You Might Be Delusional, Here’s How
Have you ever heard “if you can believe than you can achieve?”How about “if you can dream it you can do it?”In these cases, belief is actually just a combination of trust and visibility.
Let me explain:
Trust is the reputation you have with yourself for executing things.If you have executed, followed through, and challenged yourself in the past you will trust yourself to do so in the future.Visibility is what you can see about the work to be done ahead.Even if you can’t see the ending, have you done something similar or even just not seen the ending before?How clearly can you define your dream?Example: “disrupt the real estate industry” isn’t clear enough.If you don’t know where you want to go, there’s no way to know when you’ve arrivedBasically . . .
It helps if you know what to do and how to do it.
But even more important is the relationship you have with your own execution and whether or not you trust yourself to follow through or figure out the unknown.
Unbounded belief is delusion.
Delusion is when you believe and believe, with abandon, no matter what the world around them is telling them.So, believing in yourself means having the data log of many, smaller decisions and actions that prove that you are capable of bigger ones.Delusion is when you have no behavioral evidence but believing anyway.See the difference?
2 Minute Action
Do you trust your ability to execute?If so, great! Can you name some projects that would prove this?Having the data in hand will drive up your confidence, today.If you don’t trust yourself, take this time to break your most essential project down into a few chunks you can accomplish this week and ask a good friend of yours to hold you accountable. You’ll need to know a bit about what the final product looks like if you’re going to break it down, too.Example:I have a friend who wrote a check for $1000 and said: “cash this check if I don’t stick to my plan.”People who excel set up their environments to give them the best chance of success.
How To Get To Your Dream
Step 1 - Define the dream.
Examples of good definitions:
- Save 500 lives by donating blood.
- Fully fund a non-profit in my area for the year.
- Reach $x in revenue by 2025.
Examples of bad definitions:
- Change education.
- Start a non-profit.
- Disrupt the industry.
Hint: If you can't "check the box," then it's bad definition. You can't check the box on "learning Spanish," because you can always improve. You CAN check the box that reads "have a 30-minute conversation in Spanish with a native speaker."
Step 2 - Validate the dream's feasibility.
Example of good sources of validation:
- Experts in the field.
Example of bad sources of validation:
- Friends and family.
Step 3 - Start.
Examples of bad starts:
- Designing a logo.
- Filing for an LLC.
- Building software.
Examples of good starts:
- Making a sales call.
- Emailing your list with an offer.
- Any work you are currently avoiding.
Other tips:
- You have to start before you can see the ending.
- Gather the tools you need as you need them, or you might get caught up by how fun it is to buy all the gear instead of spending your energy on your mission.
- Be clear about WHY you have this dream, and whose dream it actually is.
2 Minute Action:
What's a goal you've had? When would you be able to check the box?Have you talked to any experts about how possible it is?Take a look at who you know in the industry (LinkedIn is great for this), and reach out to them, right now.