I had to embrace the truth about the challenges and obstacles that comes as packages while pursuing my dreams. My coach told me that to achieve my dream I needed daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, they all summoned up to be yearly goals. The most important of all is self-discipline. My coach said that Discipline must be a major force in my life.
Each goal must be accompanied with daily actions, as the Chinese proverb says: the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. I’ll suggest that each single step is celebrated so that it becomes much easier to keep pressing on to achieve one’s dream. The saying goes that life is not always a bed of roses, there are times life feels like a bed of thorns.
The thorns can be so painful that many end up giving up on their dreams. This was exactly my experience with the daily single step needed to bring me closer to achieving my dreams. The thorns were not only painful, but the pain could last for days. I refer to the statement no pain, no gain, which is indeed the truth.
What I usually do to make headway and overcome these obstacles is to dig around for sources of encouragement. I’ll search and read stories about people who has achieved their dreams, talking about what they went through and explaining how they managed to conquer all obstacles. These stories have helped me a great deal to renew my strength and gave me more energy to keep pressing on.
One of such stories was one written by an eighty-two-year-old woman who just published her first book. As an upcoming writer, I knew that the process of writing a book required a lot of dedication. If this was a story about someone within my age group or a bit older, it would have been a different feeling, but reading from someone over eighty years old, wow! Pretty amazing.
The eighty-two-year-old narrated her encounter about the various publishing experiences she acquired through this project. What if she had listen to people who offered her 101 reason she shouldn’t get into publishing. It’s much easier for someone that age to give up, what a courageous woman! She might not be on the best sellers list but what she’s done will be more encouraging compared to a best seller.
She encountered some obstacles, and from her story those obstacles became her steppingstones to become a published author. Stories like this never fail to thrill me and offer a renewed hope.