I know way too many people who have became content with their lives. Like they can go no further than they have in their personal lives and their careers. Like becoming a security guard or lifting boxes at Fed Ex was their lifelong goal.

I feel sad for those people because it seems they have no dreams and no big goals to achieve. So if life is complete for you, what more do you have to look forward to?

For as long as I live, I plan on striving to make every one of my goals happen, no matter how crazy others may think they are.

I want to see everyone aim for more. Set big goals and work hard to make them happen. Why settle for anything? You are the controller of your fate.

Always Strive for More

No matter what job you may have, go far and beyond to excel at your task. Bring more to the table than is asked of you, and hopefully this hard work will be recognized, and you can move further in the company. And if it’s a crappy job and you don’t want to move further in the company, so what? Start working hard and build good work ethics, so when that new opportunity comes your way, you’re on track.

Example: I work at a print company. My job gets many phone calls from customers every day, which takes up a lot of time from the customer service department. These customers’ questions are very general and can be answered easily. So my solution was to create a searchable Help Center. I researched my job’s competitors for ideas, I learned new coding that I was unfamiliar with, I built a mock up, and I tested everything at home because I didn’t want to present something till I had a working example. When I presented the Help Center, it was widely accepted and has reduced the customer phone calls. View it Here.

Doing this helped me out around my one-year anniversary time, to show that I deserved to become a Web Design Manager, which I currently am at the moment.

Don’t Limit Yourself

Why stick to one thing? If you’re making beats, why just stick to that? Why not expand and work on writing songs for artists? Why not learn to play some instruments? If music is your thing, why not start a record label, or music management company, host parties, or learn more about promoting? I’m just saying learn everything you can about what you love. The more you know, the more valuable you are, and the more independent you can be.

Example: I am a terrible writer and have really bad grammar. But I run a blog and I have written all but the posts on this site. Why? Because I wanted to help others, focus more on music, and I wanted a creative outlet.

I didn’t let my bad spelling stop me from doing what I wanted to do. Yes, a lot of my articles may have bad grammar, and in some of my videos I may just ramble, but I think they have been more helpful than confusing to others. So the bad grammar will continue, and me getting better at writing will continue also.

Have No Regrets

My personal biggest fear in life is to be 70 years old and look back at my life and wonder WHAT IF? What if I would have tried music; would I have been successful? What if I tried acting; could I have made it?

I don’t want to be old and look back at anything and wonder what if, because while I’m alive and healthy, I want to make everything happen that I can make happen.

Example: I have been scared to do some things. That’s the reality of life; new things can be terrifying at first. But the regret of not doing something can be way worse. For instance, I went sky diving and that was nerve racking. I pretty much told one person in my family I was going to do it, and did it. I had a great appreciation for life for like three days, and then reality and work hit me again, and the rush was over. But I’m still happy I did it.

I have also went scuba diving, hot air ballooning, kayaking, and more. I don’t want to say I didn’t try these things, so I’m going to do them.

Haters & Doubters

I respect anyone who has a dream and a goal, and will work hard at achieving it. But I know way too many people who will not support others’ dreams or goals. I think in most cases this is because the haters and doubters don’t have dreams or goals of their own and can’t imagine striving for more. They may say some negative things, because they can’t see a bigger plan for you.

Instead of a deterrent, this should be viewed as a bigger motivation to throw it in their face at first, and then show them with hard work. Goals and dreams are achievable.

Example: I personally feel I get looked down upon for all my crazy ideas. I am often inspired by things that I see. So I saw great photos and decided I wanted to pick up photography as a hobby. Some people thought it was a weird hobby to pick up because they don’t like it and thought I wouldn’t do a good job. The end result was, I invested time into it, and I like the work I produced, and they like the work I produced also. What do you think? markvphotography.com

Example 2: Back to my bad grammar. When I told people I was going to start a blog, they didn’t see the purpose. They pointed out how blogs fail, and once again, in not so many words, made it seem that I wouldn’t do a good job. Yet, more than a year later, with more than 100,000 visitors the first year, this site is still growing.

Thank you, haters and doubters, you help me in many ways!

Pat #2 Coming Soon – 6 Tips to Pursuing Your Dreams