Speak Your Dreams – laying it out there is scary, but it’s the best motivator.
It’s nerve-wracking to express your hopes and dreams out loud to another person. It’s scary because speaking your dreams makes you vulnerable. It takes your idea out of your imagination and thrusts it into the real world where it can be brought to life or crushed.The most awkward question I’m asked is, “Are you published?” I know the answer to this question will, in the other person’s eyes, probably discredit everything I’ve done. I think about my manuscripts, how much time I’ve spent researching, all the editing and refining, and how I carefully crafted each character’s past, present and future, and my stomach sinks. But, I have to smile and say “no, not yet, but I will be.”Name it and claim it.
This popular philosophy has attracted a lot of followers. I don’t personally don't believe the simple act of saying something will make it happen, but I do believe that publically stating your goals acts as an internal motivator. Once you say it, people know. They will follow up and ask you about it next time they see you. I remember setting up my Facebook page. I got to the employment section and debated whether to list myself as an author. I worried if people would think I was being presumptive. I knew they would then say things like, “I didn’t know you are a writer,” and I’d have to explain.But, that’s the beauty of it. My friends would hold me accountable even if they didn't realize it. They would stretch me and push me towards my goal. So, I typed the word - Author.Xander Schultz, CEO of Complete App has discovered that people who announce their goals are four times as likely to accomplish those goals as opposed to people who keep their goals to themselves. (Why Sharing Your Progress Makes You More Likely to Accomplish your Goals, Fast Company, 6.19.15)If there is one thing we need to claim, it is, “I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians: 4:13. It needs to be our mantra until it permeates its way through our fears, doubts, and hesitations. David understood this at its core. He stood, as a young adolescent, in front of the fiercest giant in the land, Goliath, and said, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”Now that’s confidence exemplified! With complete faith, David spoke of the power of his great God and listed in detail what God was going to accomplish through him that day. If you’d like to receive my blog as a weekly email, please sign up for my newsletter here: https://lorridudley.com/mc4wp-form-preview/Much Love,Lorri DudleyFuture Author