Tag Archives: Dreams

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PN (Post Nyad) Day 2 – What Did You Do Differently Yesterday?

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joshbillings130930_m-resizedThis could be “PN” or “PD” (post Nyad or post Diana) – it doesn’t really matter. I just want to continue reminding you that your dreams are yours. As one reader commented though, they don’t all have to be physical. Diana Nyad’s achievement was not so much about endurance swimming as it was about the human spirit and she knows that and has tried to get that message across to all of us with her “three messages” and “Find a Way”.

So look at your day and do something different to get you going in a different direction. “That’s easy” you say – well, it’s not so easy. We are creatures of habit and that’s a safety measure built into our survival mechanism. We have to make a conscious effort to change things up. So pick one small thing to change and then do it. From my own experience I recommend you have alternative “changes” – all of which are small. Why? Because one might not pan out and if you have other options to pick from then you are more likely to actually do something instead of staying in the same rut and then spending the rest of the day or night chastising yourself for not doing it. We create more energy and “action” by criticizing ourselves for failure instead of looking at the situation and “Finding a Way”.

I’ll give you an example from yesterday for me. I decided to change up what I did when I came home. I planned on coming home and going for a run before my coaching call instead of just going to the grocery store to get One Stands Holding Change, Others Crusheddinner, coming home, eating it while reading, doing the call etc.

But as I was driving home, the same old pattern took hold and although I debated with myself with all sorts of “excuses” (it’s too hot, I’ll do it later etc), I ended up going to the grocery store first. So I “failed”, right? Not at all. First, I had thought about the habit/pattern and decided to make a change – that was definitely a different action/reaction than before. I was not operating as an automaton.

Then I “debated” which action I was going to take and why. Sure, most of the “whys” were excuses, not reasons …but – the key here is that I was thinking about it. Then I chose to NOT beat up on myself for not doing that ONE thing I had planned. I immediately looked for a different “change” to make (it would have been better had I come up with that option/alternative in the morning so I had some to fall back on but I didn’t and I learned from it).

So what did I do? I went and got dinner. But instead of eating it reading and watching TV, I ate it while sitting at my computer (instead of the recliner) going through and cleaning out my email. Was this the best course of action. Probably not – people will say I wasn’t “present” for my meal because I was multi-tasking and others will say it was still a waste of time. I disagree. All I know is that I felt good because I had done something different and had consciously thought about it. It was such a tiny little thing that would not be noticed by others. But my subconscious being sure noticed it and in this case it felt good – most likely there was no bad reaction from within because it was such a tiny change. You can’t make major changes right away. You have to work your way up to things.

Today’s action – take a look at your daily life  and routine and see what one tiny thing you can change that has to do with your dream. If you aren’t sure, yet, what your dream is, then just change something. See how it feels. Then keep going. Decide in the a.m. what you’re going to change. Then write in your gratitude journal (also can be called your success journal) about what happened. See how you feel and go from there.

Let us know what happened.

ONWARD – Find A Way!

Terrie

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Diana Nyad – Post Achievement – Ok, Folks What Are You Doing Today?

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Find.A.Way1-resized Don’t let this happen to you – we get all excited about someone’s achievement and talk about how they have “inspired” us to take action etc etc etc.

But the next day, what happens? You think about it (or not) and probably go right back to your old way of living.

Today is the day to make a change. To make a decision. Today (if you didn’t do it yesterday) you write a commitment to yourself about what you vow to do to follow a dream. Even if you don’t think you have a dream, take today to dig deep and write down all the things you’d like to do and have wanted to do since you were a little kid.  DO SOMETHING and DECIDE SOMETHING! Don’t wait for another great human interest story to get you all fired up – for a few hours or days. Do this now. Then use my Define and Conquer 2013 program to help you “Find a Way” (Diana Nyad 2 September 2013).

You cannot just sit on your butt and expect that your dream will be brought to you because you wished so hard. You have to do the work. But if you decide to follow it and you aim high and continually refocus and regroup, you WILL achieve your dream.follow dreams

There will be naysayers out there that will say Diana Nyad had it easy this year because the weather was good and there were no sharks and no jellyfish. Easy? Try enduring all she’s endured for the last 3 years with a near death experience last year, the disappointment and discouragement and the picking herself back up and looking at all possibilities and all avenues to find a way to combat those threats. I believe that Mother Nature said “ok, I know you’ve prepared and persevered so we will not throw much more in your way.” But ladies and gentlemen – she still had to do the swim. She still had to swim in the ocean for 110 miles, 53 hours never touching anything solid, not being able to rest her body and not sleep at all. And she’s 64. So don’t anyone say she had it easy.

You really can find a way. I will be on you about this all week until I feel you have either decided to do something or have really gone back into your habit hole (not rabbit but habit).

Let us know what you have decided to do!

