Depeche Mode was big back in the 80s and for a long time I never really understood why. That is until they released the song, “Enjoy the Silence” which appeared on the album Violator.
But my favorite line was actually from another song on the same album entitled, “Personal Jesus.” (I have embedded the music video below for anyone interested)
Still now I can hear them say, “Reach out and touch faith.” Great words. Powerful words.
Faith – a word we often hear but what is it?
The best definition I have ever heard was by my mentor Jim Rohn who said, “Faith is the ability to see things that don’t yet exist.”
That is powerful.
We must have faith that what we want to achieve (ie. our dreams) is possible. And not just that it is possible, but possible for US.
Only those who have faith in themselves and their dreams ever bother getting started.
But on the road to success our faith will be tested.
Despite our best intentions and hard work things never seem to go according to plan. There will be times when you might want to throw in the towel. But no one ever said success would be easy.
If it were, more people would be successful.
Most people have big dreams but no drive. They want a harvest but aren’t willing to plant. For those people, dreams are like fairy tales. They keep waiting for their fairy godmother to come down and sprinkle magic dust on them.
You could go that route, but it’s pretty much like winning the lottery. There are winners…but most people end up losers.
Me, I’d rather just go for it.
Once we have faith we just need to keep it because unfortunately there are people out there that try and step on our dreams.
They tell us we’re too young, too old, too lazy, too weak, too shy, too something.
You may have run into one or two of them before. I know I have.
But when you come across them you just have to keep one thing in mind, it is YOUR dream. Not theirs!
Only you can decide how many hours put into making your dream come true. Only you can decide to stay up late and wake up early to work on your dream.
People told me I was crazy to write a book in today’s environment what with the economy being so bad.
“You’re wasting your time,” and “It’ll never go anywhere,” were two of the things I heard when I told some people close to me that I was writing a book.
I had a different outlook.
I believed there was no better time than today to write a book for two reasons.
- In times of economic crisis, people are in need of more good ideas.
- Today is the youngest I’ll ever be.
So far the comments I have received have meant more to me than I could have expected. Just today I heard back from two people. A close friend wrote to me about how powerful a quote in my book was. And my financial mentor mentioned he had not only received my book but that he “enjoyed it immensely.”
All I ever wanted to do was make a contribution to people’s lives.
Sure I’d love to hear that people went out and applied what I wrote about in my book, iSucceed: secrets for the average joe and jane, and that it changed their lives. But that’s wishful thinking. More realistically I’m just happy when I made someone think, even if for just a few seconds.
Writing the book wasn’t the hard part but getting it published was no walk in the park. I ran into one problem after another.
My faith was being tested.
But I never lost sight of my goal.
And in the end here I am – a published author.
Every success story I have come across has a healthy dose of faith. That even when the whole world felt against them they just kept at it. Overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. And when the smoke had cleared, they had done it.
With my first goal achieved I have now set my sights on bigger and better things but I will never forget where it all started. With a little book.
Don’t expect the ride to success to be an easy one.
You will be tested.
I hope you will keep going.
Adrian Shepherd