Focusing Your Dreams

In football, it's called a touchdown
In baseball, it's called a run
In basketball, it's called a basket
And in both soccer and ice hockey, it's called a goal

In each game, the objective is the same - before time runs out, score more touchdowns, runs, baskets, or goals than your opponent. If you do, you win. The dream is to win.
Dreams in life may seem impossible. They are not. Impossible dreams are achieved one goal at a time.

Goals are destination points to reach your dreams, when you put yourself in the right position to succeed. No one knows how much time we will have to succeed, but we always have time to set our goals and to start our clocks. To quote Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, the late president of Morehouse College, "The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach for."

Dreams have to start somewhere and sometime. If you do not have a dream, then you will not know if you got there.

My father was raised on a dirt farm near Memphis, Tennessee. When he left his father's farm in 1943 at the age of 18 to pursue his version of the American Dream he took with him but three possessions: his belief in God, his belief in himself and his abilities, and his belief in the promise of the greatest country on Earth, the United States of America. He didn't have a job or a car, and he had hardly any money at all. But he had his dreams.

Shortly thereafter he and my mom moved our family to Atlanta. Though he struggled and worked three jobs, seven days a week, my father never lost his focus on achieving the dreams he had for himself and his family. He dreamed of purchasing his own home, of sending his two sons to college, and of leaving enough savings to take care of Mom.

During his life's journey, Dad never spent a lot of time looking in the rearview mirror or wishing he had done a lot of things differently. He just kept moving ahead despite the "speed bumps, red lights, and detours" he encountered - and there were plenty of them.


Most important, Dad achieved all his dreams and he inspired me to achieve beyond what I ever thought possible. By following Dad's example I have set goals and followed my dreams my whole life. And I've learned an important lesson - successful people never stop dreaming and setting new goals. There is always another mountain to climb, another touchdown, run, basket, or goal to score.

This is your opportunity to focus on your dreams. Below you will be able to answer questions about your dreams and the steps you are taking to achieve them. You can use your answers private as a starting point to focus on your goals and dreams and how you plan to achieve them.

1. What is your dream?
2. What are you doing to achieve it?
3. Have you already achieved it?
4. If yes, how?
5. If no, why not?
6. What obstacles have you encountered?
7. How do you plan to overcome these obstacles?
8. Write down our answers to the previous questions. Date it, and review your answers one year from now.