Really achieving your dreams

Today I'm celebrating living a life where you achieve your dreams!

Today is designated by some as Make Your Dreams Come True Day and that sounds like a great day to observe. It's not celebrated by just taking the time to think about your dreams, but it's a day to develop a plan for achieving them and choose to live the life that makes your dreams come true.

About.com tells about the 10 traits that most help people reach their goals and achieve their dreams, according to a recent survey of successful people. They

1. think positive at every opportunity
   
2. are specific about dreams and goals
   
3. take action to make their dreams real
   
4. never stop learning
   
5. are persistent and work hard, never giving up
   
6. analyze details, getting all the facts and asking for input to make wiser decisions and to learn from mistakes
   
7. focus time and money without letting people or things distract them
   
8. are not afraid to innovate and be different
   
9. communicate with people effectively -- with honesty, practicing understanding and motivating others
   
10. are honest and dependable, taking responsibility for what is done, always keeping promises and admitting when wrong and have made a mistake.

The survey said that together, these traits help successful people meet their goals and turn dreams into reality. It doesn't take a lot of time on the Web or watching late night TV to notice that there are lots of people who also think that they know the secret of success. Many are offering products that they want you to buy. I think that most of those people likely don't have the answer --- their success has more likely been a result of enticing you to buy their product.

I could fill this blog with lots of songs (like My Wish as sung by Rascall Flatts and playing on this blog) and quotes to encourage you to dream big and work to make your dreams come true. However, I think that you all should know Dr. Randy Pausch. Randy Pausch, a young, charismatic professor at Carnegie-Mellon University with pancreatic cancer with only a few months to live and leaving behind three small children and a wife, delivered a humorous and inspiring last lecture "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" in September 2007 about the virtues of living with a passion, including pursuing your childhoold dreams. His talk discussed how he achieved his childhood dreams and realistic advice on how you can live your life so that you can make your childhood dreams come true too.

You can learn more about Randy Pausch and hear a portion of his lecture from the YouTube video below:

As posted on YouTube by the Wall Street Journal Digital Network

You can hear his entire lecture below:

As posted on YouTube by carnegiemellonu
Sure, it's lengthy, but it's worth hearing his advice for success in achieving your dreams.

There are two things that stood out to me during his lecture: the significance of brick walls and how they can be overcome by those who are really determined and the importance in showing gratitude. Today I'm especially proud of my parents who taught me that you can basically do anything you set your mind to, with hard work and determination. I'm appreciative of those teachers who were encouragers, who vouched for me, or were the source of my inspiration, people like Ms Griffin, Mr Sawyer, Dr Sheppard, or Dr Norris. Those were the type of educators who help you meet the challenges of people like Mr Yates or Dr Van Dran (who have both passed from this life), who at a crucial time in a student's life seemed to take such pride in building brick walls. After hearing that lecture again today, although there was not enough time for them to actually surprise me on how great they were, I can appreciate those brick walls that they tried to build. As tough as their brick walls were hard to scale, they helped me in building character, in appreciating those who take chances, and in learning the importance of inspiring and helping others.

Today, if you've been inspired to make your dreams come true, I encourage you to visit the new Bucket Lists site, where you can view both popular and incredible life goals, learn about famous life listers, log your list, and be an encourager to others. More importantly, I hope that you're inspired to help someone along the way to achieve THEIR dreams.


Image credit: Inkadinkado

I'm making a list

Today I'm celebrating the New Year and my life list!

Happy New Year! Did you make any resolutions for 2008? Today's the day when we make a fresh start. Many make the traditional New Year's resolutions of the many things we hope to achieve during the next year. For some there are changes we hope to make. For others, the list has some neat new experiences. This year I'm been wondering how helpful these resolutions really have been. Do you know what was on your list last year? Did you complete them all? How long did it take before that list was forgotten?

About.com's Your Guide to Pittsburgh lists the top 10 New Year's resolutions:

1. Spend more time with family and friends

2. Get fit

3. Lose weight

4. Quit smoking

5. Enjoy life more

6. Quit drinking

7. Get out of debt

8. Learn something new

9. Help others

10. Get organized

Perhaps some of these items are on your list too.

This year, I'm thinking about a different approach. After signing all that legal paperwork for my recent knee surgery, I began to think about the things that I still wanted to accomplish in life before kicking the bucket. I've recently been inspired to think broader than the typical New Year's resolutions. In the past I've had a goal list, with both short-term and long-term targets. However, I completed most of the items on that list or gave up on those I felt were unattainable. Last week, I realized that I although I was not ready to go Home, I did not have a concise list of everything else that I wanted to experience or to do with the rest of my life. The new The Bucket List movie has also got me thinking too!

So, I've created a new wiki, Bucket Lists. On this site, you can create your own personal bucket list, your life list, of the things you want to experience and accomplish in the rest of your life. What better way to celebrate life than to dream big and put a plan in place to work toward those goals? You're probably thinking how can I create a list for my life when I can't manage the typical New Year's resolutions list? This new site is a place to log your list (to make it public) and to track your progress on achieving the goals. It's an opportunity to really think about what you want in life and to make a plan to achieve it. On the site, you can read the inspiring stories of others' whose lives have changed by their life lists. You can hopefully give and receive encouragement from others who are working on their life lists too.

When it's my time to go, I'd like to reflect mostly on my life's greatest moments than by its missed opportunities. Join me on the Bucket Lists site and add your life list or add some encouragement for someone else working on life goals.

Today I hope that you celebrate life and not only think about what you want to do during your next 30 years but live today like you're dying.

Here's the music video of Tim McGraw singing Live Like You Were Dying to inspire you.

As posted on YouTube by IAMNOTREAL21

Image credit: Academie de Nancy-Metz per the PinoyBlog