The Substance of Things Hoped For

When I taught the Dale Carnegie Courses we spoke a great deal about envisioning what you might or could do.  We called it the Should Be.  That was as compared to the AS IS.  Now that more of my teaching is Biblical. the same thing is true.  We speak of things that are not as though they already were.  We know that FAITH is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. 

This man who wrote this article below has had that experience.  So have I.

The question is, what great things would you do if you knew you could not fail,  The other question is, who said you would or more important what if you did.  You might have succeeded, but you will be guaranteed to fail if you never try. 

 

THE WISH LIST

Not long ago I came across a yellow sheet of legal pad paper tucked into my old journal I refer to as my "Black Book of Dreams."

I knew exactly what it was before I unfolded the old piece of paper. I was taken back to the very place and time I had dumped all of my ambitions onto one piece of paper. I had been a young man fresh out of college beginning a career and starting a family. I was a young man with more dreams and wild ideas than even I could imagine. I had begun reading great motivational books and proving the wisdom I had found in them and knew I could accomplish just about anything I set my mind to. And so, one evening I pulled out a legal pad and decided to make a personal WISH LIST. I decided to hold nothing back and to write down every practical, impractical, exciting, scary, outlandish WISH I could come up with. It was my list after all, and it could contain anything I wanted.

With nothing but my imagination and heart to guide me, I started writing. Some of the things on the list made me laugh out loud, some made my heart race, and some made me flat out excited. When I was done, I read the list to my wife. As she had done before and would do many times over the next 20 years, she helped me believe that we could accomplish any of the things together.

I never forgot the WISH LIST, but I can honestly say I didn’t use it as a tool. I tucked it into my journal and never really went back to it until recently. As I rediscovered this list what seems like a lifetime later, I was amazed at how many of the things that seemed outlandish and impractical at the time of writing them down had actually happened. I had actually done 75% of the things on the list including writing a book, running a marathon, starting a consulting business, "traveling around the country giving talks on sales," and taking at least one vacation a year with my wife and one a year with our children. I was amazed and excited to realize how many great things in my life had been on this sheet of paper before I had any idea if, when or how I would ever accomplish them. There were many crazy things that I haven’t come close to and maybe never will, like walking on the moon, meeting 3 U.S. Presidents or making a movie, but it sure is awesome to see how many of the things on my WISH LIST eventually became a written goal and turned into a dream come true.

What if making a WISH LIST opened your mind to the possibilities in your life? What if it stretched your view of yourself enough to accomplish any percentage of the WISHES you wrote down? I know from my experience it was a worthwhile exercise from a crazy kid with every place to go in life. My personal, private brainstorming session subconsciously confirmed that I could do at least some of these things I wished for.

Why not take a half hour and start your WISH LIST? Really, WHY NOT? Who knows how many of the crazy things you dream of will become your reality by setting goals to get there.

- Jim Paluch

	Things to Do Next

At the bottom of the page that I had labeled my WISH LIST were thoughts on the next steps to take...I’m guessing I took those steps on the WISHES that really mattered to me most. This list from a young, inexperienced kid holds the same disiplines I use and teach today.

1. Write it as a goal.

2. Put a date on it.

3. Determine what groups and people need to help get you there.

4. Decide what info I need.

5. Identify the obstacles I need to overcome.

6. Develop a game plan.

7. Know what’s in it for us

8. Become a goal-setting machine.

9. Develop a positive lifestyle.

10. Write the principles and outlines of goal setting based on experience and the knowledge I have acquired.

11. Turn your DREAMS into WISHES, your WISHES into GOALS and GOALS into action...make your dreams come true.

	Opportunities We Didn't Wish For

Sometimes we get what we wish for, and sometimes we are faced with opportunities we never dreamed of. I learned a great lesson recently on SEIZING THE DAY and knew without a doubt that my original response to an opportunity would have kept me from an amazing experience. Unlike the author of the previous article, I am not prone to seeking adventure or stepping out of my comfort zone. I’m often content to sit back and truly enjoy watching others do something exciting rather than doing it myself. This was certainly the case last week as we ventured to Provo, Utah, on business and had a day in the mountains with no responsibility, a certified "play day." Traveling with our 21-year-old son on his spring break, we were looking for something fun to do on our day off. I was glad to do the research, make the phone calls and set up reservations for a 2-hour snow mobile tour. The two Jim Paluches were thrilled and excited to be heading into the mountains for a snow adventure.

I packed a good book in my bag and headed off with them for a beautiful drive up the mountains. I can honestly say that I love to watch my family have fun and was completely content to sit in the lodge, enjoy the surroundings and read my book while they drove their snow mobiles off into the distance. When we arrived, the air was a mild 40 degrees, the sky was clear and the sun brilliant. "Ah, two hours to stare at the mountains, read a book and chill out..." As they signed the forms and searched for the right size ski suit, my son enthusiastically said, "Mom, you’ve got to go with us! When are we ever going to get to do this again?" I looked at the sparkle in his eyes and looked out the windows at the snow-covered mountains surrounding us and thought to myself, "I really have no desire to get on the back of a snow mobile and hang on for dear life for two long hours." Then I said out loud, "What if I can’t hold on and fall off the back?" This was obviously not a thought process that would qualify me as a positive thinker and the guide said, "The only people that ever fall off are the ones that think they are going to..." Now why did he have to say that?

In the next few minutes my slight hesitation toward wanting to please my son had me in snow gear from head to toe, and I was committed to an afternoon I will never forget. It was one of those opportunities that sneaks up on you and calls for a response. Five short minutes into the ride, I knew I had almost missed something great in my life. There was no way they could have ever come back and explained what it was like to be part of the snow-covered mountains, to whiz around in the powdery snow, to step off the machine in the middle of a huge meadow surrounded by mountains in every direction and be in snow up to your waist...I could have completely missed watching my husband and son have the time of their lives and would have only enjoyed the "leftovers" as they might have tried to explain it later. Oh, what I would have missed, a shared experience of laughter and a number of heartfelt screams to, "SLOW DOWN!"

It made me think about the importance of being content and yet not letting that contentment rob you of something great. It might just be that the unexpected adventures in life are the ones that cause us to examine ourselves, challenge us to stretch our vision of what we think we can do and expand our reality. I’m not sure of how many times I have missed opportunities like this in the past, but I am confident that I’ll recognize others in the future because of one sunny day in Utah.

- Beth Paluch

	Quotes

"I don't dream at night, I dream all day; I dream for a living."
- Steven Spielberg

"If I could wish for my life to be perfect, it would be tempting but I would have to decline, for life would no longer teach me anything."
- Allyson Jones

"Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements."
- Napoleon Hill

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Aim is the task we set our wishes to."
- Ambrose Bierce