How do you turn your dreams into goals and your goals into accomplishments?

How do you fulfill your purpose in life and meet your greatness?

The answer is very simple and yet a challenge for many of us, TAKE ACTION!

One of the most important things I have learned about life is not to get caught up in living on the surface of existence. You see, waking up, going to work, taking care of the kids, driving home, eating dinner, going shopping, going to a concert, going to the movies, watching TV, paying the mortgage and paying the bills are all common tasks that as humans we deal with at one time or another. However, we can get so caught up in the surface issues that we don’t dig deep enough to ask ourselves important questions, such as:

1. If the doctor told me that I was dying, what would be most important to me?
2. Am I prepared for retirement?
3. What brings me joy?
4. What legacy can I leave behind for my children?
5. What is my Vision?”

You see, as a people, we must go beneath the surface, dig deep and start asking ourselves questions that will cause us to live life on purpose.

The NIKE slogan, “Just Do It”, says so much in just three short words. We must stop talking about what we are going to do and create a plan that is going to enable us to accomplish our dreams. You see, simply talking about what you want out of life and making positive statements when you are in front of others is good, but it is not enough. Your desire to have a fulfilled and successful life must be fueled by a pure and simple recipe of good old fashion commitment. To reach your greatness, you must do more than live life on the surface and react to things as they happen, but you must set a plan into action that will allow you to flourish and blossom into the person you were meant to be.

Procrastination is also another destroyer of dreams and greatness. When we understand and know the steps we should take to accomplish our dreams and we keep them safe and sound in our minds instead of taking action, we form procrastination habits that are hard to break and many times they go on for decades or a lifetime and we never reach our full potential. I once heard Dr. Myles Munroe, international motivational speaker say that the graveyard is full of untapped potential. It is filled with people who never met their greatness, because of their fear and lack of vision.

Black Business America wants you to meet your greatness and we want to provide you with the tools and resources to make it happen! Perhaps the thought has crossed your mind that there has to be more to life than working a 9 to 5 job, maybe you’ve thought about getting out of debt or starting a business, but didn’t take it further and maybe you’ve recognized habits and areas of your personal life that you would like to change in order to move forward and accomplish more. You must believe and know that YOU CAN DO IT and the time is now!

So, how does one began to have a fulfilled life and take action? The first thing you must realize is that no matter how big your dreams might seem – they can be achieved! You must hold on to this thought and know that God would not have given you dreams and visions if He did not feel you could accomplish them. So, below are suggested steps in taking action on living a purposeful and filled life full of abundance and accomplishment:

Step 1: Create a Life Purpose Journal. Purchase a 3 ring notebook and divider tabs. Next, label your divider tabs:

1) Vision – this is the area where you will keep all notes, worksheets and information pertaining to your vision.

2) Life Evaluation – this is the area where you will keep your personal evaluation and determine what habits you need to rid yourself of and what habits you need to form.

3) Personal Development – this is the area where you will keep notes on various personal development techniques and how you will apply it to your life.

4) Financial/Retirement – this is the area where you will determine your financial needs; get out of debt plan, budget, retirement and insurance plan.

5) Strategy – this is the area where you will develop your strategy and figure out the resources and people you will need in your life to accomplish your vision goals.

Step 2: Write your vision. Click here to read the Developing Your Vision article

Step 3: Evaluate where you are. Click here to take a self evaluation on life areas you might need to improve on or habits you need to form to achieve your vision goals.

Step 4: On a separate sheet of paper Based on your vision and the life habits you are practicing now where are the conflicts? What habits are preventing you from reaching your greatness?

Step 5: Create your strategy checklist, which is an outline or list of action tasks that you need to perform in order to achieve your vision goals. Remember, set small goals in the beginning and allow the energy and accomplished feeling you receive from each small step take you to bigger steps!

Step 6: Create a “paradigm shift”. Now is the time to realize that all thinking and decisions that you have made currently and in the past have impacted your life either positively or negatively. If past decisions have given you negative consequences, it is important not to stay with the same pattern of thinking. Understand that it is impossible to make positive changes in your life if you keep doing the same things and thinking the same way. As you follow the steps below, step outside of your normal thinking pattern and give yourself permission to adopt new thinking that will help you to reach your greatness!

BBA Is Here to Support You!

Also, remember that you don’t have to do this alone. If you feel that you need accountability and support in creating the life you want, BBA’s Knowledge Center experts are here to help you!