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What If Your Dreams Came True?

Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Oct 25, 2011

Last week I listened to an interview on a blog by Ray Edwards with Carrie Wilkerson, whose new book called The Barefoot Executive has just come out. I bought it and I’m about 1/4th of the way through and it’s very good, so I’m recommending it to you as a great business purchase.

Anyway, I was drawn to one particular point where she talked about dreams and how people will have dreams of things they want to achieve, yet sometimes it scares them to think about getting there and then, if it comes, what to do about it or where to go from there. She used two great examples from two of my favorite movies (y’all know I’m just a big kid, right?), Tangled and Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
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From the first movie, the main character is about to experience something she’s dreamed about from the time she was a child, and she’s somewhat sad. When asked why she’s sad she answers “What if it’s not everything I dreamed it would be?” His response is “It will be.” Then she asks “And what if it is; what do I do then?” His response is “Well that’s the good part. You get to go find a new dream”. From the second movie we remember that Snow White is singing a song about wanting her Prince Charming to come, and when he actually shows up she runs into the house and closes the door.

I tend to be a dreamer, but I’m also a realist. I know that if any of my major dreams ever do come true that my life would change. I believe that many people who end up being rich and famous, or even just rich, haven’t prepared themselves for what’s potentially coming. That’s why do many people who win the lottery end up broke, and so many people who end up famous go to rehab, or at least get counseling. All of them know the hard work it took to get there they got, but once there, how many of them have built a foundation to help them keep some of that money and prestige? I mean, how many professional athletes have to end up losing all their money for whatever reason before someone sits back, thinks about it, and realizes that just getting there isn’t enough?

I think it’s this fear that has so many people leaving comments on this blog whenever I talk about striving for the top saying they’d rather make enough to be comfortable, whatever that means. There has to be a fear of getting rich, of being famous, of suddenly seeing your friends change their behavior towards you or you changing your behavior and your friends, of spending money on things you’d have never bought before just because you can, and the fear of what happens if you lose it all and have to start all over again, yet can’t capture what you had.

Two quick stories, if I may. First story, I used to play piano and sing at weddings. Back in 1999 I performed my last wedding. I got to sing a song that I’d always hoped I would sing at my wedding, a song I wrote. It was the final song I ever sang in public, in a church, and I got my one and only standing ovation. I decided that day I was done, that it wouldn’t get any better than that, and I’ve almost never played the piano or sang again, even in the shower. It was a dream I had, though not quite how I saw it coming, but I accepted it and moved on.

Second story is one about weight. I’ve always had a weight issue, I hate to admit. When I first went to college I was probably in the best physical shape of my life but still slightly big. I wouldn’t eat my first semester in college because I couldn’t get used to the food, and I lost 26 pounds. I kept that weight off 2 years and though I’d always keep it off. Gained it all back and more my third year and didn’t lose it again until 10 years later.

Then I lost 66 pounds and was down to what I considered a great weight. Thing is I never believed I could hold that weight, as I thought I’d lost way too much, and two years later I’d gained that weight back and then some.

One more time I lost 50+ pounds and finally I was at the weight I thought would be perfect. This time I held onto it for 9 months, then things started heading south again. See, with my weight, I’ve always dreamed of a size I wanted to be, but I’ve never been able to prepare myself mentally to stay there, and thus I’m back on the losing weight thing again.

Think about this and let’s see what you have to say; what if your dreams came true? Would you be prepared? Would you be ready for another dream, or would you say “it can’t get any better than this?” Or are you fearful that you’d hit your dream and that you couldn’t sustain it and thus would rather not even dream, not for fear that you couldn’t get there but for fear that you might get there?

If you’ve never seen Tangled, enjoy this little clip from the movie, apropos to this topic called I’ve Got A Dream:

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Sunday Question – What’s Your Most Audacious Wish?

Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 23, 2011

You know, most of the time when a question like this is asked of someone, they give one of those politically correct answers that we all know is a lie. Come on now; I mean, you’re going to tell me that if you had the opportunity for anything you ever wanted the one thing you’d wish for is world peace?

Nope, not buying it. Few people are that magnanimous in life. And truthfully, it’s not even number one at the top of many lists for people who want to help others. For instance, world peace doesn’t cure hunger. It doesn’t kill pollution, nor clean waters. It can’t stop disease. These are great goals, and there are some folks who might wish for these things. Yet I’d be hard pressed, if I were honest, if I had one audacious dream, something I really wanted, and I gave it away like that. It’s not a tangible wish; how would any genie or whomever even be able to determine what that was?

Instead, I ask this question because I want you to be selfish. Not necessarily because I want it to totally be about you, but because reality states that when you have what you need to reach your ultimate dream, you actually have enough to help take care of some of those other things that might be on your mind. If you’re wealthy, you can have anything you want, and also give whatever you want to others to help them without hurting yourself. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Back to the question. This one wasn’t really easy for me way back when. I couldn’t really think of anything I wanted other than money; isn’t that a shame? It actually took me about a month to come up with something that, at the moment, is kind of unreachable. I mean, I started out by wanting a soda fountain machine, but those don’t cost much. Then I said I wanted an Aeron chair, and it turns out that in the scope of things that wasn’t all that expensive either (though I just couldn’t bring myself to spend $1,300 on one).

Then it hit me; I want a big, expensive home that I get to help design and that I get to pay off immediately and just have my peace of mind. Oh yeah! Then I ran into a snag that I still have, that being I have no real vision of what I want it to look like on the outside. The best I have is that I want it to be a one-story home; no steps for this guy. I don’t have any steps for my house now except 4 little steps from my deck in the back. I’d eliminate even that in my dream house.

Ah, but what do I want in my dream house? I want space! I want an extra large bedroom. I want an extra large master bathroom, with a separate urinal; come on guys, who wouldn’t want a urinal if you had the space? I want a hot tub or Jacuzzi room with an extra large TV in it so I could possibly see it without my glasses.

I want an extra large kitchen with an island that has the sink in it instead of on the counter, although since I tend to splash a lot I’d probably have to have a panel I could pull up so I’m not always getting water on the floor. I want sound wired through the entire house.

I want solar panels to help conserve my utilities. I want heated coils under the driveway to melt all that snow so that I never have to shovel again, nor pay anyone to clear it, and I want it to look like a brick driveway; heck, it might be a brick driveway. I want the ability to open up my roof and let sunlight in whenever I’m in the mood, although I’d live with skylights.

I want an exercise room and a sewing room for my wife; I know she’d also like a greenhouse. I want a playroom or entertainment room with a large pool table, and I want that room to be able to convert to a media room where, if I’m inclined, I could invite people over to watch special events. I want special lighting where everything can be bright but there are no bulbs shining in anyone’s eyes.

And I want a closed in area that’s actually still outside with comfortable lounge chairs and a fountain where I can go to relax and still enjoy nature in my own way, peacefully and by myself, since I really don’t like being in the backyard.

That’s all I have; I’m sure I could come up with more things later, but truthfully, I’d be happy with just that stuff. So, what are your audacious dreams? Go ahead, share!

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The Journey To My Moon

Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 13, 2011

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. ” – John F. Kennedy, September 12th, 1962

I’ve been thinking about this quote a lot lately; I even used a portion of it in a comment response to Charles on my other blog a couple of weeks ago. It’s an interesting quote in more ways than one; I’d like to talk about it for a little bit.

Last week I put out my 2011 goals for his blog and this part of my career. On my business blog I put up some goals as well. On my finance blog, instead of putting up personal goals, I put up a list of financial goals that we as a people should be looking to attain for our own comfort and well being.

