Image: power lifter courtesy of greg westfall

Image: Verdant Path courtesy of John-Morgan>

Image: Shattered dreams courtesy of Liamfm

Image: Sweep courtesy of tarotastic

Image: Mount Fortuna Summit courtesy of Lee Sie

This article is for those who have dreams and want to find a way to fulfill them. If you have achieved everything you ever wanted to achieve, then stop right now and move on to the next article. Still here? Great! But before we start, let me disclose that the ideas on this article are not mine; many of my teachers have said the same thing in different words. The last one I heard it say in a way close enough to this one was Bob Poole, author of best-seller “Listen First, Sell Later”, which you can either buy online or download as a free PDF from his web site.

If you have a dream and want to make it come true, here is a sure-fire way of doing it. Beware though: If you have read The Secret and think all you need to do is lie down and visualize it, you are sorely mistaken. Now, don’t get me wrong; I am not bagging the power of self-suggestion, denying the Law of Expectations, or suggesting that the tried-and-tested visualisation techniques are all rubbish. On the contrary; Many successful people use visualisation as a powerful technique to enhance their success. The difference is that whilst The Secret will have you believe that quantum physics will make your dreams come true, successful athletes, atrists, business people and entrepreneurs take massive action to turn their visualised dreams into reality.

Video: The power of Visualisation, from the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance”

To make your dreams come true, here’s the process you must follow:

1. Write your goals. The difference between a dream and a goal is concreteness. A ‘dream’ is high level, abstract, and very nebulous. A goal, on the other hand, is specific (paint the picture with lots of details); measurable (you can know for certain whether you have achieved it or not); and actionable (you know whether something you are doing is helping you move towards achieving the goal or not.

2. Review your goals. Life has a way of making the best goals irrelevant with no advance warning. Once you write your goals, make sure you carry them with you, and review them regularly. As time goes by and you continue to review, rewrite and refine your goals, you will notice they become more alive.

3. Make a plan. Now that you have your goals, figure out the steps that need to be taken to reach that goal. I often recommend setting no more than 5 actions, without a specific timeframe for them. Others recommend that you set a timeframe, and from there you can work back towards smaller, timebound goals, which can then be turned into specific steps to be taken. Use whatever works for you (how do you find out? By trial and error), but make sure you use this step to translate goals into actions, because that is the secret ingredient to make it all work.

4. Just do it. Now that you have actions, all that is left is to go and do them. It is that simple. Well, I guess it is not, otherwise we would all have fulfilled our dreams; on the journey to your dreams, life will through all sort of obstacles, and you will be tested a thousand times. Was that a dream, or just a whim? If it is a dream, then you will persist and persevere; adjust the actions when they don’t work; and continue making progress until you make it happen.

And when you make it come true? Another dream will come along, and you start all over again. If you follow this process, you are guaranteed to make your dreams come true sooner or later. The timeframe will depend on how ambitious your goal was, and how many mistakes you make (hint: making more mistakes usually is a sign that you are taking more action, and therefore will speed up – not slow down – your progress). And if your dream doesn’t come true? It means you either didn’t believe in yourself, or you didn’t take the action.

As Schwarzenneger once said in Terminator: Go on, Make my day and start creating the life you have always dreamed of.

Has this winter brought some darkness into your life? Remember “This too shall pass”. Ride with the natural cycles of nature instead of against them, and you might find it easier to flow into a state of peace.

Abe Lincoln really knew “The secret formula for success”. Easy to understand, a bit harder to implement. Are you being the best you can be?

Image: Quotes – 49/60 courtesy of B. Romain

What is it about photography and quotes that inspires me so much? Today I found an amazing set shared in Flickr under a Creative Commons licensing model by talented artist and photographer B. Romain. The project, called “60 quotes” is a carefully selected collection of 60 inspiring quotes, hand-picked by Romain, for which he then sets up specific photography shots. An amazing and inspiring project, I highly recommend you visit him now; if you like what you see, you might consider leaving him a comment to express your gratitude for sharing his talent and his time so generously with us.

If you can’t see this video, please click here

APOLOGY: When I recorded this video, it was 4 weeks to PIF day; Now? Only 4 days!!!

