Fourth rung: Action. Take action. Pursue your dream plan with courage and determination.

First rung:	Decide on your dreams and goals.
Second rung:	Reinvigorate your thinking. How you think is everything.
Third rung:	Expect to Win. Develop a plan for your success.
Fourth rung:	Action. Take action. Pursue your dream plan with courage and determination.
Fifth rung:	Measure your progress. Never, never, never give up.

Fourth rung:    Action.  Take action.  Pursue your dream plan with courage and determination.
Our dreams and goals hold no power unless they are grounded in a viable plan of action. Nor can all of the positive thinking in the world carry you to a desired end result, achieving your goals. Achievement by its’ very nature connotes action. Successful men and women are always moving toward their desired target. Success comes by way of knowing what you are doing and why you are doing it. With that understood, your plans and course of action become aligned with achieving your dreams and goals.

W. Clement Stone, the famous philanthropist and businessman said, “I think there is something more important than believing. Action!” Taking action and moving forward with the dream plan is, perhaps, the toughest and most challenging part of goal achievement. According to a New York Times survey, even when we feel committed to a positive change, sustaining it for a real length of time is very challenging. Only 5% of people take necessary action which eventually leads to realizing their dreams.

It appears that gathering information, planning, visualizing and mentally preparing to achieve your dream is all passive in nature. The transformation comes only when action is taken……having the courage to take the first step.

Shawn Achor in his book “Happiness Advantage” explains our reluctance to move forward is because we are drawn – powerfully, magnetically – to those things that are easy, convenient and habitual which we call “our comfort zone! Anything that we want to attempt beyond our comfort zone needs a spark which he calls, “activation energy.” Activation energy is a spark which is needed for us to take the first step. This spark can be either physical or mental, but either way, it is a necessary precursor to moving forward and taking action.

A story I recently read illustrates this concept so well. A man had started a business which would bring him wealth and the realization of his dreams and goals. His intention and ambition were intact but, nonetheless, within his first year he was deeply in debt. Creditors were closing in and suppliers were demanding payment. In despair, he sat on a park bench, head in his hands, not knowing what to do; fulfilling his dreams and aspirations seemed remote and unattainable. Suddenly, a stranger, an old man stood before him and said, “Young man, I can see something is troubling you.” After listening to the man’s tales of woe and failed dreams, the old man offered his help. Obtaining his name, he wrote out a check and gave it to him. Saying then, “Take this money and meet me here exactly one year from today. You can pay me back then.” With that the stranger turned and walked away.

The young businessman, still in a state of complete amazement, saw in his hand a check for $500,000.00, signed by one of the richest men in the world, John D. Rockefeller! This money meant that he could erase all of his money concerns immediately. He considered this for a moment, but instead, decided to put the check in his safe. The very knowledge that he did not face any financial worries gave him confidence. Let us say, that was exactly “the activation energy” he needed. With renewed optimism this young businessman and rising executive started negotiating better deals and closing larger sales. Within only a few months he was totally out of debt and was on his way to realizing his dream.

Exactly one year later, he expectantly returned to the park with the un-cashed check. At the agreed upon time, the old man appeared. But, as the young man was about to hand back the check, a nurse in a white uniform came running toward them and grabbed the old man. In complete exasperation, she said, “I’m so sorry, but glad I caught him. He’s a patient at the rest home and is always running away. And, can you imagine, telling people he’s John D. Rockefeller!” Astonished beyond belief, the young man was stunned with the knowledge of a false illusion; a safety net of half a million dollars.

With greater understanding than ever before, he realized that it wasn’t the money, real or simply imagined, that turned his life around. It was the new found spark or “activation energy” which brought him self-confidence and self-belief giving him the power to achieve all that he desired. The power to achieve greatness resides in all of us, we just need to activate this energy.

Let me end this blog with this quote;

“You are a living magnet.
What you attract into your life
will always be in harmony
with your dominant thoughts.”
Brian Tracy