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| Mario Andretti - F1 World Champion 1978 |
What would you like to do with your life? What's your goal? What's your dream? I hope you're like me and you have lots of dreams. Life is truly wonderful and will give you everything you've ever wanted.
Of course you have to know what it is that you want. You have to let yourself go and allow yourself to dream and make sure you dream big dreams!
Below I share with you some of my favourite stories of people who dared to dream big dreams.
But you have to watch out for the dream stealers! You know who those people are in your life. The ones who, when you tell them about your latest business idea or you tell them about your goals and dreams, laugh at you and begin to cast doubts over your ability. They come up with loads of reasons why you shouldn't even try.
Of course you have to know what it is that you want. You have to let yourself go and allow yourself to dream and make sure you dream big dreams!
Below I share with you some of my favourite stories of people who dared to dream big dreams.
But you have to watch out for the dream stealers! You know who those people are in your life. The ones who, when you tell them about your latest business idea or you tell them about your goals and dreams, laugh at you and begin to cast doubts over your ability. They come up with loads of reasons why you shouldn't even try.
My Dad!
My dad was the best Dad ever! He never once stole any of my dreams. In fact, he was always the first to encourage me and tell me to go for it. He was amazing and such a positive role model for me.
John Armour was born in the Gorbals, Glasgow, the roughest part of the UK in 1932. He was raised in a council house on Govan Hill Street and at the age of 15 he left Glasgow and headed down to live in London. Dad knew he could be someone and felt if he stayed in the Gorbals he would end up in trouble. On arriving in London Dad even had elocution lessons to try to reduce his broad Glaswegian accent! He carved out a successful career in Sales and Publishing and when he sadly passed away in 2000 he was the Managing Director of Marshall Cavendish in Soho, London. "Not bad for a boy from the Gorbals!" was one of his well known sayings. :-)
One of my friends runs various, successful Internet businesses and his father was very old fashioned and had been a successful lawyer in London. He could never understand why his son hadn't followed a "sensible profession" such as law or medicine. He'd say to my mate, "Why are you wasting your time with that InterWeb thingy. Why don't you go and get a proper job." I'm pleased to say my mate didn't listen to his father!
I do appreciate that our friends and family just want the best for us, but sometimes, if you know you have dream stealers around you, my advice would be to shoot for your dreams without letting them know at the beginning. Keep it to yourself. You can bring them with you once you're on your way.
If you have a dream or a goal don't let anyone stop you or try to put you off.
John Armour was born in the Gorbals, Glasgow, the roughest part of the UK in 1932. He was raised in a council house on Govan Hill Street and at the age of 15 he left Glasgow and headed down to live in London. Dad knew he could be someone and felt if he stayed in the Gorbals he would end up in trouble. On arriving in London Dad even had elocution lessons to try to reduce his broad Glaswegian accent! He carved out a successful career in Sales and Publishing and when he sadly passed away in 2000 he was the Managing Director of Marshall Cavendish in Soho, London. "Not bad for a boy from the Gorbals!" was one of his well known sayings. :-)
One of my friends runs various, successful Internet businesses and his father was very old fashioned and had been a successful lawyer in London. He could never understand why his son hadn't followed a "sensible profession" such as law or medicine. He'd say to my mate, "Why are you wasting your time with that InterWeb thingy. Why don't you go and get a proper job." I'm pleased to say my mate didn't listen to his father!
I do appreciate that our friends and family just want the best for us, but sometimes, if you know you have dream stealers around you, my advice would be to shoot for your dreams without letting them know at the beginning. Keep it to yourself. You can bring them with you once you're on your way.
If you have a dream or a goal don't let anyone stop you or try to put you off.
Monty Roberts
Monty Roberts - The Horse Whisperer tells the very best story of how to ignore the dream stealers. Whenever people attend his ranch in San Diego, Monty tells the same story.
"I want to tell you a story about a young man who was the son of a travelling horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up."
"That night he wrote a seven page paper describing his goal of one day owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a picture of a 200nacre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a massive mansion that would sit on the 200 acre ranch."
"He put a huge effort into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. A few days later he got his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that said, `See me after class'."
"The boy went to see the teacher after class and asked, `Why did you give my paper an F?'"
"The teacher said, 'This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You don't have any money. Your family just travel around. They have very little money. Owning a ranch requires a lot of money. You'll need to buy some land. You'll have to buy all the horses and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it!' The teacher added, 'I'll give you another chance. If you rewrite your paper with a more realistic goal, I'll reconsider your mark.'"
"The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, 'Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.' "Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all."
"He stated, 'You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.'"
"I want to tell you a story about a young man who was the son of a travelling horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up."
"That night he wrote a seven page paper describing his goal of one day owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a picture of a 200nacre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a massive mansion that would sit on the 200 acre ranch."
"He put a huge effort into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. A few days later he got his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that said, `See me after class'."
"The boy went to see the teacher after class and asked, `Why did you give my paper an F?'"
"The teacher said, 'This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You don't have any money. Your family just travel around. They have very little money. Owning a ranch requires a lot of money. You'll need to buy some land. You'll have to buy all the horses and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it!' The teacher added, 'I'll give you another chance. If you rewrite your paper with a more realistic goal, I'll reconsider your mark.'"
