Don’t we all want the kind of life where all the cards just fall into place? When we are the absolute best version of ourselves and have everything we could possible dream of. Of course we do. The problem is that some of us either don’t dare to dream, or don’t pursue our dreams. I’m sure you had all kinds of dreams as a kid. If you were lucky your parents probably said you could be anything you wanted. If not, you might have been told limited beliefs such as “dream too high and you’re doomed to fail”, “you’ll never make it”, “that’s not realistic”, or “it’s too late.”
The most important thing is to give something your best shot. If you don’t make it, either it wasn’t intended to be, or you still have more to give. Don’t listen to other people’s opinions of what you should, or shouldn’t do. Do what feels right in your heart.
What is it then that set apart the people who succeed from those who spend their whole lives wishing and hoping without taking any steps to realize their dreams? Faith, perseverance, motivation and confidence is a good start. Although remember, we all define success in different ways. Someone’s success can be another person’s worst nightmare.
Whatever success means to you, pick up a copy of Winning the Game of Life by Kevin Abdulrahman, an international author, entrepreneur and motivational speaker, who set out to learn what made successful people successful.
Well put together and inspiring, THE BOOKTM ON WINNING THE GAME OF LIFE is filled with great exercises and quotes that will motivate you to start living the life of your dreams. Kevin talks about the importance of visualization and self-education, writing down your goals, your “inner talk”, and why a victim mentality or a negative attitude won’t work.
“From Flipping Burgers at 20, to being RETIRED at 25. In my journey to become a success, I learned a lot of lessons. These lessons are from everything, and everyone I have ever had contact with. I learned these lessons by seeing them in action and, on many occasions, wondering whether I could do the same. Everything I learned I put into practice. Every mistake I made only brought the desire to try again until I succeeded. Today, just a few short years on, my life is very different… All because I made it my mission to have the life I want. To live life on my own terms. To do what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. I wanted to be able to spend my time with people I cared about the most. It was a huge challenge, but one worth striving for.”
- Kevin Abdulrahman
I like that Winning the Game of Life is written in such an easy, down-to-earth way. No pretentious phrases or difficult words that will require a dictionary. Kevin writes as he talks and his message is for everyone, whether you’re still in school, work, or retired 10 years ago. I can’t think of anyone that wouldn’t benefit from this book.
As for dreams, I still remember exactly the ones I had as a kid — whether my ‘ambition’ lasted five minutes, five hours, five days, five weeks or five years. I will not tell you all of them, but some of the jobs I wanted to have were aid worker, U.N. ambassador, foreign correspondent, café owner, cook, TV reporter, actress, dancer, fashion designer, ski instructor, diving instructor, lifeguard, film director and travel writer. In the future I would like to add author and screenwriter to my resume.
What is your dream job? If you could work with anything, what would it be? And If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
What can you do to make that dream reality?
P.S For more information about Kevin Abdulrahman and THE BOOKTM, visit http://www.thisisthebook.com/
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1. Thank you: this was a perfect thing to read today!
2. I have no desire to be retired at 25. Working to achieve great things is too much fun.
3. I would love to know what is going through your mind right now!
@Taylor, You’re welcome. Am glad you liked the post.
I wouldn’t want to retire at 25 either – even if I became a millionaire
Working in some way is such an important part of life that teaches us knew skills, challenges us and overall makes us better persons.
I think what’s most important is to find a balance between work and play.
What is meant by retire in this context is “working for someone.” In most cases a student is taught to go to school, finish a degree and look for gainful employment. And retirement in this context includes both achieving great things at our space and time and having a balance between work and play.
Yes, there are lots of challenges, when we see people starving, in helm of poverty, people in distress, hopeless – it give us the inertia to strive for better opportunities. Challenges in empowering others making them realize of their potentials.
I agree with Kevin, we should empower ourselves and others to make sucess as our only option then and only then we are forced to succeed.
@Aleem, Thanks for pointing that out. I assumed retire meant not working in this context as well.
Also agree with Kevin, thoughts about failure shouldn’t even be in our minds when working towards something – only success and how we can succeed.