The Road to Magnificent Living
Imagined life persecutes current life when big dreams devalue small practices. Dream it – achieve it, is a malicious lie until you act.
The road to magnificent living is paved with action, not imagination. Thinking ruins life when it leads to more thinking. Dreams matter when they guide action.
You become what you do.
Ruinous goals:
Goals ruin life when they focus on results and forget daily practices. Few things are more destructive than a goal without action.
Satisfaction goes up based on behaviors, not imagined results. Don’t focus on things you want to do. Pay attention to the things you are doing.
Don’t confuse vision with goals. Vision is always out of reach. You strive to end world hunger, but don’t reach it. Goals define progress. When vision replaces actionable goals, you drag yourself to oblivion.
Magnificent living:
Life stings because you do things that make you miserable. The hardest decisions you make are stopping. How will you stop making yourself miserable? What are you doing today that reflects your imagined life?
Magnificent living is found in things you do, not things you imagine.
Life is miserable because foolish dreams are nightmares that reveal themselves slowly. The life you want isn’t a constant vacation. It isn’t obstacle free. It isn’t leaping from one giggling moment to the next.
What comes to mind when you dream of the life you want? Beaches? First class seats in airplanes? Butlers?
The life you want is found in climbing, not resting. Rest is an enabler, not an end. Energy enables the climb. Rest restores energy.
Judge life not by dreams but actions. Vision for life isn’t about buildings, programs, and another zero on your bank account. Vision is loving people. Magnificent living is loving people today.
What can you do today that reflects magnificent living?
Still curious:
Stop Punching Yourself in the Face: 13 Self-Defeating Behaviors to Avoid
4 Questions that Define a Useful Idea
Just what I need to hear today on aFriday afternoon. Thank you !
Hi Dan,
This is some of the best advice I have read from you! Everyone has a vision, even if it is definitely perceived, but your clear distinction between goals, action vision, and dreams really hit me. Wish you and all community a lovely weekend
I read your blog every day. Often, I send to my children and my team. This one today was very powerful…. Thank you\
I agree with the other comments, I’m just trying to figure out which ones I’m going to print and post in my office! It never hurts to be reminded of such things.
Thanks, Dan, for another well-deserved smack in the head!
The life you want is found in climbing. Amen to that!
Be sure to know what you’re climbing towards. Is it really what you want? Dreams help set the direction and actions define the path we take. Don’t let anyone else decide what your dreams are or your path will not be as rewarding as it could otherwise be.
Define your dream then take Dan’s advice and take action!