Take Control of Your Life
More often than not our jobs are something that we endure; we live for our time off and dream of the future. -The 50th Law (Robert Greene and 50 Cent)
Recently a lot of people at work were talking about winning the lottery because it had jack potted to a ridiculous amount. It started me thinking about people’s dreams and aspirations. Many people dream of a better life, and dream of winning the lottery so they can spend all their time lounging around and being on permanent vacation. Could the dream of winning the lottery be limiting them from creating their own future or success? The best dreams depend on you and your actions. If you are not working at improving your situation, how can life improve? I imagine if your reading this you might be looking for inspiration. I believe life is 80% inspiration 20% hard work. Inspiration is the motivation for hard work, everything else is a distraction.
Where does inspiration come from?
Know Your Future
Every child grows up with a dream for their future. A child’s dream is built around everything important to the child.
We lose sight of our objectives and end up following some detour. This is the source of so many of the failures in our lives. -The 50th Law (Robert Greene and 50 Cent)
That dream you had as a child doesn’t disappear, it is worn away by life’s distractions.
Bad Stuff Happens, Dreams are Made
Dreams don’t just happen, a dream needs to be worked on. Dreams come true when the dreamer is willing to do the hard work. As hard as the work might be, it is a small price compared to the reward of making a dream come true. Reading Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’ I learned life is a journey of transformation and every dream needs be worked on. Only those dedicated to their dreams are rewarded.
Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You’ve got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense.
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
With a strong heart and by developing a true meaning of love we learn how to accept all the hardship in our life. Love is the deep meaning in our life that carries us forward. All the while it is important to live in the present moment. Remembering, what is done now decides the future.
A Clear Mind is a Disciplined Mind
Don’t just dream, turn the thoughts into action. Clear thinking plans the details necessary for making dreams come true and puts the plan into action.
From this knowledge, you shape the project itself, grounding it in reality rather than in airy concepts in your head. Operating this way helps you slow your mind down and develop patience for detailed work, an essential skill for mastering any craft. -The 50th Law (Robert Greene and 50 Cent)
To think clearly requires discipline. Discipline gives the individual power to control one’s thoughts and actions. A disciplined mind is predictable. The mind isn’t in constant flux. You can have faith in yourself. The meaning in your life doesn’t change with the weather, but is a guiding star to plan your life by.
We are not engaged in the daily activity of the job with our full mental powers because it is not as exciting as life outside work. We develop less and less tolerance for dull moments and repetitive activity. -The 50th Law (Robert Greene and 50 Cent)
Discipline
There are two kinds of discipline, self discipline and enforced discipline:
- Enforced discipline puts a price on certain actions. E.g If I don’t do this, something bad will happen.
- Self discipline sees the value of correct action. E.g If I do this, I will be rewarded.
The fearless types in history inevitably display in their lives a higher tolerance than most of us for repetitive, boring tasks. This allows them to excel in their field and master their craft. -The 50th Law (Robert Greene and 50 Cent)
Many people get trapped by planning their life around enforced discipline.
Plan Your Day
Clear thinking plans the details necessary for completing a goal, and is prepared for the future. Everything needs to happen at the right moment. Consistent effort. Un-realised dreams are the result of poor planning. Break it down, into bite size steps.
Remember: anything will give way to a sustained, persistent attack on your part. -The 50th Law (Robert Greene and 50 Cent)
Don’t let life pass you by. Be prepared. Everything doesn’t happen all at once.
You cannot persist on two or three paths, so avoid that temptation. -The 50th Law (Robert Greene and 50 Cent)
It isn’t meant to be easy. We want to achieve many things in life. Each achievement needs to happen at the right moment. Plan your day. Plan the details necessary for completing a goal (making a dream). Unfinished dreams are the result of poor planning. Allow each moment to shine a light on what is important and needs to be done. Tasks that don’t get completed are
- not relevant.
- are too complicated and need to be broken down into action steps.
- out of date.
