Becoming an entrepreneur is one thing, becoming a successful one is a different ball game entirely. The energy required to start out (move from 0 to 1) is as important as the energy required to scale (move from 1 to 10). Successful entrepreneurs are visionary and dogged individuals who had sacrificed and paid the price for success. To compete with the competent means to think and act like those who through hard work, resilience, perseverance and patience made it to the top. It is not child’s play to become the world’s richest entrepreneur. It is not easy to create, invent or innovate. It is not easy to take an idea from indoors into industry. It is not easy to market a product and sell new ideas to people. The ability to take an idea from conceptualization to commercialization is one of the hallmarks of successful entrepreneurs.
THE POWER OF DREAM
The greatest tool for personal and national dignity is the power of dreams; the ability to imagine possibilities without restrictions. Everyone has the right to dream (big or small, more or less). It is very important to dream big and more because there are no charges or bills involved. Dreaming is however not the same as running, and running is not the same as dreaming. You don’t need inspiration to dream, but you need inspiration to run. Dreams produce inspiration and inspiration prepares an entrepreneur for success. The size of your dream determines the size of your inspiration and ultimately, the size of your actions. Dreams are the foundation of imaginations. Imagination is the foundation of inspiration. A dream is not what you see when you are asleep, a dream is what you see that makes you not want to sleep!
DREAMS COME TRUE
Have you ever imagined that imaginations can take you to nations? When you start dreaming big, you will have big aspirations to attain in your life. You will on your own set up goals for yourself. This will inspire and spur you to do the hard work required in achieving those goals. You will put up consistent efforts so that your dream will come true one day. That will help you to instill motivation within yourself. And, with the required amount of dedication and hard work, you will ultimately achieve success in your life – whether it may be a big success or a small success. If you accomplish the small win, then you strive hard to attain more considerable achievements in your life. You will become unstoppable.
MAKING YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE
- Your gift is your lift
Every creation of God is unique. Man is God’s special creation with a specific purpose and assignment on planet earth. Discovering one’s special abilities, gifts and talents is the beginning of inspiration. It is however one thing to be inspired; it is another thing to run with your vision and fulfill destiny in grand style.
“Your gift is your lift” can be analyzed from two perspectives:
One is when you think of it as lifting a weight in the gym; the heavier the weight, the more the strength to be deployed to lift. The consequence of this is seen in muscle building and ultimately, fitness for other physical exercises. So, you have a part to play in developing your gift and nurturing it to fruition. Another perspective is to think of your gift as an elevator; it lifts you without you having to exert any physical effort. This means you are to expect your gift to lift you having done the work required to make it fit to lift. The former illustration depicts hard work, while the latter, rest. “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.” – Anonymous.
- Compete with the competent
One of the ways to break away from your comfort zone is to strive to get better on a daily basis. Another is to observe people who are achievers par excellence, who are always striving to get better and setting standards. You are not running to compete with anyone though; to compete with the competent is to observe the ways of the diligent and imitate them until you become a reference point too.
- Dream all you can and scan all your dreams
You also need to do a scan of your dreams. This is because some dreams are realistic while some are unrealistic (materialistic). A smart entrepreneur is moved and guided by both rational and ‘inspirational’ moves. This is not to put faith away; it is to put faith to work to accomplish rational and realistic goals (SMART GOALS):
Specific,Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.
Realistic Goals: They are smart and executable goals with a timeline.
‘Materialistic Goals’: They are goals borne out of personal gratification. For instance, dreaming to own the most expensive car in the world is not unrealistic though; it is materialistic because the motive lacks substance.
Unrealistic Goals: These are goals, which are borne out of wild and unguarded imaginations.
There is however a thin line between realistic and unrealistic goals, that is, time. With time, ideas some people thought were unrealistic may gradually and eventually become the new norm. Sometimes due process and established ways of doing things limit creativity. Creativity is the ability to think outside of the prescribed formulas to birth new ideas and create successful products, services, businesses, and solutions. It also includes the process of constructing the idea, innovating the concept, developing the process, and bringing the concept to reality.
Some people may think that dreaming big would be overwhelming for them, as they have no hint what to do, how to do it, and which path to traverse to achieve their dreams. So, it may sound unrealistic to them. They may even find it outrageous. So, they might think it is not possible to dream big as they may not accomplish those dreams and goals. But, remember it is always possible to dream big, and it is also possible to achieve those dreams in our lives. Because the word, impossible itself says, ‘I’m possible.’ Never be afraid of dreaming big and living your life to the fullest. A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not on the branch but its wings. So, always believe in yourself. Do you know that some thousands of years ago, people had thought that they would not be able to touch the moon? But, now, the dreams of some scientists have actually been coming to realisation after first reaching the moon with the recent advances in science and technology. In fact, there is an International Space Station (ISS) there. There have been ways to take their food to eat and water to drink. Right now, some people have even started dreaming of buying land on the moon and building a house there! All of these would not have been achieved if some individuals were afraid of dreaming and ‘doing.’
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