We live in a world where the weight of stress is everywhere. Social anxiety, time pressures, and most pervasively, the pressure to achieve remarkable success; great accomplishments quantified in numbers with dizzying speed, heralding only a momentary elation before it vanishes as quickly as it came. A never-ending cycle of unrelenting expectations hangs over us like an oppressive fog, stifling creativity and self-growth.
It's undeniably fascinating how nature progresses - slowly, gradually, and sustainably. While a 30-foot tree can't be grown in 2 months, is it really possible to grow one that tall in just one year? Quick success may sound rewarding, but without careful consideration of its lasting effects, will it stand the test of time?
Successfully attaining our dreams can be a lengthy process. However, by carefully planning for the long term and respecting each step along the way, we create something more meaningful than can be achieved in haste. In the same way that wine matures with age to become even more decadent and lavish with time, so too will our ambitions if we approach them with wisdom!
We can approach the process of creating a brand in a similar way. For 12 years, I have been building and developing a brand whose value continues to grow over time... Wait! β Stop! π I will write about the BRAND in the next publication, so I will not elaborate on this topic here.
Even twenty years ago, visions of success and fulfillment drove me. Never let go of that drive; "Never give up on your dreams! π."
In late 1999/early 2000 I attended my first career development training. One of them inspired me with its theme, "How to Prosper Healthily! How to Achieve your Goal!" This moment sank into my memory as if it were yesterday. Let me tell you about it.
Our trainer, who conducts weekend classes, started the meeting with such a task:
- "First, set yourself a single goal that you will pursue in the coming days, months, possibly years. Do not limit yourself to a 'precise' timeframe for its realization.
- Second, the goal shouldn't be too big for you, so that it doesn't overwhelm or crush you π Also, it's not worth choosing a goal that's too small that you could achieve in, say, a week. What you have in mind must be balanced in such a way that it will require some or even a lot of energy effort over time.
I thought about this task for some time. I had to meditate on it. As it turned out, it went quite smoothly, and after an hour I was ready to determine exactly where I was going. But I didn't come up with a goal in an hour.
I had had dreams and desires about it for a long time, I just lacked the right moment and impulse to name and specify it.
Before I said my goal out loud, many objections immediately popped into my head. I was able to criticize my idea in my mind even before I presented it to the group. Well... the task was to articulate it out loud in front of the other participants. The group then expressed its opinion according to each participant's individual perception of the statement. A kind of "mirror" through which we could look and see how integrated or distant this idea is with us.
When it was my turn, and there were exactly 10 of us in the circle, then..., with some uncertainty, I began to speak:
"I would like to be .... an international trader, selling large quantities of goods in the trade between Asia, Europe and the United States..."
At this point, two people in the room snorted with laughter. Why did they laugh? Because they knew that I was currently selling the usual water filters at the local market in Poznan πΆ Anyway, the trainer gave me the courage and said, "Please - continue."
So I continued - yes! I would like to engage in large-scale foreign trade, admittedly, I don't know yet what goods I will trade, but I feel that this is my destiny and this is what I want to do in the near future. In addition, this goal is connected with frequent travels around the world, living on different continents, so having my own private jet is as much as possible - yes! My own plane! π
Well, and again there was laughter in the room, although some of those present were still holding back. This time I felt very quickly that my goals were quite far away. One participant asked me "and do you Christopher speak English at all?", another "and did I remember correctly that you said in class a month ago that you were drowning in debt?" and another person "and have you ever been abroad?
And in such a tone, at my own request, I received a lot of feedback, most of it negative, of course, without any particular belief in its implementation.
I had to work through each one of them, think and feel - what is this really about? And why did everyone criticize me so much?
After the training I had two options. One was to change my goal, lower my expectations, and aim lower. The other choice was to prepare myself for great challenges and hard work. Those who know me well knew immediately that I would choose option two.... And that's what I did, and that's how my new, multi-year journey toward realizing these dreams began!
Here I will spare you a detailed description of how I implemented the milestones, I will write about that in future publications. I'll just list some milestones on the way to my goal and add some unplanned "icing on the cake" π
After two years after that meeting
I sold the first container of Chinese non-food products to a retail chain in Poland. Hurray! Small goal achieved π
After three years
I had already sold 100 containers on my list. Hooray again! And as a bonus, I achieved a new goal in the so-called in-between: "I was on the Empire State Building in New York". This was my first visit to the States π½.
After five years
I have successfully "conquered" Hong Kong and in addition I have landed on the Chinese mainland in Guangzhou, where I have found my business partners π€.
After seven years
During the conquest of the Middle Kingdom, the icing on the cake was my SECOND half - Vivien θ’δΌζΈ
, whom we married in China after 6 months of falling in love. Since then, my personal and professional life has changed completely.
Along the way there have been several hundred containers sold, trade to several European countries, purchases from Brazil, Italy, Vietnam and of course China π .
After ten years
I moved to China! You could say it's such an extra "reward", a dream come true more than enough, although the haters will probably comment that it's "exile as punishment" π.
Exactly from that moment on I started my by far most blockbuster 10 years of life in China, living and working in foreign trade while traveling all over Asia.
So, if you still have your dreams, I encourage you to start naming them, specifying them, voicing them, and making them a reality.
Check - are you setting the bar high enough? Or do you want to achieve more than you are?
It's time to hit the road and "never give up on your dreams" - as you can see, dreams do come true! Well maybe not come true, we make them come true π.