Create A Future Worth Aspiring To: Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.

John Cousins
February 7, 2023
3 min read

What separates people who do significant things from people who don’t?

Some people take action even when they are feeling low or scared. Some people persist and overcome overwhelming obstacles in their path. What makes them resilient and able to get up again and again?

Winston Churchill said, “Success is going from failure to failure and not losing enthusiasm.” That’s great, but how do you bounce back and not lose enthusiasm?

People who consistently take action have a clear vision of where they want to go. They have articulated an exciting future for themselves. They have designed a compelling future and they can see it right over there. Their vision pulls them forward like a magnet.

Create your own compelling future by setting audacious inspiring goals. Goals that represent what you want in life and what you want to become. You must convince yourself that your goals are achievable. You make them accomplishable by breaking them down into small bite-size chunks. These tiny movements represent what you need do every day. These small actions add up.

They are incremental and cumulative. Your small actions accumulate and become impressive. They are like a snowfall that covers the land and deepens flake-by-flake.

When you commit to an inspiring goal, you unleash the power within yourself to achieve. You will stretch and grow more than others will think possible. This opportunity is a great gift to yourself.

You will also unleash powerful forces outside yourself. These forces will conspire to help you along the way. You get what you ask for and you find, you become, what you are seeking.

The key is to start. Create inspiring goals and commit to moving towards them.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

The origin of this quote is murky. It is either attributed to the Scottish explorer W.H. Murray and to the great German thinker Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Take your pick.

Whoever said it matters less than what it says. These words reveal a deep insight into the nature of being co-creators of our reality and our destiny. These words help us move forward in the face of fear by treating life an adventure worth engaging in. Begin it now!

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John Cousins
Author, Entrepreneur, & Teacher

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