In Last week’s blog post I wrote about getting clear on your vision by creating a vision board to aid in gaining clarity. Many of us think that once we get clear on our goals that the goal will just fall in our lap and success will be achieved with little or no effort.  That once we make the vision board the work is done.  Isn’t this what the Law of Attraction is all about?  Isn’t it supposed to be that easy?  

As a child I saw my parents work in many different sectors of the economic world.  My father was the director of purchasing for over 50 years at a paperboard company that created boxes for everything from Kleenex® and breakfast cereals to motor parts.  My mother was a very successful insurance agent winning sales awards left and right not only in the state of Wisconsin but in the entire tri-state region.  My parents were also established Bee Keepers, which included selling honey and bees wax, they were Shaklee® distributers (natural health products) with a mini store in our basement, and they also owned a “Video Center” before the days of Blockbuster.  So needless to say, I grew up seeing what it’s like “behind the scenes and in the trenches” of living a dream (or two or three).  : )

One thing that my parents taught me, through their actions, was that it takes a clear goal, a plan, as well as patience and persistence when following your dream.   I learned not to give up when all seems lost or when you get to what seems like a dead end.  “A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn.”  Author Unknown

You may be asking, “So if doing my vision board isn’t all there is to do, what comes next?”  Let’s break this down.  Envision you have your goals and dreams on your vision board; really look at your main goal or destination.  Next map out the baby steps needed to get to your goal.  Let’s say you want to go to college but have no money.  (Step by step)

• You put a photo of the college you want to attend on your vision board. 
• Plan baby steps towards that goal.
• Knowing you will need scholarships to be able to go….
• You speak to someone at the college and share your dream of going to college. 
• You also begin to look for scholarships available for your demographic. 
• You find several scholarship categories that you fit into and apply. 
• You find out that several scholarships require you to write a three page essay, and for one of them, you have to interview someone working in your desired field of study. 
• You become discouraged at the amount of work, but you push on and complete the work required of you. 
• You not only qualify for those scholarships, but you also qualify for several others that the scholarship coordinator at the college found for you!  Yay!!!  
• You are now on your way to funding your college years! 

“We acquire the strength we have overcome.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.  When you encounter road blocks allow that to feed you instead of defeat you.  Allow the road block to speak to you so you can learn from the struggle and block.  “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.” Frank A. Clark.   So many times I have my clients tell me they were “this close” to making it to their dream, but they were just tired; tired of the let down, tired mentally, emotionally and physically.  They let the obstacles and the work defeat them.

I know some of you are thinking: “Why do I have to do work?  Why bother writing, recording, printing and distributing Cd’s?  I know someone will ‘discover me’ somewhere.”  Or “I am so talented, I’ll just be able to write my manuscript, send it in and I am sure to get the book deal.”  I am here to tell you it takes work to achieve goals.  As the inventor of the light bulb, Thomas Edison made 10,000 unsuccessful attempts.  When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 10,000 times?”  Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 10,000 different times.  The light bulb was invented with 10,000 steps.” 

“The secret of success is focus of purpose.”  Thomas Edison

Look at your goal; break it down into manageable baby steps and then keep moving forward towards that goal.  Even though some days it seems as though you are going backwards, keep on going.  When you encounter “road blocks” move around them or stop and look around, what can you do differently?  Always be willing to change your course, as there is not one path to accomplishing your dreams… there are many.   Just pick one and start moving forward.