positive Attitude

I am going to ask you something very unusual right now. First of all, I want you to listen to your thoughts. Now tell me, what thoughts fill your head? Would you label them as positive, or negative?

Now let's say you are walking down the street with these thoughts. Do you think anyone would be able to tell you what’s on your mind?

The answer to number one is up to you. But, the answer number two can be pretty generic. Although people will not be able to tell you exactly what you think, they will more or less have an idea of how you are feeling.

Here's another question. When you enter a party filled with friends, do they all fall silent as if something terrible had happened? Or does everybody there perk up as if they're waiting for something exciting to happen?

You know what? The answer to all these depends on your state of mind.

Thoughts are very powerful. They affect your general attitude. The attitude you carry reflects on your appearance, too – unless, of course, you are a great actor.

And it doesn't end there. Your attitude can also affect people the around you.

The type of attitude you carry depends on you. It can be either positive or negative.

Positive thoughts have a filling effect. They are admittedly exhilarating. Plus, the people around the person carrying positive thoughts are usually energized by this type of attitude.

Negative thoughts on the other hand have a zapping effect on other people. Aside from making you look gloomy and sad, negative thoughts can turn a festive gathering into a funeral wake.

A positive attitude attracts people, while a negative attitude repels them. People tend to shy away from those who carry a negative attitude.

We can also define attitude as the way of looking at the world. If you choose to focus on the negative things in the life, more or less you are fostering a negative attitude. However, if you choose to focus on the positive things, you are more likely carry a positive attitude.

You have much to gain from a very positive attitude. For one, studies have shown that a positive attitude promotes better health. Those with this kind of attitude also have more friends. projecting a positive attitude also helps one to handle stress and problems better than those who have a negative attitude.

A positive attitude begins with a healthy self-image. If you will love the way you are and are satisfied, confident, and self-assured, you also make others around you feel the same way.

On the other hand, a negative attitude, has the opposite effect. So, carrying a negative attitude has a twofold drawback. You feel bad about yourself, and you make others feel the same way.

If you want to have a positive attitude, you have to maintain healthy thoughts. This is actually very hard to do nowadays since all around us the media feeds us nothing but negative thoughts. A study shows that for every 14 things a parent says to his or her child, only one is positive. This is truly a depressing thought.

If you want a healthier outlook in life, you need to think happy thoughts. You also have to hear positive things as well. So, what can you do? Well, for starters, you could see a funny movie, you could play with children, or spend some time telling jokes with friends. All these activities fill you with positive stimuli, which in turn promotes positive attitude.

Although it is impossible to keep ourselves from the negative things around us, you can still carry a positive attitude by focusing on the good things, the positive things in life.

And this positive attitude you now carry can be of benefit to other people. Sometimes when other people feel down, the thing most people do is try to give them advice. But sometimes, all they need is somebody to sit with them, and listen to their thoughts and feelings. If you have a positive attitude you may be able to cheer them up without even having to say anything.

If positive attitude is really great, why do people choose to adopt a negative attitude instead? One who carries a negative attitude may be actually sending a signal for attention. So you don't misunderstand what I'm saying, feeling sad, angry, or gloomy is not wrong itself. But dwelling on these thoughts for far too long is not healthy either. There is a time to mourn, but don't continually dwell on the subject or situation; change it!

If you are inundated with troubles, even in your darkest hour, focus on the good things in life, it will always give you hope. Problems are something you can overcome.

You don't have anything to lose by adopting a healthy, positive attitude. Studies show that such an attitude actually defers aging, makes you healthier, helps you develop a better stress coping mechanism, and has a very positive effect on all the people you meet every day. So, what's not to like about a positive attitude? Adopt one today.

As Always ... Make it a GREAT day!

About the Author:

Lou and Robin Bonaventura have been Professional
Network Marketers for the past 4 years. They attribute
much of their success to personal development and
consistent learning. Visit their Learning Center
for more insight into how personal development can
benefit you.