My Bucket of Cold Water
I always notice when people talk a lot about fabulous dreams while giving little to no thought about what would be involved in making those dreams become reality.
I knew someone who believed for several years that he had a product idea he'd be paid millions for. He never even got this product successfully into a single store. But he did have lots of plans for how he was going to spend his millions. I used to catch a lot of shit for never showing support for all these "plans."
I met a woman who had created a character for children's books she believed would launch a branded-products empire. She even had ideas for spin-off characters. What she didn't have were the story ideas for the books. But she was certain that Nordstrom was the best choice to award exclusive rights to the clothing product lines.
Back when I lived in Atlanta, I had a neighbor come over all excited to tell me something. He was starting his own business! And it was going to be great! He breathlessly related to me how easily he was going to make a huge amount of money with a minimal time investment, as so many people involved in this business had done. By the time he caught his breath, I knew he had bought into the scam of a multi-level marketing company. He even had to pay for the products himself, up front. He had plans for how he was going to borrow the money to do that. He also had plans for the multitude of ways his life was going to change when he was in a whole new income bracket. When I started to ask him a series of due-diligence-type questions about the company and its products, he got very angry with me. I wasn't happy and excited for him. I was belittling and negative and mean! I don't know if he actually bought all the products and attempted to sell them because we never spoke again. He was THAT furious at me.
My boss has started me working on a new project. When he presented the idea to me, he had a goal for it that I immediately knew was unrealistic. I wrote him a report and laid out the statistics that define the project's near-term potential. But I also outlined what I think we'd need to do to reach further and work toward his loftier goal. I estimated time and cost investments and outlined the decisions that would have to be made along the way and the obstacles we'll likely have to deal with.
Do you have realistic goals? Have you determined what's really going to be necessary to achieve them? Or do you just talk about it? And think about how great it will all be? Talking about something can make some people believe they are working toward a goal. The more they talk, often it seems like the dream itself starts to become ever-more grandiose.
Talking about something will NEVER get it done! Planning, making up a notebook or blog to write about it, bargaining (I'll start Monday!), it's all just avoidance and procrastination. Maybe you have an all-or-nothing attitude about getting started. Get that out of your head! Do something TODAY that would be part of a lifestyle change for you. Then do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And then add in something else. If it takes steps to get you kickstarted and going, then take steps. JUST STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!!! Try this. It's Sunday. Go buy an inexpensive piece of equipment then come home and USE IT. Maybe push up stands or a Swiss ball. If you live in Chicago, go check out Fitness Factory. It's fantastic! Just don't be looking at huge expensive equipment you won't really use! It's almost Spring, you'll be able to walk OUTSIDE, you don't need a treadmill!
Go do something positive today. DOING IS REALITY.
I knew someone who believed for several years that he had a product idea he'd be paid millions for. He never even got this product successfully into a single store. But he did have lots of plans for how he was going to spend his millions. I used to catch a lot of shit for never showing support for all these "plans."
I met a woman who had created a character for children's books she believed would launch a branded-products empire. She even had ideas for spin-off characters. What she didn't have were the story ideas for the books. But she was certain that Nordstrom was the best choice to award exclusive rights to the clothing product lines.
Back when I lived in Atlanta, I had a neighbor come over all excited to tell me something. He was starting his own business! And it was going to be great! He breathlessly related to me how easily he was going to make a huge amount of money with a minimal time investment, as so many people involved in this business had done. By the time he caught his breath, I knew he had bought into the scam of a multi-level marketing company. He even had to pay for the products himself, up front. He had plans for how he was going to borrow the money to do that. He also had plans for the multitude of ways his life was going to change when he was in a whole new income bracket. When I started to ask him a series of due-diligence-type questions about the company and its products, he got very angry with me. I wasn't happy and excited for him. I was belittling and negative and mean! I don't know if he actually bought all the products and attempted to sell them because we never spoke again. He was THAT furious at me.
My boss has started me working on a new project. When he presented the idea to me, he had a goal for it that I immediately knew was unrealistic. I wrote him a report and laid out the statistics that define the project's near-term potential. But I also outlined what I think we'd need to do to reach further and work toward his loftier goal. I estimated time and cost investments and outlined the decisions that would have to be made along the way and the obstacles we'll likely have to deal with.
Do you have realistic goals? Have you determined what's really going to be necessary to achieve them? Or do you just talk about it? And think about how great it will all be? Talking about something can make some people believe they are working toward a goal. The more they talk, often it seems like the dream itself starts to become ever-more grandiose.
Talking about something will NEVER get it done! Planning, making up a notebook or blog to write about it, bargaining (I'll start Monday!), it's all just avoidance and procrastination. Maybe you have an all-or-nothing attitude about getting started. Get that out of your head! Do something TODAY that would be part of a lifestyle change for you. Then do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And then add in something else. If it takes steps to get you kickstarted and going, then take steps. JUST STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!!! Try this. It's Sunday. Go buy an inexpensive piece of equipment then come home and USE IT. Maybe push up stands or a Swiss ball. If you live in Chicago, go check out Fitness Factory. It's fantastic! Just don't be looking at huge expensive equipment you won't really use! It's almost Spring, you'll be able to walk OUTSIDE, you don't need a treadmill!
Go do something positive today. DOING IS REALITY.
posted by Dagny at
7:48 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home