What “Impossible Dream” Are You Dreaming?

Has this ever happened to you?

You chose a New Year's resolution, but you didn't know where to start, so you never got started. Your elusive desire became impossibly unattainable.

When your habit is to focus on what's missing, your process of goal setting will entail gathering up a bunch of resources (including knowledge), then setting goals that relate to the resources you have.

Et voila, you avoid the discomfort of wanting something that feels impossible to get.

However, this approach actually undermines your success. And your personal growth will be slow, tedious and needlessly painful.

Have you ever attended a seminar, read a book, or even gone to college with no clear end in mind? If so, you engaged in the act of learning, but you skipped the critical first step of engaging your passion.

It's only passion that gives you a clear path to true fulfillment. Without it, you'll have no direction, no purpose. No reason to learn. No reason to grow. No oomph. And no joy.

Consequently, results come in fits and starts. Slowly, if at all. And you wonder why your personal growth is languishing?

You see, you're not growing when you're simply repeating things you've already done. Growth happens when you're inspired to bump up your game to the next level, whatever you say that is.

When you start with passion, your mindset shifts from “I can't” to “How can I”.

You literally think different thoughts.

Instead of surrendering in defeat to impossibility, your mindset of possibility feels more alive, more expansive, more willing to take a small, calculated risk.

With passion greasing the skids, you'll be motivated to seek out—and quickly assimilate—the learning you'll need to do whatever you're after.

And the big bonus is that the feelings of freedom, confidence and power you gain will carry over to other areas of your life.

Think about how you'll feel when you've attained the most elusive resolution on your list. Perhaps it's been on your list for years, but you haven't had the guts (or a powerful process) to take it on. Well, now's the perfect time to try something new.

Here's a highly successful process you can use to attain the seemingly unattainable:

Step 1. Think about something you've been wanting for a while, but have shied away from taking any action on.

Step 2. Anchor it in your passion. Immerse yourself in the feeling of having it.

Step 3. If information is missing, find it. Learn how to do it. Inspired people (myself included) learn faster, more easily, with less effort when passion is burning brightly. I recall literally feeling my brain expand as I learned how to run this blog.

Step 4. Lay down a path to your desire and take one step in that direction every day. What you'll find is all kinds of things start to fall into place such as meeting a person who can teach you, or finding a resource.

Step 5. Celebrate early and often. Enjoy the energy and focus you're having as you go for it with 100% of your heart. This isn't frivolous fun, it feeds your passion, which feeds your willingness to keep at it until it's yours.

Today's Coaching Question: What elusive resolution are you willing to go after, starting today?