- rescheduled
Always remember sacrifice is the price of success.
Clear thinking programs your brain to focus on now. Programming your brain to execute what you learn.
Sweet Dreams
Your life is right here, right now. Your future is decided by what you choose to do. Society and the future of civilisation is in your hands.
Greatness consists not in the holding of some future office, but really consists in doing great deeds with little means and the accomplishment of vast purposes from the private ranks of life. To be great at all one must be great here, now, in Philadelphia. He who can give to this city better streets and better sidewalks, better schools and more colleges, more happiness and more civilisation, more of God, he will be great anywhere. -Acres of Diamonds (Russell H. Conwell)
This guest post was contributed by Martin from Cultivating the Mind, who writes articles which are fresh and intelligent, and which encourage thought that nurtures self-examination. Check out his posts, as they send a solid message and have supporting evidence provided.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Martin,
You make a great point about your co-workers dreaming of winning the lottery. Winners in life simply don’t get caught up in such wishing and hoping… there is no power in it. The power lies in having a deep conviction to create the life we intend to live into. When our mind lacks clarity and conviction we place our desires on a weak ‘wish list’ and our action is unpredictable. A deep conviction is a powerful psychological position that cuts off all feelings of doubt.
Hi Rob,
Your comments have really captured the thoughts I was trying to communicate. I would just like to add the importance of being aware of the present moment. It is important to see how what you are doing right now fits into your dream.
Twitter: jazzarati
July 12, 2010 at 2:17 pm
It really is a matter of continual starts, the big changes don’t just happen. You just keep walking towards them.
Jarrod – Cultivating Heroes´s last [type] ..Animated Perspectives on Time Perspectives
G’day Jarrod,
You’re suggestion is very helpful. It is important to see all the small steps that make up the journey. Nothing is going to transport you to success, to make a dream come true will require effort. Their are no shortcuts.
We are the master of our fate, it is us who decides what will become of our life. It is unfortunate however that we have the tendency to be stuck with our dreams and not have the courage to fulfill it. Perhaps it is the difficulty in achieving that we are scared of.
Spot on Walter, we are masters of our fate, and the effort required can be very daunting.
Jarrod has made a good point, we need to look at success as the culmination of small steps put together. Each step in the right direction will bring a person closer to their dream. Breaking down the dream into bite size tasks will make it do-able.
.. I know easier said then done, but if you have a good dream all the effort is worth it.
I might have to pick up the Alchemist someday. I read The Zahir by Coelho and could not appreciate him at all except for one or two quotes that I have strangely used a lot!
) to have you here!
No matter, this was a very fresh perspective on a very popular concept but I liked your approach, especially in your distinction of discipline definition! Thank you Martin and welcome to Timeless Information! Armen is very kind (and smart as usual
Hello Farnoosh,
Armen has very generously allow me so share this post with his readers and I do appreciate it, and thanks for the kind words about my writing.
Coelho’s The Alchemist was an interesting read for me. More then that the story came to me at the right time in my life. I needed a to look at the world from a different angle. That is the strength of Coelho’s writing for me.
I only touched on discipline, but it plays a big part on peoples lives. I think achieve any personal dream requires effort. A big dream requires sustained effort. By the very nature of the word “effort” is never easy. It is at this point of difficulty that discipline comes into play. Discipline is the force that will push a person forward. One needs to ask themselves, “what is the source of their discipline?” Where does the power lie? Who controls the discipline? Does it come from within? Or is it pushed upon me?
Twitter: calmgrowth
July 13, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Hi Martin,
Truly inspiring article with an interesting points… You’re absolutely right, one has to work on its goals, nothing was not created by itself. And I love this point about lottery.
G’day Marko,
Hearing friends talk about the lottery was my inspiration for this post. I noticed a lot of their dreams depended on random luck. It is hard to be motivated if your effort depends on random events. A person has a lot more success it they focus on what they can control.
I glad you enjoyed reading this. Your kind words are very encouraging.