Your Destiny May Hang on These Three Words
I want to talk with you about three words. The first two words: vision and dreams, are things you need as a business owner if you want to fully achieve your destiny. The third word: cynicism, like a tourniquet on your mind, stops you from dreaming blurs your vision and as result derails your destiny.
Are Dreams Important?
The van barreled down the road returning home from a conference we attended together, Jesse driving, me riding shotgun. As we rode along, the conversation turned to vision and dreams and how such mind-picturing ability figures into success and achievement.
I asked, “Jesse, do you have dreams that have refused to come true? He drove in silence for a while. Then he said, “Yes I have some of those…he paused…but Johnny, I figure it’s better to have had a dream that didn’t come true than to never to have had a dream at all. I thought, “That’s good, Jesse.”
What do you think? Are vision and dreams a good thing whether they come true or not? Me, I would say OK, yes, it is better to have dreams even if they don’t pan out. But dreams are not just a good thing they are essential if you are to fulfill your destiny. As a business owner, your vision and your dreams matter if you want to do something great, something that gives full expression to why you breathe earth air.
You Must Keep on Dreaming.
I heard someone express an idea recently that caught my attention. Simply this. Some old men need to start dreaming again. It caught my attention because I’ve celebrated enough birthdays for that to catch my attention.
The speaker continued but with an interesting twist. He said, “Many old men stop dreaming because they’ve become cynical.” He had my attention like a mouse with a 5 pound block of cheese. So I looked up meanings for the word cynicism. As I researched cynicism, two other words caught my attention: vision and dreams. I looked them up.
It’s Interesting How These Words Relate
I was surprised at how these three words relate. Let’s talk about it. Stay with me, even if you are young. This is not only for those of us who’s birthday cakes set off smoke alarms. If you have stopped dreaming it applies just as powerfully to you.
The words “visions” and “dreams” are considered synonyms. They have much in common. But they carry unique shades of meaning as well.
Dictionary.com says that a vision is the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: the vision of an entrepreneur. Similar in meaning, it defines a dream, as: a cherished hope; ambition; aspiration.
“Some old men need to start dreaming again. Many old men stop dreaming because they’ve become cynical.”
Both words imply something you can’t see with natural eyes, something you hope to have some day.
As a young man I dreamed of lots of things. I dreamed of living my dream, saw myself walking there, said I would and, before I got there, worked like I imagined I would work when I did.
There came times during the process of pursuing my dream I’d get stressed out, overwhelmed, and discouraged. I’d hear this voice inside my heart, “Johnny, if you can’t handle this little job, what makes you think you can handle that? If you love the dream, you must also love the process.” That would pick me up and I would say it again, “I will do this.”
Your Destiny is in Danger If Cynicism Sets In
Recently I’ve noticed Cynicism trying to sneak into my head. I’ve felt its suffocating effect. Why do I believe it’s cynicism that’s playing with my head? I looked it up. The word means, “bitterly or sneeringly distrustful, contemptuous, or pessimistic.”
So, what’s going on with me? I’m tempted to get pessimistic about what the older man I see in the mirror can do. Distrust in my ability to achieve my dreams invites itself to my party. Contempt for myself over things I did or didn’t do wants to wander through my mind. Obviously, such cynicisms mess with my vision and my ability to dream.
Whether you are Young or Old
As I thought about all of this, I realized pessimistic, contemptuous, distrustful thoughts like these tempt all of us in one way or the other. Young or old, is not the issue. I’d say this too, It doesn’t take much cynicism to stop your dream and thereby disrupt your destiny. For one thing, Cynicism shoots holes in your energy bucket. For another, If you start to believe you can’t, you won’t.
In my dream, I see a great marketing company … It’s great because it helps other dreamers accomplish their dreams. So, to win the day, I must weed the garden of my mind and resist every sprig of dream-choking cynicism.
It doesn’t take much cynicism to vex a vision, to destroy a dream to deter your destiny. Don’t let a scrap of it hang around your head. Keep running. Let’s run together.
Incidentally, the business I own helps service-based businesses with marketing. I write about the invisible side of business, such as I have done in this article, I also write about digital marketing success. I publish new articles on a regular basis.
Perhaps you and I should become digital friends. Give me your email address and I will make sure you know about it when we post a piece. You will find our newsletter signup below…
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by Johnny Wyatt
“Make the invisible side of your life and business as powerful as you want the visible side to be.”
Johnny Wyatt
Many business owners feel marketing wastes money. J3 sells only trackable services … No waste … Measurable ROI instead. Let’s talk about your business. Where you are, where you want to go. How J3 may be able to help.
If you’re ready for a different kind of website and the success of your business through your internet marketing, then you need to contact Johnny Wyatt at J3 Effect Marketing.”
Anthony Caputo, DDS, MA, FACD, FICD, DADBA, DNDBA
Southwest Dental Anesthesia Services