I have always said that if we don’t follow our dreams that our lives will becoming an ever walking nightmare. When going after your dreams and destiny have you ever correlated that to Micheal Jackson? This weeks guest post is going to be from a very good friend of mine Jennifer Covington( @sunshinebuilder) of Destiny Discoveries and she is going to show you how the great one Micheal Jackson taught us through his music about our dreams and destiny.

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You see them on TV, you read about them, maybe you know them; People living the life of their dreams who are walking in their Destiny. You think to yourself,

“Can that ever be me!?”

Well, I’m here to tell you, YES, it most definitely can. There are really a few simple things you can do that will take you from living a modern day nightmare, to living the life you’ve always dreamed of. I know that sounds hard to believe, but it’s true. To help me illustrate my point, I will use the wise words from none other than the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson.

6 Lessons from Michael Jackson on going from Dream to Destiny

1) Start. Something.

In the words of the late and great Michael Jackson:

 

“I Said You Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

You Got To Be Startin’ Somethin’

I Said You Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

You Got To Be Startin’ Somethin’”

So true MJ! Many people set an intention and then never make a move on it. I’ve talked to countless people who say they want to write a book, yet never write! They say to themselves, “I’m not a good writer so, *shoulder shrug * it’s no use”. That thinking is backwards. How do you expect to become a better writer if you don’t practice? You have to start somewhere. Start a journal, start a blog, start a rough draft, whatever you do, Start. Something!

I’m a fan of making goals and I’m a huge believer in taking Baby Steps, to get there. You can set any goal you can image, you really can, and then say to yourself,  “What do I need to do Today, that will get me closer to my goal Tomorrow?”, Then Do It! Your goal won’t come into fruition over night, but if you Start Something Today, you will be rewarded in the future.

2) Put in Work

As His Majesty once stated: You gotta be “Workin’ Workin’ Day And Night”

That’s right, WORK! In this digital age of convenience some of us have gotten La-zy.  Moreover, when we talk about “living our dream life” some of us think of chillin’ and relaxin’ for the rest of our days. It’s not quite like that. To make your dreams come true you have to Work for it. Sure, it can lead to chillin, maxin and relaxin, but first comes the work. Right now, we live in a 9 to 5 type of society. With the economic crisis going on right now that’s changing, however, because the 9 to 5ers rule supreme, you’re going to have to work double, maybe even triple time to make your dream a reality. If that means coming home from your 9 to 5, breakin’ bread with the fam, spending an hour or two of quality time with them, then working on your dream, so be it. TV might have to take a backseat for awhile, the phone, twitter, Sleep, can’t all be a priority for you. If you have to wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning to get a jump start on dream life, before you have to go off to the j.o.b., then you gotta do what you gotta do.

I started writing this post at 3:50 am. Why? Because even though I’m living my dream life I still have to make time for the things I want. I want to write, I want a successful blog, I want to live on the beach, I want to continue working with kids in different countries and I want to continue to travel. I’m living that right now, and I still have to hustle. The difference is, I’m hustling doing what I love, while others are hustling making big corporations bigger. Which would you rather spend your efforts on?

My point is you have to work! If you are looking for Easy Street, then I don’t know how to help you, but if you are willing to set your goals, Create time to achieve them, Work Day and Night to make it happen, you will be well rewarded!

 

3) A Higher Power Has Your Back

Michael knew it and now you should too: “You Are Not Alone…”

Whew, what a relief. I just told you, no more TV and sleep and now you’re feeling antsy, I bet. Well the good news is, “You are not alone”! Isn’t that such a load off? I don’t know what you believe in, but most of us believe in a Higher Power. Whether you can call it God, The Universe, The Light, Buddah, Allah, or Guardian Angels or something else, it doesn’t really matter. The point is, we are Spiritual Beings having a Human Experience. What does that mean? That we connected to something bigger than what we can physically see.

This is important to keep in mind when you set out on your journey of walking in your destiny. People will look at your funny, your family will say you’re not being smart, your tummy will do nervous flips and you may feel like you’re out on a limb by yourself. This is when it’s good to commune with your Higher Power to remind yourself that you have a powerful force on your side that is Greater than any human being you know, more Knowledgeable than even the most intellectual philosopher and is Pulling for your success more than your best friend ever could. Knowing that “You Are Not Alone” can make all difference between whether you stay the course or you give up. You Are Not Alone!

4) Persevere!

 

The Gloved One was all over this idea when he told us: “Keep On With The Force Don’t Stop; Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough”

 

Keep on the with The Force! I know that’s Right, MJ! The Force is the passion pulling you to your goal, The Force is the inner voice that is gelling you, you can do it “Don’t Stop”. For our purposes “Till You Get Enough” is reaching your goal. That is  different than, “don’t stop until you’ve had enough”, which is what most people do. In  fact the main difference between people living the life of their dreams and the people who merely exist is that the people living their dreams push through that moment when they’ve had enough and can’t go anymore. That’s when you go from unexceptional to excellence.

In Chris Guillebeau‘s Book “The Art of Non-Conformity” he states that, “Intelligence is not a prerequisite, but determination is”. I just love that because sometimes people feel they are not qualified to start a new career path, begin a new project or be the trailblazer of something new. However, I am here to tell you that you are enough, and if you are going after a passion you will have enough heart to carry you through.

Another great quote by former U.S. President Calvin Coolidge is “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is quite common. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and Determination alone are the all-powerful elements.”

Now, please note that education has a very big role in all of this for me, it’s important and is a part of the perseverance. I’m not saying, in order to pursue your dream of being a Trapeze artist you should just join the circus and tell them “I got this, don’t worry”, thinking you have the perseverance to go the distance, but not the education. No, that’s going about it all wrong. Educating yourself is a big part of your perseverance. You’re going to have to study up, educate yourself and experience first. You’re going to fall down a lot, make mistakes and risk looking stupid. THAT is when your determination has to kick in. The quotes above, however, are helpful for those people who sit too paralyzed in the fear of not knowing enough to even start the project. If you don’t know enough now, Learn, Practice, Experience and whatever you do Keep Going and Don’t Stop, until you’ve reached your goal.

 

5) Follow Your Bliss & Have Fun

When Michael was just a teenager singing with the Jackson 5 he knew the most important part of the journey was to: “Enjoy Yourself”

I’ve hit you with a lot of stuff today, but if you take only one tidbit away from this post, please let it be this “Enjoy yourself”, Follow your Bliss and Have Fun. That’s the whole point of life. Usually when we have a dream of “winning the lottery”, “living on the beach” or “retiring early”, all of those things to us say: Happiness.

That’s what we’re all in search of. We just want to be happy. So do the things that make you happy and let that be your guide. If you’re not happy in your situation start filling your day with more and more things that make you happy and at the same time begin eliminating the things that don’t. That might sound impractical but really it’s THE way to live. When you look at those people living the life of their dreams, I’m telling you that’s exactly what they’ve done. When you’re spending the majority of your week doing something you can’t stand and limit you joy to only the weekends, you don’t fulfilled by that, you feel frustrated by that. It seems unfair that only a limited amount of time is spent doing the things you love, or that you have to spend so much time doing something you don’t like to get just a tiny bit of what you enjoy. That’s not the way to live. You can like what you are doing all the time if you follow your bliss and get rid of the things that are bringing you down.

So, “Enjoy yourself, Enjoy yourself, Enjoy yourself with me”, because when we’re all doing what we love, the World is a much happier place to live in.

I hope through these words you have found some encouragement to go after your dreams and begin walking in your Destiny, because the world will be a far better place when we are living the lives according to what we desire and what makes us happy.

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