Goal Achievement - Hold Onto Your Vision and Your Dreams

My post "Money is Secondary When It Comes to Goal Setting" apparently struck a raw nerve with at least one person who submitted a comment which I mistakenly deleted. However, basically what the person said was that I should have prefaced the post with "In my opinion" and that because I didn't they didn't read the post.

First of all this is a blog and so, by definition, most of what is written here is my opinion. In addition to sharing resources and news about events I share my views on personal development issues. And while they may be my views I can back up what I write about.

I've decided to address the comment with another post because I know from coaching many clients and talking to people in general that a lot of people believe they shouldn't set goals for what they cannot currently afford or what they believe they never will be able to afford. And, if that is their belief this is will be their reality.

Now, on the other hand, if you have the money to do whatever it is you're seeking to achieve and you know how to go about achieving it then it really isn't a true goal. A goal is meant to stretch you. It's not the acquisition of the goal that is important. It's what you become as a result of going after your goal that counts. You'll find that once you achieve your goal you'll already be looking ahead for other peaks to climb.

I can give several examples from my own life of things I've achieved when at the outset I really didn't know how I was going to achieve them and I certainly didn't have the money. And I could write several volumes about individuals who had the courage to dream when they didn't initially have the financial resources to achieve their goal and still they succeeded. However, they would never have triumphed if they based their vision on their current circumstances.

So here is just one example.

When Monty Roberts was in High School his teacher asked the class to write about what they wanted to become when they grew up. Monty wrote that he wanted to own a 200-acre ranch and raise thoroughbred racehorses. His teacher awarded him with an F.

You see at the time Monty Roberts was living in a camper on the back of a pick-up truck. His teacher thought that he was being unrealistic. In fact, the teacher actually offered to re-grade his essay if he would re-write it. Monty refused. He refused to compromise on his vision.

Today he's an award-winning trainer of championship horses. He travels the world giving presentations to audiences ranging from those incarcerated in prison to executives in Fortune 500 companies.

He's also the author of the New York Times bestseller "The Man Who Listens to Horses" - a book which Queen Elizabeth II encouraged him to write. How about that for a royal command! And he's written several other best-sellers.

And as for that ranch he dreamt of owning. Well, that didn't quite work out. His "Flag Is Up Farms" ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley is a mere 154 acres.

This is just a snippet of Monty Robert's achievements. Just suppose he had listened to his teacher. I think his story may have unfolded differently.

I was watching the movie "The Opus" recently - a great movie by the way. It's about the story of a young man who pursues his dreams despite experiencing enormous challenges. Anyway, I learned something new about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Apparently, when he first attended college his father personally introduced him to the head of the college and begged him to teach his son how to dream. History has shown us that he learnt this particular lesson very well indeed.

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream."

The point I want to make is that it costs nothing to dream and to have a vision for a bigger, brighter future. And it's only by daring to have such dreams, regardless of the amount that dream will cost to execute and the amount of money that you may or may not have, that you'll live an enriched and fulfilled life.

And what if you don't actually achieve your dream? Remember this:

"Dreams are like stars...you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny."