5 Frameworks to Become Great and Achieve Your Dreams.
What is your grandest dream? What is the ultimate goal that you have for youself and your life?
Take a moment to really think about this and come up with something. It’s essential for the rest of this article.
Now, hold on to that ‘thing’ and input that ‘thing’ during the duration of this article.
Ok, back to “How to become great and achieve your dreams.”
Hell, I don’t know, YET. I too, am in the process of trying to achieve greatness and my dreams. So why would I start of this article in such a way or why would I even write such an article?
First, I wanted to be 100% honest and not come from a superior point of view. Second, this is more of a discussion and a belief that I have. I will share with you a few things that I have done to take the initial steps towards achieving greatness and my dreams. It’s my hope that maybe I can shed new light within and new way to look at your life situation.
I’d like to share with you the 5 frameworks that I have come up for people to use as a tool on their path to greatness and achieving their dreams……
First off, do you desire greatness? And what I mean by that is, are living into your full potential?
Are you living up to your absolute best self? And if not, do you desire to?
Give an honest answer. Are you living up to your full potential in life and/or as a person?
I know that I am not, but I sure as heck have a burning desire to.
My guess is you feel it deep inside as well. A feeling that there is something more to give, contribute and be. I certainly have that feeling and I know that feeling will always be there. I will always have an ambition to improve, to serve more, to offer more, to contribute more and to simply be a better person. The growing process will never subside for me and it’s my belief that it should never end, for all human kind.
Now, how do we become great? How can we achieve our dreams, goals and ambitions?
Well, I believe there are particular frameworks to achieving greatness:
The 5 Frameworks
1. Clarity
Know what you want - Do you know what you really, really want in life? More importantly, do you know WHO you want to be? Ifeel this may be the most difficult question of all. I know it was for me and I believe it is for many. Such simple, but complex questions: “What do you want? Who do you want to be?” Without clarity we have no foundation or building blocks to achieve a dream or goal. Without clarity, what happens is that we end up chasing the wrong thing or climbing the wrong tree, only to notice this tragedy once we’ve reached the top and have taken a moment to look down. So it’s essential to work through Step 1, and get clear on what you want and who you want to become. Clarity in itself is an enlightening feeling, I speak from experience on this end. For years I would second guess myself, unsure as to what I really wanted in life. Unsure as to who I needed to become in order to life out my dreams. Unsure as to what my ideal life situation would look like, but then I broke free and found that clarity I so desperately sought. I used specific strategies and took specific steps to break free. It was through self-mastery and self-creation…..Would you like some real clarity? Learn more HERE.
These are all indications of your - Clarity.
2. Desire
Do you possess a burning desire to achieve it- greatness, knowledge, achievement and growth. When you think of #1 (that one thing) do you have a flame burning deep within to achieve that dream/goal/project? Do you obsess about it? Thinking about is daily, maybe even every hour? It’s not something that just comes and goes, it’s always on your mind and you yearn to bust through and accomplish this goal/dream?!!! If you don’t feel that, you are chasing the wrong thing, you’re climbing the wrong tree and #1 (clarity) needs your attention. You need to go back and get clear on what you truly, deep down, want in life and who you wan to be. What is it, really? What will light that fire within you? What makes you charged when you think about it? You have one life, so what’s that one thing? When you reach your death bed you will not be given a replay button that enables you to go back and actually take a step towards your REAL dreams, desires and goals. Now, is your time. Right now. It’s time to get clear on it.
These are all indications of your - Desire and ambition.
3. Belief
A belief in your ability to figure things out along the way. You expect that you actually can achieve it. You know what you want, you have that burning desire to achieve it, but do you really believe that you can achieve it? You have absolutely no doubt that this is attainable? Can you see yourself at the end, after you’ve accomplished this dream/goal? You can feel what it feels like, you almost feel as if you’ve already attained it. That’s the kind of belief you need. If you don’t have that, it’s time to build your own belief. Belief is 100% our own responsibility. Nobody is going to throw you a bottle of belief to drink and wha-la, now believe. How do you build belief? By acquiring the necessary knowledge, skills, tools and resources that it will take to accomplish your goals and dreams. This means that you need to work on YOU. Read, learn, see, do, ask, listen, watch, model…repeat….repeat….repeat…..That’s how you build belief. Don’t sit on the sidelines with wishful thinking…..”Oh sure, I know they can do it, but that’s not for me.” or “I could never do that.” Empower yourself by asking yourself, “HOW can I? or What do I NEED to do?” Don’t be the victim, take ownership, be responsible for your dreams, goals and desires. Build your own belief. Only you can do so.
These are all indications of your - Belief.
4. Attention
What’s the amount of attention that you give your dreams and goals. Is it a somedays kind of thing, or an immersion? How often are you working on this one thing (dream, goal, project)? Are you focusing on it when it’s convenient? Working on it when you feel good, energized, all caught up on your sleep? Do you assess where you are at (progress) on a daily basis? Are you assessing what the next steps are? What skills you need to acquire? The people you need to talk to? The resources you need? The money you need? The time you need? Are you scheduling out the skills you need to acquire? Where is your attention? Is it on the next vacation? Is it on the weekend coming up? Is it on that shining new object? Is it on Facebook? Is it on your next meal? Is it on the next party? Is it on the ‘to-do list’? Is it on your past failures? Is it on your broken relationship?
