Doing Whatever it Takes

Doing Whatever it Takes

I will never forget the words of Dr. John Maxwell during one of his presentations. He talked about what it takes to go after your dreams. He shared that after giving a speech one day a young man came up to him and said, “Dr. Maxwell, I want to do what you do. I want to get paid to speak in front of big groups of people.”

Dr. Maxwell smiled, looked at the bright eyed and clearly excited young man and said, “You want to do what I do, but are you willing to do everything I’ve done in order to get to do what I do?”

Well put, I thought, as I began to think about my career, what I have done, what I still want to do and what else I am going to need to do in order to get there. We all know there is no magic bullet to success, but I think in today’s world of instant gratification, sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we are going to get there quicker, faster and will less bumps in the road than those before us.

While we can probably eliminate some of the mistakes along the way if we actually take the advice of our mentors and those who have accomplished what we are striving for, we must always remember that each of us has our own journey to success and some of those bumps are simply necessary to help us become the person we are meant to be.

I have a lot of talented friends who tell me they want to do more with their lives. Whether it’s to write a book, get a new job doing something more meaningful, build a business online or whatever it is they love to do, like all of us, they have a dream. Some of them take action and start to do what is necessary in order to achieve their goals while others keep talking about it.

Do you want to be a writer? Write.
Do you want to sell your artwork? Find someone who is doing it and learn from their success.
Do you want to start an online business?  Invest some time into doing the research and taking the steps towards it.

Whatever it is you want to do or become is possible, but you have to be willing to take the steps  in order to get there. Nothing will just be handed to you and someone isn’t going to discover you while you are sitting at home watching the entire season of Modern Family.

Are you doing whatever it takes to reach your goals? Be honest. I hope that you are.  Comment below and let me know what you are doing.  And if there is anything I can do to help you in your journey, email me at kate@katevolman.com.