Discover the 4 Resources you cannot live without!
Thank you for joining me. Today I want to help you explore the resources needed in planning for your dreams.
But, before I do let’s take a look back in review of the last few weeks.
I have talked about discovering your inner Champion, bringing clarity to your purpose, while building a life where you are doing what you love.
We talked about our identity and how we build with a longing for greatness and in that greatness, we want make a lasting impact.
We practiced the Art of Dreaming!
We explored ways we can bring our dreams into reality.
(Download my Dream Worksheet to help you dream, and dream big. The link can be found at the end of this blog.)
I love this quote by Walt Disney…
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
And to add to that I believe…
Our dreams are just fantasy if they are only held in our minds.
In my podcast, Episodes 4 and 6, I interview Katie Charos and Ross Stewart who share how they brought their dreams into reality.
You find those with any episodes you may have missed at cindy-stewart.com under Media or on iTunes.
Today be ready to take action by expanding your dreams! Specifically by taking them from your Dream Worksheet and determining what resources you need to achieve this dream.
What do I mean about resources?
Webster defines resources as a source of supply or support: an available means.
Many times when we talk about resources, we equate it to money.
Money is just one, there are many other resources that enable your dreams to become reality.
Time is one of your most valuable resources.
Most often we do not realize how we spend our time. One of the first items I do with my new clients is have them time track every minute of their day for a week.
Most think they have their time under control — until they keep the log for a week. Then they realize the five minutes they spend viewing FB or Instagram was actually thirty minutes and they were doing it three or four times a day.
Or they recognize their forty-hour workweek is actually fifty hours per week.
Please, hear me — there is no judgment in how you spend your time.
It is your choice, however most of us do not realize the amount of time we spend on something!
I know I didn’t, but now I have made it a habit to keep my eye on the clock when scanning my Instagram, twitter or FB account, and I quit at the allotted time.
It is the same when I decide to stop by Marshall’s and see if they have any new stuff. I give myself a time limit of how long I can browse.
It has taken me many years of wasting time to understand how I work.
Recently, I was asked to serve on the Board of Directors for a company. My first question was “What would be required of me, not only in skill, but in time?”
I have learned that with my full schedule, if I say, “Yes” to something that means “NO” to something else.
This carries over to my Coaching, too. I have set a limit to the number of clients to be sure you get my best, which makes your investment even greater.
To help ensure quality time for my family I silence my phone in the evening.
Do you have an accurate account of your time?
Take the challenge! Spend the next week logging every minute and then calculate the categories at the end of the week. See how you spend your time.
This is really important if you want to have as much time as you can for your life, your dreams, family, and fun stuff.
You may have to make some tough choices.
You may need to release some time commitments that are good, but are not really the best for you.
People are a great resource; the bottom line is we cannot do without people.
Think about who has inspired your life, a parent, a teacher, a leader?
The person who inspired me the most was my mom. She was a champion for others and would always encourage me (and others) in their gifts and dreams for the future.
We can learn from others.
There are others out there who have forged the path for us.
Richard Branson is an entrepreneur who started Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines and now through his Virgin Group owns 400 companies.
Forbes states his worth is 4.9 Billion Dollars.
Here is a little info most do not know about him:
Richard Branson has dyslexia and had poor academic performance; on his last day at school, his headmaster, Robert Drayson, told him he would either end up in prison or become a millionaire.
He chose even above that — BILLIONAIRE.
You can accomplish anything — regardless of your challenges.
Listen to His Words:
“My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them… from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it.”
He started with a magazine called Student. After interviewing several prominent personalities, including Mick Jagger — this ended up being the start of his record company.
The name “Virgin” was suggested by one of Branson’s early employees because they were all new at business.
Branson’s first successful entry into the airline industry was during a trip to Puerto Rico. His flight was cancelled, so he decided to charter his own plane the rest of the way and offer a ride to the rest of the stranded passengers for a small fee in order to cover the cost.
He ended up selling his record company to support his airline — Virgin Airlines.
He is a high-risk taker — he set his sight on a dream and sought out the right people.
