Did you know that most lottery winners are broke in five years? Why? Winning isn’t a skill. Lotteries are wishes, and while some wishes do come true, it’s more luck. Those lottery winners didn’t learn to manage their money well before their wish came true. Learning those skills isn’t sexy. It doesn’t sound like fun. It’s easier to think “It’s mine, so I’ll spend it any way I want.” Until it’s gone.

Before it’s a dream, it’s just a wish. It’s fun to have wishes. Wishes don’t require action plans. Sometimes they’re spontaneous moments of fun. People wish they could earn a lot of money, go on vacation, not work so hard, eat without getting fat, be healthy without effort, have luxuries. Wishing you could play in the pool could be as simple as jumping in. But if you wish you knew how to swim, then you’ll need a goal and plan to learn to swim.

More people get what they don’t want because they don’t know what they do want. But they have wishes which are often dependent on someone or something else making them come true.

They haven’t turned those wishes into specific dreams. And even a dream by itself won’t do it. It needs to become a goal that’s sufficiently meaningful to require action. With deadlines. And work.

Some people have a goal and a blueprint, but trip over self-discipline. They may not understand the value of repetitive (often hard or boring) actions. Sometimes “life gets in the way.” Sometimes they just slip up, and it feels easier to give up. They aren’t focusing on a very important reason to keep going. Or having a goal for something bigger than themselves.

Success is a numbers game, but you can adjust the odds in your favor. A lion will only bring down a kill 1 out of 10 times. If the king of the jungle has 9 failures to every good win, it’s more about getting back up and not giving up. Increase your odds with a plan, action steps, and working that plan. With laser focus.

Are you just wishing? Or dreaming? Or do you have goals to bring your success to you as you reach out to attain it?

You can do it!