Life is about navigating change, and about taking control of our lives. The status quo is our enemy, and inertia is its primary weapon. Personal triumph comes from vision, supported by commitment and goals, and executed with inertia-busting actions. That means declaring yourself, and your goals, to friends and family.

Yes, that does involve risk for each of us. Psychological risk, most often, because the pain of the unknown - for too many people - exceeds the pain of the known.

Half the worry in the world seems to be felt by people trying to make decisions before they feel they have sufficient knowledge. However, when it comes time to make an important decision, rarely do any of us have all the information we need to remove risk from the equation. We just have to learn to live with uncertainty! And we need to trust ourselves and our wits!

It's Time to Create Your Own Desired Future

Although I've lost track of the source of this comment, it is one of my favorites, and I quote it often:

“To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out for another is to risk involvement. To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To hope is to risk failure.

“But risks must be taken. Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. If you risk nothing and do nothing, you dull your spirit. You may avoid suffering and sorrow, but you cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, and live. Chained by your attitude, you are a slave. You have forfeited your freedom.”

Let me close with this image, which comes from a favorite Norman Rockwell-type poster, of which I've seen several versions.

It features a scrawny 10-year-old boy, tossing a ball in his right hand, with a bat slung over his left shoulder, his ball glove hanging from the bat, walking along past a stockade-type fence, his shadow on the fence silhouetting his dreams. The shadow? It's of a well-muscled major league baseball player, finishing his home run swing as he propels the pitch over the outfield wall!

Each of us has such dreams in our lives. Our dreams are within our grasp if we're willing to make them our goals, to share them with those we love and care about, and to plan how to achieve them. Please let me know how you do with your dreams after reading this chapter. I do care!

Some people know Sam Waltz as business problem-solving strategist. Others know him as an executive coach and counselor. Others know him a motivational speaker and writer. Most all of them call him friend, cheerleader and confidante. Known as a coach & counselor to Governors & Senators, corporate CEOs and entrepreneurs, and our next generation's rising stars, he can be reached at SamWaltz@SamWaltz.com , or in the Philadelphia (PA) International Airport area, in Wilmington, Delaware, at (302) 777-4774.

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

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