Focusing And Acting On Your Dream by Les Brown
by Les Brown
Whatever
dream you decide to go after, whether it is a family, or a career goal,
you must consciously decide that it is your life's mission. Benjamin
Disraeli
said, "The secret of success is constancy to purpose." You must go at
it
obsessively and set high standards for yourself along the way. There is
no room for compromise when you are charting a course for your life or
your career.
I spoke
to a group of sharp young people not long ago, and when I finished,
some
of the fellows came up and said they were interested in becoming
professional
speakers. They invited me to go out with them that evening to have a
good
time. These fellows looked as though they knew how to have a serious
good
time.
I had
planned to work on my delivery that night by listening to my tape of my
speech. I tape my speeches and listen to them later so I can study what
works and what does not work with a particular audience. In effect, I
listen
to the audience listening to me.
I was
tempted to go with these fellows, and back when I was their age I
probably
would have given in to that temptation and gone. But I have become more
disciplined and more committed to my craft. A friend of mine, Wes
Smith,
wrote a humor book called "Welcome to the Real World," and in it he
offered
advice to fresh high-school and college graduates. He had a line in the
book that pertains to the situation I faced that night. It said,
"Having
a drink with the boys after work every night is a bad idea. Notice that
the boss doesn't do it. That is why he is the boss and they are still
the
boys."
Wes
told me that he wrote that line with one particular group of
hard-partying
young businessmen in mind, and five years after the book came out, he
ran
into one of them. The guy volunteered that he'd read that line in Wes's
book and decided never to go drinking after work again. It paid off, he
said. He had risen to a vice-presidency at a savings and loan.
In
my drive to become a public speaker, I developed that kind of focus,
too.
There is not a lot of time for hard partying if you are pursuing
greatness.
It was not that these young fellows were not serious about their
interest
in professional speaking, but they were just as serious about having a
good time. I don't believe they were focused on their goals. They were
seeking a profession but they were not on a mission to make a dramatic
difference in the world. I am. You should be too.
Rather
than the party crowd, I prefer to seek out people with knowledge that
might
be useful. I like to find out what books successful and intelligent
people
are reading. I want access to the information that contributes to their
success and intelligence.