Some people let their fear destroy their dreams.  Others learn how to use it as the very tool needed to craft the life of their dreams.

Fear.

It's amazing.  If you can rise above it and look at it objectively, you can see that beneath the instinct to "run and hide," there lies an arrow pointing directly in the direction that you need to go.

We cannot draw out with absolute precision the map between where we are and where we need to be in order to arrive at this goal or that.  But we can consult our compass - our fear.  Because the very step that you're afraid to take is precisely the step that you must take next.

Start changing your relationship with fear.  Improve it.  Mature it.  Grow up.  Because as long as you're committed to learning and growing, you'll always have fear.  So you might as well stop running from it and learn to run with it, through it, and past it.  Have fun with it and eventually it won't feel like fear anymore.

"Be open to discoveries. Don't have too fixed a notion of the path, but rather have some idea of the kind of things that most appeal to you."
---Unknown

So here's the final part of Your Life, Your Map.  So far, this is what we've covered:

1. set a goal/point B
2. write it down
3. accept that you must reprogram the way you think
4. recognize the power of taking baby steps
5. work on yourself and your reality will rise to the level of the new you


This is the part where I know you might be waiting for me to explain exactly how to identify the specific steps you need to take in order to reach your goal.  After all, this post is about mapping out your life, right?  And aren't maps supposed to make the course from point A to point B perfectly clear?

So, we've accomplished four thing in this process so far.  We've...
1. set a goal/point B
2. wrote it down
3. accepted that we must reprogram the way we think
4. accepted the power of taking baby steps

Now, there's another ingredient you need to achieve your goals.  It's called THE MAGIC FACTOR.  I learned about the "magic factor" in a goal designing program by Darren Hardy, the publisher of SUCCESS magazine. It is hands-down the best thing I have ever learned in 23 years of being exposed to personal development material.

Out of everything and anything that I can write about goals, this is the most important.  If this is the only piece of information that you remember from this blog or any source of personal development information, you'll be more than good to go.

Are you ready for it?  Here it is...

Let's talk about MAPS! 

Do you have a map for your life?  And do you check it regularly?

It goes without saying - when you go traveling into unfamiliar territory and need to get from point A to point B, you must consult a map.  Without a map, you're lost, drifting, and missing out on all the stuff you want to see and do and experience!

The same thing applies to the journey that is your life!
Point A is where you are now.  Point B is your goal, where you want to get to.  The map of your life is the course you chart to take you from point A to point B.  However, before you can chart that course, you have to clearly define point B as much as you can at this present moment.  Most of us do have an idea of where we want to be in our lives, but sadly, it's usually a very vague idea.  Vague ideas don't make very good point B's.  Not at all.  They're like moving clouds - intangible and utterly impossible to pin down.  This is why so many people feel like they are not getting what they want out of their lives - because they never take the time to figure out exactly what it is they want in the first place!