Life
The 7 Laws For Living an Uncommon Dream
Fulfilling your purpose has never been more important to you than it is right now. You’re on a mission to discover all of who you are and committed to developing your unique contribution to the world.
You surround yourself with super stars, you listen to audiobooks, and you watch inspirational YouTube video daily trying to find ways to improve your life. You my friend are a dreamer with an uncommon dream.
People with uncommon dreams are uniquely wired and accept that they’re here to play a bigger game and by different rules. But not following rules doesn’t omit the fact that there are still laws that play into how far and how fast our dreams come to life, especially uncommon ones.
Here are the 7 laws for living an uncommon dream:
1. Law of persuasion
As a leader it is your responsibility to consistently take what’s in your mind and place it on the hearts of those who follow you. The challenge for many leaders is that they don’t always have a clear plan as to where they are taking people. Not having a well-defined plan is detrimental as a leader because it creates confused people and confused people don’t take action. A strong plan simplifies the complicated and provides a leader with a blueprint for persuasion.
Once a leader is clear on where he or she is leading their followers, the next step is to decide what separates you from the other leaders. Why? It’s simple. If you don’t know your difference then no one can pursue you for your difference. All dreams, especially uncommon ones, require the emotional, physical and financial support of a community of people. One of the hardest lessons I learned, as a budding entrepreneur, was that many of the people I wanted to lead were not going to care as much about my dream as I did- at least at first.
I discovered that it was my job to be charmingly relentless and persuade others to champion it just as much, if not more than I did. John C. Maxwell stated in, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, “He who calls himself a leader and has no followers is only taking a walk.” What he was saying is give people so much value that they have no choice but to follow you.
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
2. Law of focus
Dreamers are inclined to think in layers, textures and colors making concentration their single greatest challenge. The great American author, Mark Twain said it well, “You can’t depend on your focus when your imagination is out of focus.” Your thoughts and ideas must be grounded in something solid – a bigger purpose. You must get good at investing your time and energy in the things and with people who encourage and inspire you to produce results daily.
The uncommon dream demands a remarkable focus. All leaders should design a system that brings them back when they realized their focus has shifted elsewhere. If you don’t have a system here is a 5-Step Process to jump start your focus. Find a system that works and stick to it like glue. The reason leaders with uncommon dreams fail is because they’ve allowed temporary circumstances to break their focus.
3. Law of respect
The law of respect is simple. You only attract what you respect; you only respect what you see value in. Your value system is much like your taste buds, they tend to evolve over time. Part of living an uncommon dream involves making a great deal of decisions. Each decision you make will do one of two things to your dream, shrink it or stretch it.
Over time you learn to find value in people that can further your mission, in places that nurture you vision and in things that condition your mind to think bigger. Be careful whom you respect when you’re floating low and be cautious whom you disrespect when you’re flying high.
4. Law of adversity
If it’s worth having it’s worth almost losing. Challenges are invariably going to show up as you pursue your dream, but only to keep you on top of your game. Dreamers embrace the adversity that comes as a result of following their heart because they recognize that nothing in life happens to them, it happens for them.
Accept adversity as apart of the recipe of an uncommon dream and it will be the thing that propels you into success. Without trials you will not know how to value the people, places and experiences that your dreams will bring into your life. The Law of adversity is as simple or as exhausting as you choose for it to be.
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” -Langston Hughes
5. Law of mentorship
A mentor is one of the most valuable resources you are able to tap into. Why? Mentors are carriers of information. The majority of the challenges you are faced with on the day-to-day basis are only a result of not having enough information. Lets take money for example. Who doesn’t want to make more of it? Of course you do! So you do your best to attend the finest university to eventually find a job that will pay you not enough so you take on two or three side jobs and overwhelm yourself to the point of exhaustion. Sound familiar?
The story you make up about yourself at this point is that you have a “financial problem.” False! There is no such thing as financial problem, only a wisdom problem. Mentorship is all you’re missing. The key is to find mentors who are thriving in the areas of your life in which you’d like to improve upon. If you’re reading this article, chances are great you’re a beholder of an uncommon dream and so you have a greater responsibility not only to take on mentors but secondly and most importantly take action on the information that is shared with you.
Some examples of those who have been mentored and mentors to individuals with uncommon dreams: Mahatma Gandhi mentor to Nelson Mandela, Denzel Washington mentored by Sidney Poitier, Christian Dior mentor to Yves Saint Laurent, Michelle Robinson mentor to Barack Obama, Ralph Waldo Emerson mentor to Henry David Thoreau, Audrey Hepburn mentor to Elizabeth Taylor and the list goes on. When are you going to join the greats?
6. Law of questions
There is no such thing as a stupid question. I know you’ve heard that before! Still to not ask questions is just silly of you. Questions are not just good for finding answers, but also allow you to access resources, solve problems, reach agreements, demonstrate humility, eliminate confusion and acquire knowledge. To make an uncommon dream come true you have to get good at asking uncommon questions- that only make sense, right? Here are some brave and interesting questions I invite you to ask people you come into contact with.
7. Law of relationships
What if I were to promise you that you are only one relationship away from everything you’ve ever wanted in life? Well, its true. Relationships are everything, but not all relationships are created equal. Human beings are genetically wired to be in relationship and connect with one another; the challenge is connecting with the right people, your people. Uncommon dreams are much like small children, the environment in which they are raised in largely determines how much they develop or don’t develop.
The fundamental reason why uncommon dreams are not realized is because we choose to spend too much time with “not our people.” What’s important to keep in mind is that sometimes you don’t actually find your people, they find you. They will be the ones who celebrate your differences, who speak life into in every interaction and most importantly they are conscious of creating an environment for your uncommon dream to thrive.