by Kevin Hamilton

Created on: March 05, 2010

Michelangelo once said, "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

In this article I will try to explain the importance of aiming high. There are many targets in life, and some of them may seem out of reach. Your reach, however, is only limited by belief.

First you must assess yourself. You have to pinpoint what separates you from everyone else. Whatever your area of expertise, think of the highest level of success possible. If, for example, you want to be an actor, you should imagine yourself on the big screen. If business is your thing, put yourself in the shoes of a fortune 500 CEO. Of course, many people fantasize about these things, but if you KNOW you have the ability to reach this high level, make it your goal.

We are not talking about dreams here. Everyone has dreams, and they are essentially useless. This is because people tend to think of their life dreams just as any other dream; something that stays in your head, and could never be real. If you truly believe you can achieve something great then don't waste your time dreaming. Make it happen, make it your life's goal.

Once you have set your goals, depending on what they are, you might run into criticism from those around you. Most people are content with modest lifestyles and careers that they may or may not enjoy. We call these people, "realistic", and many of them find the idea of such lofty goals to be silly. This way of thinking may be the very reason they are where they are. I call it the "realistic syndrome", when the prospect of great success doesn't outweigh the risk of failure. It makes the idea of simply being able to pay your bills and feed your kids a true success story.  As a kid, you have all sorts of great ideas for what you want to be when you grow up. As you get older these ideas get more and more "realistic". Somewhere we get the idea that you aren't supposed to love your job, that work is called work for a reason.

You have to know better than that. You have to know that you only get one shot at life, and settling for anything less than exactly what you want is not acceptable. I believe that in life, everyone ends up exactly where they're supposed to be. So if you truly have something to offer, never make the mistake of thinking your target is too high. Eliminate failure by making success your only option. If you embrace this point of view, at the end of your life you can have no regrets. You'll be exactly where you were meant to be.

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