"The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, 'Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.' "Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all."
"He stated, 'You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.'"
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, "I tell you this story because you're sitting in my 4,000 square foot mansion on my 200 acre ranch. And I still have that school paper with the F grade framed over the fireplace."
Don't let anyone steal your dreams!
Darren Hardy
I was lucky enough to see and meet Darren Hardy earlier this year in Telford, UK when he came over as the keynote speaker at a Utility Warehouse conference. You can read more about how I met Darren Hardy here.
The Power of Goal Setting
I've been a big fan of Darren's for a while and he gave a great talk in Telford. He mentioned Dream Stealers and he uses a great metaphor for ignoring them.
Darren compares your goal, or dream or challenge to that of climbing a mountain. It can seem an almost impossible task when you're stood at the bottom looking up at your huge mountain. And it's during those early days when you embark on your journey to reach the top of your mountain, when you're most vulnerable to the dream stealers.
When they enivitably tell you not to bother; it's way too hard; you'll never make it etc Darren says you just turn to them and tell them "It's my mountain and I'm climbing it!"
I love that! "It's my mountain and I'm climbing it!" With massive conviction like this, you'll get to the the top, no problem!
Darren compares your goal, or dream or challenge to that of climbing a mountain. It can seem an almost impossible task when you're stood at the bottom looking up at your huge mountain. And it's during those early days when you embark on your journey to reach the top of your mountain, when you're most vulnerable to the dream stealers.
When they enivitably tell you not to bother; it's way too hard; you'll never make it etc Darren says you just turn to them and tell them "It's my mountain and I'm climbing it!"
I love that! "It's my mountain and I'm climbing it!" With massive conviction like this, you'll get to the the top, no problem!
Mario Andretti
I was watching the new F1 channel 408 on SKY TV at the weekend and caught a brilliant documentary featuring Mario Andretti.
Mario seems like such a great guy and his story is inspiring. Talk about having a huge goal!! At an early age Mario and his brother Aldo lived in Lucca, a Yugolavia invaded part of Italy and used to watch the famous Mille Miglia road race near where they lived. It was a long race with sports cars racing over 1,000 miles through the Italian countryside. This was Mario's first taste of motor racing and in 1954 when he was 14 years old, he was taken to see the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. At that young, impressionable age, Mario declared that one day he would be a Formula One driver!
To put that into perspective, he was from a poor family and in 1955 he and his family emigrated to America to seek a better life. And yet Mario truly believed he could and would become an F1 driver! For the boys this meant seeking ways to become involved in motor racing, which around their new home town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, mainly took the form of old, beaten up cars competing on dangerous dirt track ovals. Mario and Aldo were 18 years old when they began racing, at the wheel of a self-prepared Hudson Hornet they shared in stock car events!
Mario seems like such a great guy and his story is inspiring. Talk about having a huge goal!! At an early age Mario and his brother Aldo lived in Lucca, a Yugolavia invaded part of Italy and used to watch the famous Mille Miglia road race near where they lived. It was a long race with sports cars racing over 1,000 miles through the Italian countryside. This was Mario's first taste of motor racing and in 1954 when he was 14 years old, he was taken to see the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. At that young, impressionable age, Mario declared that one day he would be a Formula One driver!
To put that into perspective, he was from a poor family and in 1955 he and his family emigrated to America to seek a better life. And yet Mario truly believed he could and would become an F1 driver! For the boys this meant seeking ways to become involved in motor racing, which around their new home town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, mainly took the form of old, beaten up cars competing on dangerous dirt track ovals. Mario and Aldo were 18 years old when they began racing, at the wheel of a self-prepared Hudson Hornet they shared in stock car events!
Mario continued to do well in the short oval races and soon progressed on to the giant speedways, eventually winning the Indianapolis 500!
But Mario never lost his passion for F1 and in 1965 he was lucky enough to meet Colin Chapman, the boss of Lotus and Colin, having seen Mario race, offered him a seat in his F1 car when Mario was ready! Mario did so in 1968 and 10 years later in 1978 he won the F1 World Championship!
Mario Andretti's story is incredible and if you're in the UK I highly recommend tuning into SKY TV channel 408 where they play reruns of his story every week.
But Mario never lost his passion for F1 and in 1965 he was lucky enough to meet Colin Chapman, the boss of Lotus and Colin, having seen Mario race, offered him a seat in his F1 car when Mario was ready! Mario did so in 1968 and 10 years later in 1978 he won the F1 World Championship!
Mario Andretti's story is incredible and if you're in the UK I highly recommend tuning into SKY TV channel 408 where they play reruns of his story every week.
What's Your Dream?
So what's your dream? What are your goals? Start dreaming big dreams and get them clear in your head. Write them down in detail. Writing your goals down is the best way to get them clear in your mind so you can really visualise them. And make sure you absolutley believe you can and will achieve them with absolute conviction.
Then go climb your mountain and don't let the dream stealers steal your dreams!
Then go climb your mountain and don't let the dream stealers steal your dreams!
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