RAISE YOUR STANDARDS

I remember my teenage years when I would lie in bed for hours and escape into the world of dreams. I would spend hours on end fantasizing over the possibilities of the future. The dreams would vary from meeting prince charming to taking trips to exotic locations or maybe becoming a ‘Bond’ girl (The hot looking women that always add steam to James Bond movies, LOL!). I would dream wildly and widely because fantasy was so delicious. Sometimes I would event forget to eat because I was filled with the joy and excitement I got from going to places in my mind that I might never be able to go in reality.

Events overtook my fantasy, I was confronted with ‘real life’ of completing my university education, finding a job, growing in my career, pursuing my MBA and now running a business and trying to find the balance of life, love and other mysteries…. However, looking back, some of my dreams did come to pass, some I thought were downright ridiculous and some life took me through the school of hard knocks and I almost lost my steam and ability to dream again.

Recently with a lot of introspection and meditation on God’s word, I realize that my ‘so called’ fantasies were visions of my future possibilities depending on the choices I made, the path I chose and my ability to believe and persevere to see my dreams come to reality. I also realize that the difference between successful people and not so successful people was the standards they set for themselves and their expectations from life.

Success and true happiness starts from within. It is the process of crossing from the intangible to the tangible. It is that ability to see something strongly in your mind and work towards bringing it to pass, not from a place of struggle, but from a place of conviction that your plans, goals and steps would achieve the expected result. But this would only happen if you raise your standards. How do you raise your standards?

1.      Believe in “YOU”: I wrote you in capital letters because most of us seem to seek our validation from people and achievements. But for us to truly believe in our self, it has to come from the inside. It has to be a confident knowing of who you really are and what better way to know yourself, than to ask ‘the’ manufacturer; ask, why did you make me? What gifts and talents did you put in me? What is my contribution to the world? What makes me special and how am I going to stand out? The saying that everyone is special is not a cliché, it is a reality; no two people are alike and if we focus more inwards, we would find our individual uniqueness and this would help us believe in ourselves.

2.      Be positive: I hear this lot and I am beginning to appreciate it much more in my life. My rational is this; unfortunate and unexpected incidences might happen anyway, whether I think about it or not, so why waste any energy being a negative person and trying to anticipate negativity? I have learned to say to myself; what if all the good things I expect happen for me? Instead of saying what if the bad things happen? This gives me energy and keeps me motivated to keep pursuing the dreams I see in my mind, so they can become a reality. A brilliant writer says what make man (Male and female) superior over animals, is our minds. The mind was created to protect us from pain, and sometimes it can prevent us from reaching out to our possibilities. We need to train our minds to be positive and to expect good things. It would help us do the third thing:

3.      Dream big: Donald Trump is famous for saying; if you have to dream, why don’t you dream big! My response used to be; well you live in the United States, the land of possibilities where things work, dreaming big in Africa is tough with all the economic and infrastructural challenges! I have realized that that’s not necessarily true. Yes our environment might make dreaming big difficult, but it’s this same environment that has produced great men and women that you and I know. So we can all create the world we desire if we dream big. It all starts from within. Now I tell myself, instead of dreaming about becoming a mildly successful entrepreneur; can I dream of becoming an amazingly successful and greatly inspiring entrepreneur? Mild or average does not inspire any one. So why don’t you dream and reach for more?

4.      Take action steps: Now you are fired up! You are seeing your possibilities. Don’t just stop there, create a plan and start taking steps towards it. The good book says; Faith without works is dead. Now how can you work towards your ‘Big’ dreams? What do you need to do in the next 1 hour? 1 day? 1 week? 1 month? 1 year? Who do you need to meet? Don’t let the process weigh you down or make you lose zeal about making your dreams a reality. Take baby steps and keep increasing it. Your joy would increase as you get closer to making your dreams come to pass.

5. Keep leaning in: If you read my last article on lean in(http://thefivestarwoman.blogspot.com/2013/05/lean-in-to-your-life.html), you get the general concept. Raise your standards in all areas of life, don’t just dream big in your career and neglect your family or pursue your passion and neglect your finances. We need to constantly strive for balance. Start each day from inwards to outwards. For me this means: speaking to God, mediating on his word, exercising for some time, re-hydrating  taking a shower, eating etc. By the time you get to actual execution of your plans for the day, you would be properly stimulated and balanced.

Raise your standards and you would live a more successful and fulfilled life.

Stay Empowered,

Tale.

I really appreciate your comments. They let me know if you are being blessed, inspired or empowered. I am also willing to answer your questions, so please keep sharing and share this article with others….