"You don't have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great." Zig Ziglar. Something to think about: When does preparation become procrastination? You know the answer, but let me help you out. When you have completed a project and you check the finished project at least five more times and then get at least five more opinions is when you have slipped into procrastination.
"You have the potential to become anything to which you set your mind. You have a mind and body and a spirit. With these three working together, you can walk the high road that leads to achievement and happiness. But, this will require effort and sacrifice and faith." Gordon B. Hinckley. The more I study or think deeply about achievement, I am convinced that it is not something big and/or miraculous that must take place in order to be a person of accomplishment. It is more about the small things done consistently and in the moment that add up. The journey begins with faith and a belief in yourself. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1. Action is an outgrowth of faith.
Whether you are a person of faith or not, you need to have a belief system whether that be a higher power, God the creator of all, or faith in yourself. God has given us what we need in order to feel complete. According to actor, Matthew Perry in his memoir, says God is always there for us. "God is always there for me now, whenever I clear my channel to feel His awesomeness. It's hard to believe, given everything, that He still shows up for us mortals, but He does, and that's the point: Love always wins." God loves us unconditionally and with an everlasting love. You need to be in tune with what the creator expects from us in order to access this fulfillment. Matthew 22:36-40. Faith is instrumental because it is related to trust. Could you follow someone that you do not trust? That would just be silly. However, if you completely trust someone, they probably expouse to your or some of your values, and you believe that they are going in the same direction that you are heading. We already know that God wants the best for you and His plans for you are to bless you.
Growing up, I was taught by my grandmother that I was only to follow a man as he followed God. I think she was speaking about men of the cloth (clergy). Of course, I was not quite sure of what she meant by this. Now after all these years, I think I got it. My understanding is that God is trustworthy all the time and in every situation. If a man is truly following God, (I do mean truly following), then he is more than likely trustworthy. Of course, man is fallible,and we need to take this into account. Heads up: When that man/men stop following God, then; you guessed it: stop following that man/men. I say all that to say this: I have placed my trust in God, and therefore I seek to follow His directives.
You may wonder why I keep coming back to this topic of moving forward with dreams, goals, etc. The reason is that it is needed. As much as we want to accomplish our goals, we often meet with resistance that can keep us stuck. It takes a lot of focus and strong determination to get beyond this. Additionally, in my opinion, when this topic is given short shrift or insufficient attention, it weighs the most when dreams and goals are not actualized. In other words, we were put on this planet (created) for a purpose. What would it mean to live out your whole life without purpose or without uncovering your passion or your purpose. Inherently, we know somewhere in us, we desire completeness. Not wanting to get it wrong, we sometimes just freeze in place; stagnation sets in. Then after years of this prolonged state, a little panic sets in, and we decide that we have to hurry up and get things done before"we run out of time." Is this really the way to live your best life? "Finding your passion isn't just careers and money. It's about finding your authentic self - the one you've burried beneah other people's needs." Kristin Hannah. Take care of you; mind, body and spirit.
As previously mentioned, we all have a desire to be fulfilled by what we pursue. The key is that we have to get after what we want. Sometimes we have to keep being reminded that we have to "bust a move." We have to get up out of our seat, get on our feet and do the work to accomplish our goals. As you have no doubt discovered, (unless you were born with the proverbial silver spoon in your mouth), nothing is handed to you. So grease those elbows and get going. That is if you really want it.
Even when you get discouraged, have doubts, or procrastinated /waited until you are a senior citizen, you better not give up. Let me not be rude; please do not give up. It is not too late. Nothing is impossible with God. Get this, God does not need our help. We need to trust Him. "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture . Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord ; trust in Him, and He will do this: "He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noon day sun." Psalm 37:3
You need to know that life is bigger than you or me. When we humble ourselves and submit our plans to God for His blessing, we will learn and realize that He will enable us to have these plans become a reality. The truth is if we do our best, God will do the rest. But, you must have faith and be willing to do the work. When you read God's word, you will be encouraged to know that God knows that we are weak and sometmes are faith is not what it should be. But, God is faithful and He will hold us up when we waver. He is there to not only hold us but, He will carry us if need be. Believe me, TRUST HIM. HE is trustworthy.
In the bible, I invite you to read the story of Gideon. Judges 7-8. Briefly, The Isrealites did evil in sight of the Lord and for seven years He gave them into the hands of the Midianites. The Midianites were so oppressive that the Isrealites cried out to the Lord. The Lord told Gideon that He would use him to rescue Israel from the Midianites. Gideon was a judge and a prophet. You would have thought Gideon would have responded with complete faith to this request from God. Yet, he responded by asking for a sign from God before he would proceed. God obliged three times. Please read the full account in the book of Judges.
There are many many examples in the bible where men and women of faith were obedient to God and stepped out on faith and received blessings and the realization of their purpose.
What are your plans for getting what you want? This may sound repetitious, but it bears repeating. You need a plan and you need to work the plan. Have you accomplished your goals? Be honest. If not, get up off your "rusty dusty" and go for it. I am sure you have made plan after plan. It is time to get out there and share what you have. Nothing will happen unless you do. Don't give me that nonsense about not being ready. Do it anyway.
Begin with prayer to your Creator. He knows you and what you are capable of. He is also there to empower you to achieve what you have set your hands to do. Enlist His power and His guidance.
Be prepared to do the work. You are going to have to do the foot work and all other work involved. Be sure you are ready to roll up your sleaves and get to work on achieving what you believe that you can. You also have to develop a "thick hide." There will be those who criticize you. Not to worry. "Whatever you want, especially when you're striving to be the best in the world at something, there'll always be disappointments, and you can't be emotionally tied to them, cos' they'll break your spirit." Mike Tyson.
Gather the necessary resources and use them to implement your goals/purpose, and set deadline for completion. You must be serious about completing what you start. So you have available all that you need to be successful; that includes education, training, funds, skills, collaborators, supporters,etc. Very important, you must have a start date and a completion date. This locks you in to beginning and finalizing your project.
Trust God. Along the way, keep trusting God. Pray through the blocks, hinderances, etc. Keep believing that God's got you on this, and you are going to be victorious. Believe it, achieve!
Be about it! Perfection is not an option, it's an excuse. Complete your project by the deadline and put it out there. I know, you want a little more time. No, finish it on time and step out of your comfort zone. If you need a little more tweaking after that, then do it after you have put it out there. More than likely nothing else is needed (anything else is just an excuse to prolong the project - Don't do it.). Get your work out there. Some say the worse fear is that of success. Can you believe that? Let's try it and see.
Give thanks. This is what God requires of us. And, the truth is we should be thankful. We have been blessed in so many ways. Gratitude is in order. Let's not take anything for granted.
When you have been given the "thumbs" up (and many times you will be the one giving yourself a thumbs up) to go forward with your goal setting and have designed your action plans, and you have followed them meticulously and you have prayed about your plans and consulted the appropriate parties, ask yourself what you are waiting for. If your answer is that you have no reason to wait and you are not giving up, then go for it! Get out of that comfy spot! Dip your "big toe" in the water!
In the story with Gideon (I know you are going to read it), he eventually accomplished what God had called him to do and he was victorious. He even defeated Israel's enemies with a substantilally smaller number of soldiers (300) than Israel's enemies' army. This was with God on His side, as He is on yours and mine. You have done the work and you are assured that God will be with you. So, I say to you and to me, "Shut up and Drive." Seriously, GET GOING!!!
We got this!
Yours, Yvette
Thank you for your continued support. I remain appreciative. You can comment at vttlane@gmail.com.