Have BIG ideas
and then LIVE up to them! 

It's true - if you only think small thoughts, then you are likely to only achieve small things, but if you dream on a BIGGER scale, then you are much more likely to achieve those big dreams.

It is all about setting the direction of your energy - the more positive you are, the bigger the energy flow in the direction you want to go. It really does come down to "what you believe" is "what you get". So believing (and I mean really believing - not some half-hearted wish) that you are going to be an astronaut/doctor/artist/slim is exactly the energy that is needed to make it happen. How many times have you heard of a successful person saying "for as long as I can remember - I always wanted to be ..."? Those people started out in life with a conviction of who they were going to be - what a powerful way to get what they want out of life!

Perhaps those that didn't have such a strong intent, and that have been ambling along from one thing to another might be feeling a bit concerned by now, that they might never achieve anything. Are you thinking that you will never make it, or have what you want out of life?

Well, it is never too late to start - as soon as you believe it - you can have it! And that's the trick - BELIEVING it.

However, with all those past experiences to go on, of "not having" or "not achieving much", it's going to take a very big leap of faith to start and truly believe now. For starters, you are going to have to ditch negative attitudes about what you think you are capable of, including what others have told you, and re-learn some new positive thoughts.

Incidentally, how many times have you also heard about people who only got their act together AFTER someone had told them that they were a loser, or wouldn't amount to much? For them, proving someone else wrong was their biggest motivation to get going or maybe it was just the wake up call they needed to show themselves what they really could do, if they tried.

Now, once you've got started with this new belief - whether it's I CAN BE SLIM, or I WILL BE A DOCTOR, or I WILL CREATE MY WILDERNESS RETREAT - you have to remain committed to your belief, in order to get to where you are going. Generally, people can often get themselves to the starting point on their own, but slip back into doubt and uncertainty after the initial push. That's where motivational help comes in - such as in the form of the slimming clubs who provide motivation by measurement, sharing with others in the same situation or additional goals to aim at. These days, motivational coaches are also becoming more popular - they provide support when your own motivation (ie belief and commitment) starts to wane.

If you've been down this road a few times already, you may be wondering where you've gone wrong. Well, let's stop and think about what you are trying to do. If all of your life, you've been an "also ran", gone with the flow and followed other people's lead, it takes a big shift internally to suddenly change your ethos to leader, achiever, go-getter!

Now is the time to enact your belief in a manageable way.

That means that you need to put your belief into action in a way that you personally can handle.

For example - if you have a big idea that is "you are going to dig a whole paddock". You can pick up a spade and just start digging. However, at some point, your muscles will get tired, your stomach will get empty and your body will need a rest. Your big idea is now starting to look unattainable today, and motivation might be wilting, especially if your neighbour has got half of their paddock dug already! This is the point that many give up with reasons such as "obviously I haven't got what it takes", "I can't keep you with ...", "I gave it my best shot"! Is this your pattern in life? You get so far and then get disheartened and stop or change to do something you think you CAN achieve? Perhaps you've gradually reduced your estimation of what you think is achievable?

First of all, comparing yourself with others can be very disheartening - we are not all the same, we have different physical and mental abilities and therefore you usually do yourself a disservice with this comparison. If your goal was to dig the paddock, then it doesn't matter if your neighbour can do it more quickly. You don't need to add the extra challenge of digging it faster than anyone else (unless this is your true goal of course, but then you're playing a different game!).

Another issue is impatience - "I want X and I want it now!" Staying power is what is needed in order to achieve your goal - life isn't all instant gratification, sometimes it takes longer - ask an Olympic athlete how long they train every day.

However, you can bring your goal a lot closer by working out a realistic way that you can achieve it, with YOUR body and YOUR circumstances. Now, don't let FEAR get an opportunity to creep back in here - it's not a quick get out clause for your past negative belief system, just a realistic facing of facts. You can only dig for so long before needing a break, you will work better with a good spade, the weather may make a difference to how effectively you work. These are factors to consider and to work with or around.

So in our example, of digging a paddock, giving yourself some interim goals or marker points - such as "I'll dig up to that point and take a break" or "I'll dig one row every day" is a balanced way of progressing towards your goal. You also know that as long as you keep at it, then one day you will reach the other end.

This approach also gives you an opportunity to learn as you go. Each time you reach a way marker, you have just achieved what you set out to do - pat yourself on the back, admire your handiwork so far, see how quickly the dug portion is growing. Very soon you will have done more than you have left to do. You will probably also notice how your muscles are developing, as well as your confidence growing and that now you are setting your way markers further apart.

Consider your growth in self belief as a metaphorical equivalent of physical muscle development - the more you practice ACHIEVING, the more you achieve. The effect is cumulative. Remember, each time, you need to push just that bit further than you did the last time.

You need to have an aim that is slightly out of your reach in order to stretch yourself to reach it.

There is one more aspect to achieving your goal, that takes your BELIEF to another level altogether and that can ultimately produce much faster results. For this you need to take your BELIEF to the level of KNOWING. This helps to bring all the things that you are going to need to help you attain your goal, ready in line at the time you need them.

KNOWING that something will be there when you put your hand out to reach it is a powerful energy to work with.

To help understand the subtleties between believing and knowing, compare the difference between knowing it was sunny yesterday and believing it will be sunny tomorrow. If you live in a warm, dry, arid climate, then the expectation of a continuance of sun is probably much stronger than if you live somewhere with high rainfall. Pre-disposition based on past events has already set your expectation and your level of BELIEF. Just as in your own personal life, how you have been in the past, colours your expectations about what will occur in the future.

Consider, though, that in both cases, there is the same image in your brain of a sunny day, with the only difference being one of time. What evidence do you really have that it actually was sunny yesterday - did you experience it in order for it to be in your memory? Did someone tell you it was sunny? The newspaper corroborates your view perhaps? Although, it could be that you just dreamed it was sunny, or what you experienced, no one else did - say the clouds skirted around your house and the sun shone on you all day, but your neighbours got rain. We tend to believe things more strongly when they are in the past than the future, citing various other evidence to corroborate what we believe.

If you can transfer that same sense of knowing that you have about the past, on to what you believe for the future, then you will almost certainly bring about the desired outcome. And, of course the more people who also believe the same thing, the more that belief is reinforced - just as someone else in the same place experiencing a sunny day reinforces your own view that it was sunny yesterday.

I know how effective this can be from my own experience of emigrating to another country - it took me just 2 months from making the committed decision. That was the first step - commitment to my decision - I KNEW that I was going. I KNEW that whatever I needed would be available to me to make it happen. I arranged my visa, set a date, booked my ticket, worked out a plan of action and then set about selling my house, car, furniture, everything barring personal items. Plenty of people told me I couldn't do it - and yes it was hard work - but I KNEW differently and KNEW that I could achieve it. And I did.

So I come back to the opening statement:

"Have BIG ideas and then LIVE up to them!"

(J Hargreaves 31st October 2005)

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