People are an amazing resource we cannot do without – and they are all around us. We connect with their expertise, through books, podcast, and blogs.
You will discover you have amazing people around you just by asking questions.
Opportunity – you never know when an opportunity will present itself.
Richard Branson had a need after a cancelled flight — so he chartered a plane. Then he saw an opportunity — the other passengers needed a ride, too. And the door was opened for a whole new thought — starting an airline.
Part of the process from dreaming, to resources, to reality is being able to recognize the opportunity when it presents itself and maximizing it.
Today’s podcast is a perfect example…
I love to help people live to their fullest potential in every aspect.
Live their dreams
Discover their strengths
Be dynamic effective leaders
Have incredible relationships with their spouses and children
And learn how to thrive through challenges
I started my website, podcast and blogs from the request of my book agent. It wasn’t long before I realized that this was exactly the venue I needed to reach a wider audience.
It was an opportunity that began with a different purpose and turned out to be a dream I had that I was unsure how to launch.
I LOVE DOING THIS!
Courage to take the Risk. We do not think of “Courage to Risk” as a resource. If we never take the risk for our dream, then it will never come to life.
John Maxwell wrote a book called “Failing Forward”.
It is a great book in teaching you that when you take risks and fail – don’t FAIL BACKWARDS —
Let it push you forward.
Here is a great quote from his book:
“Determining what went wrong in a situation has value. But taking that analysis another step and figuring out how to use it to your benefit is the real difference maker when it comes to failing forward. Don’t let your failure lead to only knowledge; let your failing lead to action.”
When things don’t go as we planned — we have to figure out where do we go from here and what we could have done to prevent it.
Let me tell you one of my craziest failures —
I was handling an incentive trip for a large tech company. Their top sellers and their wives and all the executives and their wives won a trip to another country.
My team and I spent about a year planning every detail. We had planned parties, contests and events for all the guests at a five-star resort on the beach. Beside a few minor glitches that worked out everything went according to plan.
It was the final night and all the awards were to be given out. We had rented a home on the top of the cliff overlooking the ocean. It had a beautiful pool with an expansive deck. We hired a full staff of chefs and wait-staff. Guests were in their semi- formals. Champagne flowed freely – sheer opulence.
It was absolute perfection.
The last awards were given and everyone was thrilled.
Then, it was time to go back to the hotel.
Little did I know in the background my staff was frantically working to replace the transportation that had brought everyone to the house. As it turned out the other transport company decided to cancel at midnight because it was a holiday and they we going to party!
How do you transport 100+ people down a mountain back to their hotel with no vehicles? We were finally able to secure a handful of taxis to make the runs back and forth. It was a nightmare!
And the President was beat red — he was furious with me. He and the rest of the execs chose to be the last to leave and finally arrived at their hotel in the wee hours of the morning.
I was sick — I could not believe it after every thing was so perfect. I thought this is it — I will never work again (and I think the President of the tech company told me that too)…
The end of the story is, I didn’t know how to really fail forward. I was afraid of making a mistake again. I spent many sleepless nights trying to rewrite the ending.
Have you had a situation, like I did, where you risked and felt like you failed and that perceived failure held you back from risking again?
In these situations we need to take small steps, one risk at a time to build our courage back up.
We all have different “risk quotients.”
Richard Branson obviously has a much higher risk quotient than most of us do.
Find your “risk quotient.”
What is the acceptable risk that fits your willingness?
Then, being willing to try, and if it does not work, then learn from what did and didn’t worked Prepare, step out and risk again!!
As we come to the end of this episode — I want to challenge you to put the three things we talked about into action.
1) Spend the next week logging every minute and then calculate the categories at the end of the week. Learn how you spend your time.
2) Begin to dream — If you have not downloaded the dream worksheet you can find it at Cindy-Stewart.com/dreamsheet, go to episode 3 on my podcast to understand how to use it.
3) Take your top dream and begin to brainstorm about the resources needed for that dream to become a reality.
- List out the time you need to invest
- Find people who you could learn from
- Look for Opportunities
- Discover your risk quotient — What is the acceptable risk that fits your willingness?
Remember – You are the best investment you can make!