No matter how intensely you desire great achievements, no matter how well thought out your plans are or how noble your intentions are, these six factors can erode everything you do and stale your very best efforts. If care is not taken, they can convert your visions into empty worded and aimless papers. They can make you feel like an ordinary wide-eyed dreamers and push you into shivering, wailing fits of regret.
You should therefore be careful of the following:
1) Ignorance
Lack of the right information can kill your vision. If you don’t know how to make something great, you are simply not even tempted to try. If you are not aware of the fact that greatness is possible and reachable, you will not be bothered to attempt to go for it. Remember that whatever your mind can conceive, if you believe it, you can easily bring it to reality. Invest time in research and personal development. Take the time and look for information, even if you think you don’t need it.
2)Having the wrong mental attitude.
Believing that you CAN NOT achieve something is the first step towards not achieveing it. Sometimes, you will have to try to do those things you think you can’t do, for that will be the only way you will realize that you actually CAN. And sometimes it takes more than one attempt. But, if ‘Plan A’ doesn’t work out, don’t fret; keep trying until you get it right. It is true that often, the wrong choices usually bring us to the right places, eventually. But you must believe in your own capability and potential to achieve whatever you put your mind to. Keep your thoughts realistic, but most importantly stay positive.
3)Past Bad Experiences, fear of failure and wrong counsel.
Most times, after a bad experience with a dream or vision you are likely going to remember the bad parts as you try to work on another dream. But, you will need to break past the force of history and consider that a new page is opening. Don’t let fear of the past failures cripple you and keep you from achieving great things. Do not be moved by how the experiences of others in their walk. You may have similar dreams but how you decide to implement yours will make all the difference.
Be careful who you listen to. Counsel and advice is important but nobody understands the intricacies of your dream like you do. Remember that after receiving counsel, you do not have to implement all you were told but you should carefully assess everything and decide what will work best for you. What people say should not hold you back. I like the old Chinese proverb that says “Let those who say it cannot be done give way to the one who is doing it”.
4) Settling for what is available.
People often settle for whatever is available, and what’s available is not always great. Doing something just because it was there never took anyone to the hall of fame. “Because it was there,” might be an okay reason to climb a mountain, but it is certainly not a very good reason to take a job or start a business. Sometimes, the available might work out, but most often that not going the extra mile for that which the ordinary man do not see makes all the difference.
5)Always taking the path of least resistance.
Good things don’t always come to those who wait, sometimes good things come to those who work hard and struggle to pursue the goals and dreams they believe in. The fact that you are struggling does NOT mean you are failing. And, even if you fail, get up, dust yourself up and try again. Remember never to be afraid of failure. Every great success requires some extent of struggle and perseverance to get there. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
6) Comfort
The truth is that once it becomes too familiar and too comfortable, you should probably think of moving out. No one is ever tempted to pursue greatness when they’ve already got 324 channels at the push of a button, as well as a recliner. Once you get too comfortable, those grand designs and very noble plans to leave an indelible mark in the world are forgotten.
7) Passivity
There’s a huge difference between being agreeable and agreeing to everything. If you haven’t yet learnt to say “No”, you should probably consider signing up for an intensive crash course in the very fine and very necessary art immediately, otherwise you should as well forget about that great achievement. Trust the little voice that tells you, “this is a bad idea”. Avoid passivity by all means, especially when you are on your way to greatness.
8)Pride and Arrogance
Pride is one of the biggest enemies that will work against the greatness you desire. Pride looks down on others. It seeks the limelight all the time and does not seek to raise anyone up for greatness as that becomes increased “competition”. It might sometimes be mistaken for self confidence, but both things are completely
9)Indiscipline, Greed and Wrong Motives
Indiscipline is not doing what you plan and say you will do. Not following up on your commitments. Greed is biting more than you can chew. It is never satisfied with anything. It wants more than is allocated. Most times, dreams suffer at the mercy of the motives of the dreamer. If your dreams for great achievements are based on the wrong motives, chances are, you will pursue that dream with consistency. If you dream is merely about making money, then once the money does not come in time, you take off and start a new dream. If you dream is rooted on helping others, rooted on making this world a better place, then you will not be easily shaken. You will hang in there no matter what forces come against you.
10) Impatience
Most people have lost out on a great opportunity to achieve greatness because they gave up too soon. They probably had the, “I want it to happen here and now” attitude. People tend to forget that from vision conception to its manifestation, there is usually work (a lot of hard work), gestation, continual feeding and shaping of the vision. Speeding is an offence in driving and is more disastrous when it involves dreams and their implementation. Take your time and allow your vision run its full course. Remember that some visions could come to fruition in a shorter time than others. When you get into the habit of thinking the “quick return” visions are better than long term ones then you will always hop from vision to vision “hoping” for a quick returns.
