In the movie industry, there is a standard phrase on the set: “Lights (the scene is lit for the imagery intended), Camera (the camera people begin to record), and…Action (the actors are in motion)”.

 

Your life should mimic this phrase: “Lights (your dreams and goals are illuminated in your mind’s eye), Camera (your mind’s eye is recording) and…Action (you are actively working on that part of your dream or goal – not the whole thing, just a part)”.  Are you prepared to take Action?

 

Your daily routine should include acting upon an action that moves you towards one of your dreams or goals, even if you only work on a small component of the big picture.  Imagine assembling a bicycle that came in a box filled with loose parts and no instruction manual.  What are the odds that the bicycle will go together correctly the first time, if at all?   Probably not good.

 

The advice you will discover in the Dreams, Goals, and Growth series within this website is the instruction manual filled with practical advice to put together the loose parts of your dreams and goals.  All it requires is for you to take action.  You will also find cross-references to information within timgrady.com.  For example, one of my early videos on YouTube entitled “The Toolbox” contains advice on how to document your dreams and goals.  It only requires you to take a little action.  

 

For this exercise, you don’t have to risk anything, but it is transformational in moving you toward your dreams and goals in a way you may not have experienced before.  Here is the small, simple action: Find a quiet place and time to sit down to think about the things you want in your life.  If you take a moment to download your FREE copy of My Goals Guide, perhaps it will help trigger some of your thinking about your personal dreams and goals.  Then, begin to write each one down, type them into a list on your phone, tablet, or PC, or use a tool like Trello (www.trello.com) to document each dream and goal.  When you convert your thoughts to writing, several powerful things begin to happen.   

 

Imagine, for a moment, that you are going to go on a road trip to a place 1,000 miles away.  Road trips are often fun.  Would you simply get in your car and begin driving?  More likely, you would look at a map, find what highways to take, determine where you might stop for gas or food, where you might stay for a night, and how much gas, a hotel room, and food would cost.  In other words, you would plan your trip before you took action.

 

The first powerful thing that begins to happen when you write down your dreams and goals is that other dreams and goals will appear that have been swirling around in your thoughts but without order, substance, or action steps.   With each one written down, your mind has now cleared the road ahead, and instead of being in a traffic jam of thoughts, you can begin to see and move forward.  Commitment to goal pursuit thrives in clarity.  Procrastination thrives in the clouds of uncertainty.

 

You are 42% more likely to achieve your dreams and goals if you document your dreams and goals.  I say, "An unwritten dream will remain an unrealized dream.”  Documenting your dreams and goals is one of the reasons why the “Have’s” have, and the “Have Not’s” have not.  The “Haves” – generally successful people – can easily produce a documented list of their dreams and goals (and you’ll learn the other things they do to get ahead in the Dreams, Goals, and Growth series).  

 

People who struggle with success generally haven’t written down anything at all – they think about their dreams, maybe quite frequently, but they don’t document them, so they are blocked from taking action by the traffic in their heads.  They lack clarity.  They are unsure of their direction and their purpose within their own clouds of uncertainty.

 

Writing down your dreams and goals is part of the planning process before you take action to pursue your dreams and goals.   And this action doesn’t require input from anyone, permission from anyone, approval from anyone, or criticism (“Oh, you can’t do that”) from anyone.  It is one small action step in the right direction on your journey to pursue – and achieve – your dreams and goals.  Make your future yours, not someone else’s.

 

Begin your journey.  Improve your chances of success by 42% (later, you will learn how to boost your likelihood of success to a whopping 90%+!).  Add to your list the additional dreams, goals, and ideas that begin popping into your head.  Make this a lifetime habit of action.

 

For more information on this topic, download your FREE copy of My Goals Guide.  Simply complete the form below (a quick but powerful action step) and gain an advantage over more than 85% of the people who won’t or don’t document their dreams.  Congratulations, and welcome to your road trip toward your dreams and goals!   (Yes, you can take some friends – we’ll talk about that later).