Some people give up on their dreams while others keep going on. Its amazing how some people have the perseverance to accomplish amazing things while others can’t seem to get their simplest goals met. Making a dream a reality is hard enough just getting the work done. It so often seems easier to give up the dream than to press ahead. The financial crises has deepened our concern about our future and it feels like our dreams are that much farther away.
Every successful person has had to overcome one or more challenges. I have had to overcome challenges that have almost shut me down totally. I don’t know your challenges, but you do. We all start to make compromises and one day our grandest dreams just disappear. In this time of uncertainty, more and more dreams seem to be slipping away.
The reasons we lose our dreams is as varied as we each are. One person gives up because they feel they don’t have the time available to pursue their dreams. Another person will give up because they feel they don’t have the money or the capital to pursue the dream. A third person is thinks they aren’t giving up, they are just delaying their dream. A fourth stops because the risk of failure scares them. A fifth procrastinates because they don’t know how to get from where they are today to where their dreams are. In my mind, the hardest challenge to overcome is when a person doesn’t get the support of the people who love them the most. Its seems its almost impossible to overcome the challenge of the spouse, siblings or a parent who doesn’t believe in you and your dream.
The worst is the person with a dream who doesn’t believe in themselves.
On the other hand, we can see around us everyday amazing stories of what happens when we don’t give up. Oprah Winfrey was born without indoor plumbing. Donald Trump was $9.1 Billion dollars in debt. Nelson Mendela spent 27 years in jail. Richard Branson almost went bankrupt several times. Mary Kay Ash was divorced and then widowed before she started Mary Kay Cosmetics. Abraham Lincoln lost almost every election he entered before he became one of America’s greatest presidents.
These people and many others started as normal people but have some how accomplished extraordinary dreams. Each of the people Each of them accomplished there dreams by overcoming the challenges I described above and other less publicized challenges.
Each of them had to persevere the challenge to achieve their dreams. They had to overcome that voice inside them and sometimes the voices around them that didn’t believe they could do it.
The didn’t give up – they developed strategies that addressed their challenges. They executed on those strategies.
In the first chapter of the 1937 classic, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill shares the story of a man who caught ‘gold fever’ and he went west to Colorado to dig and grow rich. The man found gold. He rushed home and gathered capital funds and assistance from his family, friends, and neighbours, he returned to Colorado to mine the gold.
Unfortunately, the gold disappeared. The man and his nephew continued, desperately, to dig, attempting to find the vein of gold again, but to no avail. The were overwhelmed with frustration and quit working the claim.
They sold the machinery to a local junk man for a few hundred dollars and left town.
Realizing the mine had once produced treasure, the junk man sought the counsel of an engineer. The engineer explained how a fault line can separate a vein of gold. He suggested that if the junk man returned to the mine and dug a mere three feet from where the first discovery was made, he would find more precious ore.
With pick in hand, the junk man followed the expert’s advice and hit one of the greatest gold stores the nation has ever seen.
In Hill’s words, “The junkman took millions of dollars in ore from the mine because he knew enough to seek expert counsel before giving up.”
Seeking expert counsel before you give up is just one of many practical strategies that can make your dreams come true, even when your way seems totally blocked.
There are many many more strategies.
The best way to learn strategies for perseverance is to hear the stories of people who have overcome challenges and have been successful.
Think and Grow Rich has been in print continuously since 1937 and has sold over 16 million copies. Napoleon Hill’s books are have been kept published and republished by the Napoleon Hill foundation. The foundation has determined that one of the greatest challenges faced by people is learning how to persevere.
Perseverance is a character strength we are all going to need in the next few years.
Greg Reid and Sharon Lechter interviewed over 60 contemporary leaders from business, sports, academia, science, publishing, and entertainment icons about how they persevered. The interviews have been made into a DVD movie and a book.
Some of the icons that Greg and Sharon interviewed include:
- Dave Liniger (Co-founder of REMAX Realty)
- Julie Krone (Professional female athlete of the year)
- Truett Cathy (Founder of Chick-Fil-A)
- James Amos (Former CEO, MBE/UPS Stores)
- Jack Mates (Founding CEO, Velcro USA)
- Ed Foreman (Only person elected to Congress in two states)
- Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones (Inspirational Giant)
- Paul J. Meyer (Self made Billionaire)
- John Schwarz (Co-creator ‘String Theory’)
- Joe Dudley (Founder Dudley Cosmetics)
- Don Green (Exec Director Napoleon Hill Foundation)
- Evander Holyfield (Boxing Champion)
- Mike Helton (President, NASCAR)
- Wally Amos (Famous Amos Cookies)
- Dr. Tom Haggai (Chairman, Heratio Alger Committee)
- Ruben Gonzalez (Three time Winter Olympian)
- Drayton McLane (Chairman Houston Astros Franchise)
- JaHja Ling (Acclaimed Symphony Conductor)
- Richard Cohn (Publisher, The Secret)
- Ronald D. Glosser (Former president of Goodyear Bank, retired president and CEO of The Hershey Trust and the M.S. Hershey Foundation.)
- Jack Faris (Former president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business)
- Jerry Heffel (Past pres. Southwestern Company)
- Michael Laine (Founder and president of LiftPort, Inc., builders of the space elevator)
- John St Augustine (Exec Director, ‘Oprah and Friends’)
Greg Reid is the best selling author of The Millionaire Mentor – A Simple Way to Get Ahead in Your Work and in Life, and Positive Impact and Producer of Pass It On. Sharon Lechter was the co-author the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series of books, including the book “Why We Want You To Be Rich” by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.
You can hear a teleseminar I did with Greg on October 28th, 2008 at Three Feet From Gold Seminar Recording
I think I will let some people you probably know tell you about Greg.
Motivational Speaker, Dr. Denis Waitley, #1 best selling author The Psychology of Winning says…
“He is at the top of his game and can help you become the champion you deserve to be.”
Charlie “Tremendous” Jones says…
“Greg Reid is one of the most exciting speakers I’ve ever heard. He shares the principles that he used to build several successful businesses with conviction and energy that you will never forget.”
Dave Liniger – Co-Founder Re/Max realty says…
“Mr. Reid teaches simple techniques to help turn one’s passion into profit.”
Greg will talk about some of the people he has met making the DVD and some of their stories. One special story he will share is from Richard Cohen. Richard is the publisher of the book The Secret. Richard went from not being able to afford to declare bankruptcy to the publisher of The Secret which sold six million copies in less than six months.
Greg will speak for about half an hour or so and then answer questions for the remainder of the hour. While we have booked an 1 1/2 hours for the call we will try to complete the call in one hour. We are using GotoMeeting.com technology – therefore you can either listen online or via telephone.
We have arranged for phone numbers from around the world.
Questions can only come from people online and there is a limit to 1,000 people.
Please register early so that you are not disappointed – many of the people who wanted to register for my last last seminar could not get on.
If you ever have been overwhelmed or have thought of giving up, this call is for you.
The call will be on October 28th, 2008 at 1pm EST/12/CST/11am MST/10am PST
As part of the arrangements for the teleseminar we need to know the number of people registering.
You can here the teleseminar at Three Feet From Gold Seminar Recording
On the registration page there are some sample video’s from the DVD and the latest and greatest trailer for the movie. So, you can see what its all about.
http://www.zaletabakman.ca/links/three-feet-from-gold-registration-page/
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