I met Chris Hauser a few years ago at Advance 8.0 (Nashville- go to www.EatSleepAdvance.com for more info). During session 1 we have guys define WHAT they want to do, that is, the dream they want to achieve. Sometimes, guys articulate dreams for their business. Most often, they lean towards another area of life…
They want to become better husbands.
Or more engaged fathers.
Stronger yet more gracious leaders…
Or they want to take charge of their fitness & health.
Chris decided that, at 5’7” and 38 years of age, he wanted to dunk the basketball.
Now, basketball is a passion of his. So, this wasn’t a random dream, something pulled out of thin air. He plays ball. He grew up playing ball. He’s skilled at it.
But he’s never dunked.
Some people would say he’s too old (“Your time has passed”). Others might say he’s too short (“You don’t have a natural bent towards this”). Some might conclude it’s not worth the time and effort (“Invest the energy into something else”). Chris decided this WAS- THIS IS- his dream. One of them, anyway.
I asked him to talk about what he’s learned from managing a long-term goal AND to make some applications for other people regarding other areas of life. So, we talked for about 30 minutes or so.
#1- Comparison hinders progress.
We tend to evaluate our “in the trench” moments to everyone else’s highlight reel- to what we see on social media. We see their moment on the stage, but don’t see the long hours, the failures, the years of preparation…
We don’t see “under water” to the entire image of the iceberg, in other words.
Whereas 10% of an iceberg is above the surface, the reality is that success is about 1% above the surface and 99% below…
Don’t compare.
No two people are alike. And, again, the comparison is a false- comparison, anyway.
#2- You can’t microwave a harvest.
That is, most of the great things in life take time. Sure, there ARE examples of people who “rank up” in the business really fast- just like there are people- first try- walk onto the basketball court and dunk it.
Those are exceptions to the norm, though.
Realize that, in life… good thing most often take time. Think long-term.
#3- Stuck? Expect it… breakthrough always comes.
Chris got stuck a few times doing his “jump thing.”
I got stuck for weeks during my weight loss journey.
Annie, Chris’ wife, got STUCK AT SILVER for 6 moths.
Now….
Chris can almost dunk.
I’m 50 pounds lighter than I was at my heaviest.
Annie is a Royal Crown Diamond (see the Income Disclosure Statement below to see how fabulous that is).
Breakthrough generally comes RIGHT AFTER you find yourself stuck.
Remember the pic of the guy who quit digging for diamonds right as he was about to hit pay-dirt? Don’t be that guy!
#4- Communicate with stakeholders in your dream (or the people whom you want to be).
For all of our talk about not being supported by our friends and family, it would do well to ask this question: “Do they really know what we want them to support?”
So many of us are afraid of sharing our hopes + dreams with others that we rarely talk about them- even to the people closest to us.
Here’s the deal: you can’t expect people to rally behind something they know nothing about. So, give them a chance to hear what’s on your heart, and empower them to get behind you!
#5- Self-talk. Control it.
Frequently remind yourself of WHAT your chasing and WHY it matters. There are going to be a LOT of days when you don’t want to pursue the dream. There will be days when you’ve lost hope, feel down, and think it’s not worth it.
Know what you’ll tell yourself beforehand. Write it down (we have the guys at the Advance do this!). Make it clear, so you can lean into that truth when the hard times comes (I.e., when you find yourself swimming under water).
#6- Don’t give up until you achieve the dream.
Keep going. You quit when… well, when you’ve achieved it.
But, you don’t really quit. At that point, you awaken another dream.
(We talked about this in the podcast from GoPro re: John Maxwell’s “rule of 5” talk- more here: https://www.OilyApp.com/blog/40 )
#7- Perspective: you never know how many other people’s dreams are dependent on you achieving yours!
This was an “add-on” to the talk…
It dawned on us that Chris never would have been talking to me if he hadn’t started dunking…
And he never would have started dunking if Annie hadn’t hit RCD…
That showed us that, often, your dream HAS BEEN contingent on others hitting THEIR dream. And, OTHERS’ dreams are contingent on you hitting yours.
In this talk we discuss how Annie had helped a “few” people with health + financial growth when she hit Silver. But… when she hit RCD, those numbers escalated radically. By hitting her dream, she opened the door for others to achieve theirs…
Make sense?
Achieve your dream. You’re worth it. And the people coming behind you, living in your wake, are worth it!
Links from this show
The Hauser’s website: www.modernessentialseo.com
Chris’ Instagram: www.Instagram.com/chaus3r
For videos from great leaders like this and others, go to OilyApp+ online- https://oilyapp.com/p/plus
Listening options for the show can be found at https://oilyapp.com/blog
Young Living’s Income Disclosure Statement- www.YoungLiving.com/IDS (mentioned for compliance reasons, b/c we discuss $$$)