I want to tell you guys another story today. I was running up a big hill with my son a few weeks ago and after we got to the top I asked him how he got up there. At first of course he gave me some joke answer because that is just his personality, but I asked him again and let him know that I really wanted to hear his answer so he responded seriously. He said, “I ran up here, Dad.” I said, “Exactly. Could you have thought your way up here?” He said no. I asked him, “Could you have wished your way up here?” He said no. I asked him, “Could you have gotten a helicopter to take you and drop you off up here?” He said no, because he didn’t know anyone with a helicopter. I said, “That is right. You had to work your way to the top, right? You had to earn your way up here.”
That story just made me think, man. A lot of us have been in similar situations where we think our visions alone can get us where we want to go. Let me tell you something right now: Your visions are not enough. Your wants are not enough. Don’t get me wrong, you can definitely get a lot of motivation from visualizing a goal and being clear to yourself about what you want and how you are going to get it, but that how you are going to get it part is the most important thing to actually achieve whatever goal it is that you have set for yourself to accomplish. Visualizing is a great first step. It is a great desire which can create the destination for you, but it cannot create the path. So many of us on social media get caught up in creating visions for ourselves, but we never take that next step. We can talk about where we want to be and how great it will feel when we get there, but we can never actually take the steps necessary to get there.
We spend so much time showing and telling people what we are going to do. We show people what books we are reading. We show people our vision board. We tell people what we are going to do and how great it is going to be but we never actually put in that hard work and stay committed to it. You see commitment means that you will stick with something that you said you would long after that initial motivation is gone. If you go after something that you want then odds are that you are going to hit resistance and you are going to find yourself struggling. If you really want something and you are really committed to it then you will push through that struggle, and that takes more than vision. That takes commitment, concentration, and consistency. Take that next step. Stop dreaming and start doing.
It all starts with you.
