MOTIVATION - Consulting Your Hopes & Your Dreams

MOTIVATION – Consulting Your Hopes & Your Dreams


By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – January 2010

Pope John XXIII says “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

Ain’t that the truth! It’s usually around the end of a year and the beginning of the following year that many of us struggle with what we haven’t achieved during the year or the previous year as we try, yet again to set ‘realistic’ goals for the coming year. We beat ourselves up for our perceived failures and we berate ourselves for lost opportunities. We chastise ourselves for not doing more and punish ourselves, often very unfairly, for not having done the right thing. How sad is that?

What we need to do is turn it around – face backwards and instead of seeing all the failures, perceived or real, look at all that you have achieved. Look at what you did, that wasn’t even on the list, or the goal that you achieved without even planning it in advance. Look at what you managed to get to despite the odds. Look at who you have become because of what you have achieved and the things that you have accomplished. Look at the new clients that you have found, not to mention the clients that you have retained, even though you have been in a tough market.

While you are still in the ‘glow’ of accomplishment and pride, look at what you can still achieve. Look at the horizon and see your future. Put your plan of action into first gear and take the first step. Don’t worry if you fall down, just make sure that you get up again and take the next step. Don’t worry if you want to cry with frustration, just make sure that you smile in anticipation of what you will feel when you take the next step. Don’t worry if you are overwhelmed with a sense of failure, think about the sense of pride you will have when you succeed and take the next step.

Dare to dream! Dare to hope! Dare to succeed! Dare to take the first step and then the next and then the next and pretty soon you will be sprinting towards the finish line and as you cross it, celebrate! Celebrate each step, celebrate each goal achieved (whether they were set or planned or not). Celebrate the fact that despite the fear you were able to see the potential and the possibilities and that you acted in order to achieve.

Celebrate your life!

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za