Kennedy’s long term goal was for the United States to get to the moon before 1970. If he hadn’t stated that, and if it hadn’t been put out there for all to see, I doubt it would have ever happened. I mean, there was so much other stuff going on in the world; wars, disease, famine… sound familiar? There have always been major distractions that had the potential of taking everyone away from this goal, yet the goal continued, and we got to the moon.

Last week I had a post on influence where I was responding to Chris Brogan. I’m not sure if you went to read his post, but something else he said there was this: “I never set out to be influential…” I found that interesting because I wondered just how many of us ever set out in our lives to be influential. I’m obviously shooting for that now, and I’ve stated it on more than one occasion, but what about early dreams?

I always wanted to be something. When I was a little kid I wanted to be a cowboy, which is odd because I don’t like cowboy movies. When I was a young teen I wanted to be an Air Force pilot. When I went to college I wanted to learn how to be a sports announcer. When I left college I wanted to be a songwriter.

Then for a decade and a half… nothing. My career path seemed to have been laid out and I decided to just try to be the best I could be doing what I was doing. I didn’t care to try anything else, and I didn’t want to do anything else. No dreams, no visions, no goals; just work on career.

That’s not such a bad life but in a weird way it’s just automatic. It doesn’t require thought. It’s not hard at all. Yeah, there are ups and downs along the way, but you realize that nothing really matters in the end; you just do your thing and move on. There’s little passion, there’s little motivation other than just ‘being’.

In 2001 I started dreaming; I went into business for myself. I started setting goals; some I hit, some I didn’t. I can tell you that my dreams and goals in 2001 are vastly different than they are now, and yet some of them are the same. Growth is a process, no matter whether it’s in a career or whether it’s blogging or writing or anything else.

I have a friend who says she wants to see changes now; well, things just don’t work that way. To me, they don’t work any way if you don’t know what it is you want to be when you grow up. And if you don’t make plans for how to get there when you grow up, then you’re going to just age, still not grow up, and wonder what happened.

What do you want to do and be when you grow up? If you’re already grown up, what are you and what do you do? I know what I want. I want Orson Welles to walk into my office right now, pull out the standard Rich and Famous Contract, and sign that baby (how many of you remember that reference?). But it’s not going to happen that way. I’m going to have to get it done on my own. This blog is a start; who wants to come along with me on the journey to MY moon? It’ll be okay; there’s room for everyone.

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Need Help Setting Goals?

Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Jan 9, 2010

As you know, at the end of December I posted my online goals for 2010. I set goals every year, whether they’re big or low expectation goals. I truly believe that if one doesn’t set goals, then they have nothing to look forward to or to try to achieve. I know it’s not a universal belief, but that’s mine.

I also recognize that when it comes down to it, many people have absolutely no idea how to set goals, or any kind of idea towards a process which might help them set goals. I do it often, not relying only on the goals I put on this blog and my other two blogs, because there has to be some measurable goals that I know I can hit if I persevere. Whenever you achieve something, it inspires you to try to achieve something else.

Just today, for instance, I went to a goal setting retreat. A friend of mine was holding it at his house, and invited a number of people over to participate in the process. His eventual plan is to create something he’ll be able to market. As we went through the process over just over 4 hours, it was fun and enlightening to share each others goals and to find ways to articulate just what it is that we all hope to do for 2010 and further into the future. That’s actually a good way to go with goal setting, in a group, as long as no one in the group is either a downer or dominates the entire process.

Anyway, back to you. I have two things for you that you can decide to download that might help you plan your goals. The first I posted previously here, which are some goals worksheets you can download that were created by Paul Myers of TalkBiz News. The second I just uploaded from my own stash, which are a different set of goals worksheets. This download is only one file, though it has 34 pages; the other has multiple files.

Take your pick, or download both and choose which one you think works better for you. Go ahead, dream, and dream big; we have things to do, places to go, and money to make (yeah, I changed it up). Success, everyone!

Goal-Pro 6.0 Goal-Setting Software