WHAT ARE YOU REALLY WATCHING?  

The fall season premieres have already come and gone and we are well into the 2009-10 television season and with a multitude of stations, television offers something for everyone. Are you enjoying re-connecting with your favorite characters and story lines like old friends you haven't seen in a while? Do you set your weekly schedule based on your programs and plan your other activities and commitments around them, putting life on hold when it's "showtime"?
 
Well no matter what you choose to watch and when you choose to watch it, the important fact to know is that at the most fundamental level you are really watching only one thing: PEOPLE MAKING THEIR DREAMS COME TRUE!
 
While you are being either positively or negatively affected by what you are emotionally ingesting, you are watching people making their dreams (of becoming an actor, writer, director, producer, etc. or selling their products through commercials) come true. As you sit as a passive observer, you are seeing a multitude of people on the screen and behind the scenes more dedicated to their desires and dreams than to their distractions. You are watching people who have a dream and a destination in mind and who make a commitment, work hard, stay focused, strive for excellence, exercise discipline and reap the rewards of their efforts.
 
So how about you? What are you dedicated to? Is there an area of your life where you could commit to being a star or do you find it easier to take the role of a spectator? Is it easier to watch Friends on television than to take the extra effort needed to be one in real life? Do you find it easier to watch people lose weight on television rather than to start losing it yourself? Is it easier to watch someone solving a problem on television rather than to solve one of the problems in your life?
 
It is time to stop settling for much less than you have to and begin to put a little extra energy into living your life and your dream. Change and success takes effort.  Instead of watching your world drift on by, activate your dream and get involved in your life. Look at things with fresh eyes, be inspired by watching people achieve their dreams and commit now to achieving your own. Your life is moved forward by only one person: you! Here's how to start:

• Turn off the television and spend some time tuning in to yourself.
    
• Dust off that dormant dream! If you could be, do or have anything, name it and write it down. What matters to YOU? Everything you see around you started with a thought, what's yours?
    
• Set a goal ... with a deadline; your personal what and when. Now, with that goal in mind, what is your reason for wanting it? Identify your compelling "why". 
    
• Commit to your goal, raise that bar and expect more of yourself! Decide the amount of energy you are willing to expend to reach your goal. What are you willing to do to get there? How many hours are you willing to devote to it?
   

• Create a strategy; it's your road map to success. Think ahead, create measurable objectives to achieve and anticipate some of the obstacles and excuses you might encounter. You get where you're going one step at a time with a target in your sites. Remember to include a dream team or support system to keep you on track and accountable.
   

• Stay focused and make yourself a priority. Life is calling you forward to become more of yourself by bringing your dream to fruition. Stay positive and mentally directed, keep in motion, say yes to unexpected opportunities, celebrate your successes along the way.

Nothing is more important than living up to your full potential. Period. Life is about s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g and it opens up in direct proportion to the thoughts you are willing to think and action you are willing to take. When you lean into change and start shifting your life you bump into yourself; you discover your gifts and talents, creativity and vision, strength and courage, tenacity and potential ... and your future!  

Be willing to take your life off autopilot and break old patterns that bring familiar old outcomes. It starts with your getting curious about yourself - where you are at and where you want to be. In what area of your life do you want to stand out and experience exceptional results? Making that decision, becoming more present and active in your life and moving towards what you really want is when the fun really begins. Truth be told, you really are capable of much more than you realize so be bold, think differently and take a leap! It's time to do something different and be a star in your own life. If not now, when?