What characteristics separate people into those who follow their dreams and those who just dream? Have you been dreaming about starting your own business? How long have you had those dreams and what are you doing to make them a reality? As you work through limiting conversations with yourself, consider these qualities and traits that many entrepreneurs and successful leaders have in common. If you are still in the dream stage, see how you can start to take these characteristics to heart and be one of those people who looks back at life with the satisfaction of knowing you ‘went for it', rather than just continued to have a dream. Since life is so short, there's no better time than the present to start to take action!



A commitment to make it happen.

Your commitment must start in your heart. You have to believe something can happen before you will actually take action to make it reality. Ask yourself what kind of person you are when it comes to commitment: Are you willing to commit 100% and do what it takes?

The commitment must be complete in order to achieve your goal, however. Some people start working towards a goal, but when things get tough, they cut and run. Or they continue to take tentative steps towards it, but not really committing. Often this action has more to do with a person's own confidence in what she can accomplish than with her level of commitment. If that is the case, if the person wants it badly enough, she can seek help from a coach, to help her work through the limiting conversations she may be having with herself.

When committing to something, however, this also means that something else must be given up. Consider what you would give up if you were to start your own business. Two examples would be giving up free time in order to work on your business plan or organize things towards opening the door to your business. The second example would be giving up the security of a paying job.

It's not always because a person isn't committed that leads to avoiding a dream or ending prematurely. Sometimes it may have more to do with believing in themselves and realizing that they really can accomplish anything if they want it badly enough. Not that this is easy; again, there is a price to be paid, and certainly fear and doubts are prices along the way. I will often ask clients how they will feel if they do not strive for this goal, and as they ponder the alternative, they become stronger in their resolve and more confident that they can achieve their goal.

Do what you are passionate about.

Without passion, commitment will be harder to maintain. Desire determines destiny. If your desire is strong enough, you will accomplish what you dream of. Passion will increase your willpower. It helps fuel your commitment. If you follow your passion, you become more dedicated to your goal, and when you allow your passion to come out when interacting with others, you will find that others pay closer attention to you. People love passion and it can be contagious, drawing people to you. With your business, you have to identify exactly what you are passionate about and be sure that is your focus with your business.

Keep your eye on the goal.

For anything to succeed, you have to have the end in sight. You have to know what the goal is. This helps you create your plan. As Stephen Covey says in his book, “7 Habits of Highly Successful People”, you have to have the end in sight in order to succeed. What is your vision? What do you ultimately want to create? This may sound like a simple question, but once I start pushing clients to really answer this, they find they aren't as sure as they previously thought. I suspect this is why they never took action towards that dream! Once you are clear about what you want to accomplish, then you create the plan to help you get there and the strategies to move forward. Writing down your goals, the steps necessary and an action plan helps you check back to be sure that you are still on track in achieving your goal. Again; how can you get there if you don't know where ‘there' is?

Let your courage shine through.

Stepping out of your comfort zone and facing your fears is a trait that can make the difference between success and failure. Everyone has fears about something. The difference between those who succeed and those who just dream is what they do with that fear. We all have choices: Face the fear or run from it. The most common action is to run from it. Some may call facing up to your fears courage. Courage begins with an inward battle. Who will win that limiting conversation you will have with yourself? Are you willing to step up and face those fears? Courage is having the power to let go of the familiar and forge ahead into new territory. Courage is the willingness to put it all on the line for possible failure. Many of the top leaders in the world suffered failures. They say that those who succeed the most also have suffered the most failures in their lives. But imagine the feeling of success, and also consider how you will feel if you allow your fears to tame your dreams and allow yourself to look back at your life with just dreams to think about.

Consider these characteristics and think about a goal you have. No matter what goal you have, can you use some of these suggestions to move closer towards that goal? If so, I encourage you to start working on making your goal a reality. Again, life is short, so do it now.