How to live your dreams

                    By Bayo Ogunmupe

     To realize your destiny is your personal obligation in life. Which is why a book called The Alchemist is one of the top 25 most selling books of all time. It teaches people how they should live in order to be able to realize their destiny. If you haven't read it, do so immediately. It is written by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian gentleman.

     In the book, a young boy meets an African King who teaches the boy how to live out his "Personal Legend" or life purpose. While most people are content simply dreaming about their dreams- that is enough for them. Only those who are willing to pursue their dreams will see the omens along the way- what most of us consider luck or coincidence.

     When you become willing to sacrifice everything to discover and live your life's purpose, as The Alchemist relates, "all the universe will conspire to make it happen." The 38 time New York Times best selling author, Richard Paul Evans crafted a concept he calls the Five Kingdoms. Kingdom One is reserved for only yourself and your higher power or God. No other human being is allowed in your First Kingdom. The problem,Evans explains, is that people allow their spouses, friends and others into their First Kingdom.

     This clouds and confuses everything. It sends you on a path of conformity. For your success, you must live in alignment with yourself, first and foremost. Otherwise, you have no powerful conviction or clarity to offer your relationships. You are just a clone of whatever others want you to be. That robs you any sense of being or purpose in life. The only way to truly live congruently in life and in your relationships is to be congruent with yourself.

     In order to fully live out your dreams, you must understand and embrace the following truths: Both success and mediocrity take the same amount of energy and time. Whether you live out your dreams or not, life will be a struggle. It may be more convenient to settle-in to a life of mediocrity, but then, life will still be a struggle. You will still have to struggle with jobs you hate.

     You will have to endure relationships that crumble through betrayal, lack of clarity and openness. The only way to truly be in control of your life and relationships is to live in congruence with yourself. Otherwise, you will be mired to acting in weakness in all your relationships. You cannot fake it because it is from your subconscious.

     Deep inside of you will be a gnawing regret for the life you could be living and the person you could be. Even so, you will realize the negative impact  your lack of congruence is having on those around you. To quote Dr Stephen Covey, "We control our actions, but the consequences that flow from those actions are controlled by principles."

     Is there any challenge or pain in living your dreams? Of course, yeah. But even, in the midst of difficulties, you will be living congruently. And nothing is more important or powerful than being at peace with yourself. You can't be overly attached to your money or possessions all of the time. Your attachment to what you currently own will stop you from making a concrete decision and commitment to pursuing your dreams.

     If you have not committed into making the decision to live your life in congruence-it is because you're still holding on too tightly to what you have. You need to be willing to give all away. What you are holding on to is the price of what you could have. Your scarcity mindset is keeping you stuck in poverty. You will know you are ready to live your dream, when you start giving away your possessions to causes you believe in or to others in need.

     Once you start mindfully giving your money away, you will open yourself up to getting much more. The reason is that the act of donating your money has cemented within you your decision to live your life more abundantly. "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and material assistance which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." William Murray.
     You must be willing to risk it all. If you want to change the world, you have to slide down the obstacle head first.