Monday 6 August 2007

The Courage to be Different

While at the beach, I saw a solitary white dove among several other brown doves that were searching the sand for morsels of food. It reminded me that successful people do not follow the masses. They are independent thinkers.

"The masses are obsessed with conformity rather than creativity."
Bob Proctor: Purpose, Vision, Goals

They are visionaries and because they have the courage to stand out and even apart from the crowd they eventually become luminaries - shining examples for others to follow so that they too might know their greatness.

If you wish to achieve success know that it is not an easy path to follow. You will face ridicule, not just from strangers but from family members and loved ones. You will be ostracised. People will try to stop you in your tracks because they will see your success as a reflection on them. They may not want to change their lifestyle and that's okay or they might not want to do what it takes to achieve the lifestyle they desire. That's okay too. Your first responsibility is to be true to yourself and do whatever fulfils you and makes you happy. However, if you succeed it will shatter their belief that certain things are just not possible so be prepared for criticism.

Sometimes, especially in the early stages, it pays to play your cards close to your chest and not tell any and every one of your dreams and goals as you will need to muster all your energy to keep your vision alive. Bob Proctor talks about the value of having a goal card and how he wrote on his first goal card that he wanted to earn $25,000. At the time he was broke and in debt. He was earning $4,000 a year and owed $6,000.

Well, Proctor would take that goal card out and study it several times a day. Once some of the other lads at the fire station he was working at caught him looking at this card. You can imagine what happened next. They got hold of that card and when they saw what was written on it Proctor became the laughing stock.

Fortunately, he didn't let their behaviour deter him. He kept studying that goal card but made sure he did so in secret. He went from earning $4,000 to earning $175,000 in just one year and a year later his income soared to well over $1,000,000. Proctor now teaches hundreds of thousands how they too can become financially independent.

Naturally, not everyone will discourage you. When you are on purpose, when you are fulfilling your dreams and doing what you came to Earth to do you will also attract individuals who will give you a helping hand.

Dr Joe Vitale, considered to be one of the world's top five marketing experts, wrote a book called "Spiritual Marketing". He wrote it for his sister who was going through a tough time financially. He wanted to help her. He never intended it for a mass audience.

Even although he was already a well-respected author with several books to his name he felt that this book would not be well-received. He felt he would be ridiculed, that his clients would fire him and that the prestigious organisations he had developed a relationship with would shun him. So the book remained unpublished.

Sometime after he had written the book he had an urge to share it with Bob Proctor. Proctor loved it and talked about it at a seminar he was conducting. Dr Vitale was in attendance and had no inkling that Proctor was going to do this. When the audience heard the title of the book far from shunning Dr Vitale people were clamouring to get a copy. Proctor wanted to record it and a publisher wanted to publish it, sight unseen. Spiritual Marketing became a bestseller and remains popular to this day. It certainly gives a non-traditional approach to marketing but an approach that you ignore at your loss.

When Dr Vitale first wrote the book it may have been that the masses were not ready to receive such a message. However, eventually the time came when the world was ready to receive the message contained in this unique book and fortuitously the book itself was ready.

So have the courage to be an original. Be the first to do something. You may not immediately receive recognition for your creation but to withhold it would be denying yourself and the world a valuable gift.




If you're looking for a sense of direction with respect to setting and achieving your goals then read Purpose, Vision, Goals by Bob Proctor. Simply Email
Purpose Vision Goals.

Dr Joe Vitale is a prolific writer and has numerous fascinating books to his credit. Check them out by clicking the link below.

Dr Joe Vitale's Books



No comments:

Post a Comment