by Sean Curtis

Created on: February 16, 2008   Last Updated: February 20, 2008

Dreaming big is the easy part. The hard part is working day in and day out to keep your dreams alive. Do you have a dream you've given up on? Are you close to giving up? Well, before you make a decision you could regret down the road, take a few minutes to consider what that means.

We all have hopes and dreams. Some people dream small. Those are the individuals who won't allow themselves to be disappointed. They refuse to fail at anything. But they also refuse to challenge themselves. Because of that, they'll probably never achieve something truly great. Nothing great ever came easy.

The rest of us dream big. We dream in vivid colour and big pictures. The downside to dreaming big, though, is we face huge obstacles every day. Those obstacles threaten to knock us back, steal our momentum, and break our spirit. Sometimes we just want to throw our hands up and walk away; we want to just quit the whole thing. In that exact moment two types of people are made: those who give up, and those who keep clawing, scratching, and scraping until they achieved their dreams.

If you want to be the individual who keeps clawing, scratching, and scraping, here are some thoughts to keep in mind along your journey. Hopefully they will provide some encouragement in those times when your dreams seem out of reach.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. The only way you'll ever achieve your dreams is if you really, truly believe in yourself. That doesn't mean you simply fool the rest of the world, projecting confidence and self-assurance in public. Belief in yourself runs much deeper than that. It means every night when your head hits the pillow, you have a smile on your face. You're content that you did everything possible to follow your dreams from the moment you woke until those last moments before sleep. When you wake again in the morning, you must say to yourself, "Today might be the day I finally achieve my dream." And you must mean it. Unless you really mean it, unless you really believe, you've already defeated yourself. So don't allow yourself any room for doubt. To truly achieve your dreams you have to jump in whole-heartedly. A half-effort will only get you halfway there, if that.

ALWAYS HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE. The road to achieving your dreams will certainly be a rocky one. Nothing worth doing is ever simple or easy. But if you keep a positive outlook, you'll overcome adversity. Look at the various roadblocks you encounter as minor setbacks instead of dream-ending catastrophes. If someone tries

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