Terrie

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Follow Your Dreams – Lessons Learned From Diana Nyad

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follow dreams Diana Nyad is very close to achieving her dream and I am not only in awe of her and her accomplishment but have also learned a lot about life from following her for the past 4 years. Here’s just a few of those things (feel free to add whatever lessons you’ve learned – post in the comments section):

  •  All strength comes from within – it starts within and although it may spread outward, it is always anchored within and you have to keep coming back there.
  •  It’s not about age, gender or any other distinguishing or separating feature – it’s about dream, drive, determination, dedication, destination, development, and gathering the forces around you. The human spirit is so resilient once we wipe away all our limiting beliefs.
  •  You’re never too old. If there is anything that Diana Nyad has taught us is that you are never too old to accomplish feats that many feel are impossible even for younger folks. There are many other older people that have achieved such accomplishments but Diana has made it a crusade to reach out to the older generation to give them hope and to tell them NOT to give up no matter what. You really are only as old as you think.
  •  Don’t give up – The actual quote, I believe, was “When you are going through hell, keep on going. Never, never, never give up” when Winston Churchill said it. I ask people this all the time – what if Columbus had given up and given in to the fears that he would fall off the face of the earth if it really was flat? Another quote: “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie
    These people have said it so much better than I could ever. I just know that you will remember when you gave up and have the “what if” syndrome forever. Don’t succumb to that syndrome. If it’s important to you, it doesn’t matter if it’s important to anyone else – it’s yours and yours to do. The Universe doesn’t just give out ideas for the heck of it. You got this idea and dream for a reason! Now achieve it! And remember Thomas Edison’s quote too: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
  •  Follow your dream – Don’t bury your dreams. keep them alive and find a way to make them work. “Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer.” Marcia Wieder.  How many of us have dreams and then say “nah, I could never do that”? And then you file the dream away. Diana had that dream for 35 years. It may have been buried since she didn’t swim during that time but it was in there buried in the soil of her soul, being nurtured like the rose. And finally it has bloomed. Make sure your dream is nurtured and never forgotten.
  •  Think of others – give of yourself and you’ll get so much more back. Gratitude, as I’ve said many times before, is the most powerful force in the universe. When you reach out to others, especially in times of your own struggle, the Universe will reach back and provide you with more strength to rejuvenate your energy banks.
  •  Have a plan – know what you’re up against and make appropriate plans as well as having contingency plans. Don’t consider failure as failure. As Thomas Edison said about all his attempts to create the light bulb – “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas A. Edison
  •  Be prepared – Goes along with contingency item – but need to be prepared – do your research so you know what you might be up against. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games, 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot … and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. That is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan. If you’ve tried and “failed” go over every step of that attempt and find out what you should have planned for. Then make changes in your plans and preparation in accordance with that.
  •  When you think you don’t have anymore, you probably do – just dig deep. Remember all those quotes from above and the ones that say that if you just keep going when you’re about to quit, success will be right over the top of that hill. Diana is having to dig 549067_10151563869089292_1909204657_nreally deep to cover these last “few” miles – they are not “few” at all as anyone with any experience in endurance sports can tell you. But she is trying to go deeper within than anyone ever has in order to complete her dream. This is so important to her and she will find her strength. You can and should also pull strength from others on your team or from the universe.
  •  Have a team and a coach – you can’t operate in a vaccum. you have to have a team and preferably a coach. Surround yourself with people of the same attitude and spirit. There are multiple teams working with you when you are trying to achieve something great – intimate team (probably you and your coach), close team (your support), research teams or work teams that serve one function per team (such as creating the prosthetic mask for Diana, the other jellyfish research that was done news, the team that created her special suit so that it met requirements), the world supporting you – it’s important to get the word out. There can be many different groups of teams – any successful organization has many teams. Always surround yourself with people who have the same values as you do.
  •  Don’t let people tell you differently – don’t let people tell you you can’t do something or that you shouldn’t do something. Remember Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote: “Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”
  •  Don’t be defeated before you start. If it’s a dream, it’s your dream and it was given to you to accomplish. Don’t think of all the obstacles or the reasons you can’t do something. As someone wrote about Diana – she’s the “anti-excuse”. There is no excuse other than giving in to your fear and you do not want to do that. Confront your fears and realize that your dreams are priority over your fear and over anything else that threatens to get in the way.
  •  Things will get tough but you just get tougher – know this ahead of time. Here’s another great quote for you: “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • Have a solution based attitude – not a problem based attitude. If you keep looking at something as a problem, you won’t be able to find a solution because you have to be looking for a solution. That is vital. Switch your mindset once you identify an obstacle.
  • Don’t let anything stand in your way – If you find something that seems to be an obstacle, find a way around or over or even under it.
  • Get support from others at large – there is great energy out there in the universe – let’s harness it – this goes along with the team concept but draw energy from the Universe. Ask for support and help. There are many people out there who want to help and want to do whatever they can for you. But you have to ask them.

There are many more lessons from Diana’s Extreme Dream. What lessons have you taken from this experience? Post in the comments section below.

Terrie