My Dream

“To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.”

Abdul Kalam

“Success in any endeavor requires single-minded attention to detail and total concentration.”

Willie Sutton

“A straight path never leads anywhere except to the objective.”

Andre Gide

I’m so happy because this is blog 175.  Another goal has been reached.  I’m not only happy, I’m grateful.  I can even take tomorrow off from writing if I want.  The thing is I don’t want to.  What I want to do is buy that little house on the beach and write and study every day. 

Still, I’m reminded of a question a student asked me a few months ago.  I was sharing my dream with my class, the one where I study and teach and write every day in my house on the beach and she looked me in the eye and said, “What’s stopping you?”

What is stopping me?  Honestly, what is it?

Why aren’t I writing more?

Why aren’t I studying more?

What would I really need to get that house on the beach?

How can I make more money?

How can I discipline myself more?

That’s really it, though.  That’s all I want – to read, study and write and to do a lot of public speaking.    That’s really all I want.  I want the right people in my life to support my dream.  Otherwise, that’s it.

Sometimes, late at night, like it is right now, I get excited about an idea, but then the next morning, in the cold light of day, the idea seems less realistic.  But the light of day isn’t cold.  It’s usually warm.  I need to use that warmth and light to fuel my ambition.  I need to use each day and as much of each day as I can to move toward my goals.  And this isn’t about fevered and frenetic activity.  It’s about picking two or three goals – reading, writing, public speaking and a house on the beach and working towards them.  Three or four goals – that’s it.  Can anything be simpler?  I don’t think so.  Will this be easy?  Again, I don’t’ think so.

There are, as I’ve explained before, two kinds of obstacles – external and internal.  The external obstacles are difficult, but the internal are far more so.  External obstacles can include good things like kids, work or other commitments.  They can also be bad things like sickness, stress or being over-committed.  As difficult as those are, the internal struggles are far more powerful.  They tell me that I can’t overcome my external struggles.  They are also things like procrastination, lack of presence, and/or allowing myself to be distracted. 

But if I keep my goals in mind then while things may not always be easier, at least I will know where I am going. 

That’s it.  That’s all I want to say tonight.  I don’t need to say much more.  I just need my words and my actions to be direct.  I need to Get Started and Keep Going… until I’m reading and writing in that house on the beach.