Living the dream.

Over many years of interactions with people of all ages, skills, experience, and knowledge, there is one thing more than any other that I don’t get. Why is it that there is an unusually large portion of people who see themselves as more knowledgeable or capable than anyone else? I am not a psychologist but it seems to me that some insecure people cover those feelings with bravado and are often delusional about themselves.

Of course we all like to feel that we have acquired knowledge and capability that differentiates us from the crowd, but do we really feel that others haven’t done the same thing? This is especially true of so-called professionals who sometimes believe that because they have specialist knowledge in a specific domain, then they must be as equally knowledgeable and skilled about everything.

The ability to see ourselves objectively is a rare thing, but we should all strive to do so. Such an ability allows us to understand others better and enables us to continue to grow because we then know what we don’t know. Learning is a continual process and as I look back at various stages in my life, each 5 years is quite a leap in my knowledge and understanding. If you look back 5, 10, or more years, how do you feel about what you knew then and what you know now? Perhaps you may not regret any decisions you made back then, but if you had the knowledge then that you have now, how different would your behaviour have been?

More to the point, how do we use this perspective to look forward 5 years or more and pattern our current knowledge and behaviour to get us to where we want to be. I see plenty of articles about the power of positive thinking, meditation, visualisation, and perseverance, all of which are great, but without action it may not lead to realisation of your goals. We all want to live the dream.

Each 5-year period in your life is made up of daily increments which build like Lego. Unless you take positive action each day, building upon the actions from previous days, with a vision of what you are “constructing”, you will end up with just a jumble of life “pieces” rather than the monument of your life goals. I heard someone say not too long ago that too many of the people they meet “carry the burden of a life unfulfilled”. This may be a cynical view but don’t let that description apply to you.

I also hear people talking about others who were just “lucky” so I’ll repeat another of my favourite sayings: luck is where preparation meets opportunity!

Enjoy every day aware of who you are, taking time to smell the flowers while holding onto and heading towards your dream.