These are all indications of your - Attention.
5. Effort -
What kind of you effort are you putting into your ‘thing’ - dreams and goals. Are you doing the hard things? Or are you doing the things that come easy to you? Maybe you know that you need to acquire new skills but you’ve been avoiding them, because they are out of your comfort zone or knowledge base. If you are all in, you will schedule out those skills and start acquiring the knowledge you need to achieve this ‘thing’. Do you try a few things, they don’t work and then you crumble and let off the gas? Do you face some obstacles and adversity and you quick for a period of time? When you have a few people say ‘No’, or you face some criticism, how do you respond?
These are all indications of your - Effort.
You may be saying, “I know what I want, I believe I can do it and I have a burning desire to achieve it, but I just don’t know what to do next. I don’t exactly know what skills to acquire, what tools I need, how much money I need, who I need to talk to or what kind of person I need to become.”
I would respond to you and say, “sure you do.” And here’s the simplest and most effective way to do it.
Find a role model.
Identify someone already doing what you want to do, at an elite level, and has been doing so for a sustained amount of time. Find someone already living the kind of life you desire and model that person. Model the steps they took, the skills they acquired, the strategies they use, the belief they have, the mindset they have. Completely dissect that person. Learn everything you can about them. Find out how they think, what they do on a day-to-day basis, the books they read, the people they converse with, the way the talk, write, speak. Find out everything you can about them and then MODEL IT.
Always remember this fact, success leaves clues.
You want to start an online business? Find someone killing it online! What are they doing? What does their website look like? What’s their marketing strategy? What does their landing page look like? What’s their sales funnel? What does their newsletter look like? What kind of emails do they send out? What does their customer service feel/look like? How do they speak? What skills do they have? What kind of person are they? What characteristics do they have?
You can do this for anything in life, anything!
Identify your role model and model them.
Ok, back to the 5 frameworks that I have laid out for you.
Clarity
Belief
Desire
Attention
Effort
Now, take that ‘One thing’ you thought of at the very beginning of this article.
Got it?
Ok.
Lets do a little test to gage your current “Greatness State”. Give yourself an honest assessment. In each of the 5 frameworks, give your self a score of 1-10. 10 meaning there is no room for improvement.
For those who may be reading this that are in a ‘rut’ or plateau, you will quickly see the correlation between your perceived life situation and your framework scores. Then there may be some reading this who feel completely trapped, broken, confused, restless and/or anxious for more in life, but you have no idea what to do. For those, your answer to framework #1, more than likely, was less than a 3.
Here’s the great news. Rarely do we take the time or effort and take an honest self-assessment of ourselves to gage our intentions, desires, needs and areas for improvement. By simply giving yourself a rank of 1-10 in each framework you know exactly where you need to put your attention. Remember this key point, the frameworks are just that, frameworks. Each builds upon one another. If you’re not scoring high in #1 then 2,3,4,5 do not matter. If you score great in 1 and 2, but low in 3 (belief) you will place little attention or effort towards your dreams/goals, due to your lack of belief.
Knowledge is only potential power. Once you know what you need to do, it’s a matter of taking action.
Take a real life goal, dream or project and test out this formula and framework that I have laid out for you.
What’s one goal, desire or dream that you’ve had or have?
Did you try and fail?
Are you still thinking about it, but have done nothing?
Now, take that one thing and put it to the test. Give yourself a score on all 5 frameworks and I guarantee you’ll see exactly WHY you are where you are.
Again, here’s the great part, now you know WHY you’re there and now you know WHAT to focus on. Which means you hold the potential power to progress and move towards your goals, dreams and desires.
Use this tool, weekly, to keep a pulse on your goals, dreams and projects. Assess your weaknesses and get to work on them.
Do you need more clarity (1)?
Do you need more desire, motivation and ambition (2)?
Do you need more belief in your ability to actually succeed (3)?
Do you need more focus, discipline and consistent attention on the tasks to achieve your goals and dreams (4)?
Do you need to put more action and effort into your goals, dreams on a consistent and sustained level (5)?
Become a 10 out of 10 in each of these 5 frameworks and you will NOT fail. Test it out. I know that I am testing it. For me, I need to improve 4 & 5. And in order to do so I will try and increase my belief to a 12 (#3) because I know that improving my belief has a direct correlation to my score on #4 - Attention.
Think about it, if you know without an absolute doubt that you can achieve your dream, there’s going to be a great chance that you will direct a good amount of attention to it. If that doesn’t hold true, we may be chasing the wrong thing and climbing the wrong tree. In that case, we need to completely re-examine #1 - Clarity(What do you want and who do you want to be).
Can you see how this all works together?
Can you see how much power this gives us?
Now is your time to harness that power and act.
You deserve greatness. You deserve to live your dream day, everyday.
Believe it!
Reflection Questions:
- Are you climbing the wrong tree?
- Are you truly excited about what you do each day? Does it make you feel alive?
- If you keep doing what you are doing now, where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years? Are you excited about what you are seeing?
- Do you have a dream or goal, but neglecting it? It’s time to build your belief.
- Am I playing small and playing a victim by thinking things such as: “I could never do that or learn that. They can do that because they _______. I could do it if ______. Yeah but ________.”
Remember.......
Think Different - Live Different
Brian Larson - Creator of ‘The Break Free Journey’