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Wouldn’t it be nice if achievement just landed in your lap or showed up in your mailbox one day? Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. You have to practice success. You must work on the skills you need to achieve a victory, and really, that’s part of the fun. As Michael Jordan states in the quote above, you make zero percent of the shots you don’t take. If you want to capture your dreams, you have to get out there and make the shots. No one will sink those baskets for you. You have to reach for your own goals.
The question for you today is: are you taking the shots? Are you actively pursuing success or just dreaming about how nice it would be to have it? Let today be another “Reality Check Day,” just like the habit you started on Day 257. Take some inventory and honestly assess whether or not you are truly reaching for your dreams. Is there anything you’ve been putting off that would bring you closer to your goals? Now is the time to do it.
Get out there and take the shots. Practice success. You won’t improve if you don’t put your ideas into practice. Instead of dreading the work it will take to achieve your dreams, try enjoying the experience. Practice can be fun. Think about how great you feel after a good workout at the gym. It might be hard to get there, but the experience is invigorating. You will need to practice new skills in order to achieve success, but that’s exciting. It can be fun to learn something new. Train your mind to enjoy the process as much as the result. Then you can have fun during every play, not just at the end of the game.
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You’ve seen the ads: Get rich quick using the Internet! Find financial freedom through this pyramid scheme! Lose weight by eating only peanut butter for a month! What do you think when you read those headlines? Are you instantly skeptical? Good!
You will not achieve success through a single course of action. It’s a fact. Get over it. Everyone wants that quick fix, and that’s one of the reasons there aren’t as many successful people in the world as there could be. You are actually going to have to put a bit more effort into real success. Shortcuts just don’t work in the grand scheme of things.
Your assignment today is to make a commitment to get in this journey for the long haul. You have your whole life ahead of you. Stop looking for band-aid solutions and start building a solid foundation for success.
Open up your journal to a new page and write a pledge to yourself today. Take an oath that you will follow every step on the path to your dreams. Promise yourself that you will not try the shortcuts, but you will stay on the road you need to take to reach legitimate success. That means you must be willing to devote time to your project. Make a pledge in this document to practice your skills, learn from others, and help those you meet along the way. Make a promise to yourself that you are worth the effort. You deserve abundance. Show that you are willing to take the less-popular but more-rewarding road to get there.
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Yesterday you considered things you don’t trust. Today you can latch on to something you can trust: movement. Taking action is the surest way to success.
Think of the people you know who really live life to the fullest. Describe their characteristics. Why do you consider them people who get the most out of life? What is it about them that feels vibrant and exciting? Which of their characteristics do you want to emulate in your life?
Life is a series of events. Words and thoughts are reflections on those events, but life happens in the actions that you and others take every day. You cannot live out a fruitful life in your mind or on paper. Life requires action.
The twins were almost two years old, and they were a whirlwind of activity. Grandma sat on the floor watching Kate play the drums and Sam “read” a book. Then Sam took over the drums, and Kate decided to make breakfast in their playhouse. Within minutes, Sam took over the breakfast duties, and Kate fired up the miniature vacuum to clean house. Suddenly, Sam became a DJ blaring music on a CD player while Kate danced. Grandma smiled at the pandemonium created by those two blonde cuties. It was a banner day filled with an endless series of events strung together to form a bond between brother and sister and between grandparent and grandchild. Are you enjoying the events in your life? Trust movement.
