This might be difficult to do in one day if you choose to read a book, but it doesn’t need to be that involved. Think of someone you admire, maybe a person who is doing what you want to do, or someone who is very successful or who overcame great obstacles to accomplish something. Now go on the internet and read something about them.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in our own problems and to complacently accept our self-imposed limitations. By opening ourselves up to other people’s stories, we can learn to expand what we believe is possible and find the motivation to set goals and work towards accomplishing whatever we dream of doing.
Action – It’s inspiring to learn what hardships or challenges people have overcome to get to where they are. Not everyone who is rich, successful or well-respected was born that way. Most of the people who are incredibly successful had to work hard for it, and many of them started in situations that were far from ideal.
Reading about what they did and how they did it can open your mind to see your own life in a completely different way. If someone else has accomplished something, then there is a good chance that you can do it too. Instead of thinking of all the reasons why you can’t do it, you can begin to ask how it might be possible for you.
Steps – Think about someone who you admire or who has achieved success in an area that interests you. Using Google, begin to search what is written about them and learn what you can about where they came from and how they did what they did. In this day of social media, many of the people you are interested in might have told their stories themselves through YouTube, Twitter or Instagram.
Find out what worked for them. Although each of us has our own unique stories, there is much to be learned from how others have accomplished what they set out to do. If you can emulate some of what they did, you may be able to lessen the time it takes you to reach your goals.
Why It Makes You Feel Better – Expanding what we believe is possible is a great way to find the motivation to try something new, or to take steps in the direction of our dreams. Making excuses for why we can’t do something just keeps us from even attempting it. You don’t know that you can’t do it if you haven’t even tried.
There are always examples of someone who has come from a terrible situation and found success. Knowing that it is possible to do something is the most important step when you are starting out. If you believe it can be done, and you do whatever it takes to do it, then there is a strong likelihood that you will get there. When you believe that something is too hard, or you are likely to fail, then failure is what you will accomplish.
Example – There are so many examples. Read about Oprah Winfrey and how she survived poverty and sexual abuse. Stephen Hawkins and Helen Keller didn’t allow physical limitations to limit them. Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Elie Wiesel all overcame persecution to accomplish great things. Or you can read about billionaires like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett.
Wherever your interests lie, there are stories of how strong the human spirit is and what a single person can do even when the odds are against them. You just need to believe.