Participate this coming Thursday 28 April. Do something nice for someone in need, then tell us about it at pifaustralia.org, payitforwardday.com.au, or at our facebook page.  It’s the only way we will know if we ‘hit our target’!

We’ve all heard of the Baby Boomers and Gen Ys, but it is Generation G that is making a big impact in Australia. No, the G doesn’t stand for Greed – it stands for Generosity. And on the 28^th April 2011, over a million Gen G’s will be performing random acts of kindness for International Pay it Forward Day, a community movement which began in Australia and has spread to 30 countries worldwide.

Australia was even voted the most generous country in the world by The World Giving Report recently, demonstrating the powerful impact our Gen G’s are having on social change. This amazing spirit was certainly seen earlier this year when Aussies dug deep and raised over $100 million dollars to help Queensland flood victims. Big business also came to the rescue: The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) donated $1.35 million; BHP matched employee donations to a whooping $1.3 million.

But you don’t need to be big to make a difference. Two Australians – people just like you and me – decided to create a video to help survivors of natural disasters rebuild their lives and their communities. Code named ‘Project Phoenix‘, the video will be released via Youtube on the 28th of April 2011 in celebration of Pay it Forward Day. With only their time, an iPhone 4 and iMovie, this odd partnership between Diego (from Sydney) and Anita (from Melbourne) is another example of how ordinary Australians are reaching out in extraordinary ways.

It is not surprising everyone is getting on in the act. The organisers of Pay it forward day expect over a million global citizens to reach within and carry out an act of kindness on the day. They hope a much larger crowd will join in: if their wildest dreams come true, over 3 million people will join in this year’s celebrations. Are their expectations unreal? No, they are not. According to a report released last year, official Australian donations to charitable organisations topped $2.76 billion. And it’s not just Australia. Overseas, the royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting into the spirit of kindness and have pledged to ‘Pay it Forward’ as they start their new life together: Instead of receiving wedding gifts, they have asked people to help the needy by making a donation to 26 charities chosen by the couple.

But it isn’t just about monetary donations that Gen G’s are getting excited about. According to Volunteering Australia, Aussies volunteer over 700 million hours each year to help the local community. Just last month in the Newcastle town of Toronto, over 200 local volunteers bandied together to help three children whose single mother was terminally ill. Led by an unlikely hero – a chicken farmer aptly named “Chicken Mick” – the team of local volunteers raised over $100,000 to help pay off the family’s mortgage and renovate their home! The difference a community of Gen G’s can make is powerful; as “Chicken Mick” says “All it takes is a group of people putting their hands together and someone to lead the charge.”

These sentiments also ring true for International Pay it Forward Day, which began in Australia in 2007 by a few people who were willing to put their hand up to help the local community. Now turning into a worldwide phenomenon, over a million Gen G’s around the world are ready to take part on the 28^th April. There have been 16 state and city proclamations internationally and hundreds of schools participating in pay it forward activities.

Gen G’s are influencing business too, expecting them to do their bit to help the local, national and global community in humanitarian efforts. A great example of this happened in the India recently when the Parliament introduced a bill that requires large companies to support good causes by donating 2% of net profits.

When it comes to unconditional acts of generosity, the 28^th of April is a day to remind us of the power of giving. Pay it Forward Day, founded by Australian Blake Beattie, inspires everyone in the community to pass on good deeds in the hope that recipients will pay kindness forward to others in need. Blake states ‘One good deed might not seem like much, but if everyone did something good for someone else, then the cycle of generosity and kindness can inspire us to become better people. Imagine if everyone paid kindness forward every day – what a difference that would make!’

Don’t wait: visit payitforwardday.com now and join over 800,000 others who have visited the website for inspiration and ideas. Like their facebook page. And make sure you share the story of how you played a part on the day; there are countless ways to get involved and every good deed counts!

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Image credits: “This is the life” courtesy of HiggySTFC (flickr.com)
Article credits: Written by Betty Zeritis (media contact) and Blake Beatty (Founder) from Pay it Forward day.

Interested in conducting an interview with Blake and finding more about this? Leave your request as a comment and we will pass it on.

Image: Stepping Stones over the River Mole, Box Hill, Dorking courtesy of Johan J.Ingles-Le Nobe

CLICK HERE to watch other reflections in the style of Zen and the art of Photograpghic story-telling