A little over a year ago, this project was an idea. Now we are in 48 states and over 1300 dreams have been planted. I remember sitting in the conference I was attending when the idea of the Dream Roundup flashed in my head.

     For me, Phase I of any idea is a burst of energy, enthusiasm and excitement. This time the excitement was off the charts. The vision of collecting 1,000,000 dreams and what a difference this would make in the lives of others -- in the whole world -- practically knocked me off my chair. if you are a frequent reader of these newsletters, you already know the successes that are available to anyone who will commit a dream to paper and review that dream every day. 1,000,000 dreams! What a feeling! What a contribution!

     Phase II of an idea is the most frightening: SHARING MY VISION WITH SOMEONE ELSE. This is where an idea is most fragile. It either lives or dies right here. The Dream Roundup idea is lucky because I hang around positive people. I first shared this idea with fellow Dream Team Board Member, Carla Fryling. Carla listened intently and saw the vision, and she embraced the idea.

 

     At that moment, the Dream Roundup formed a mastermind. A mastermind occurs when two or more people support an idea. Someone else heard my idea and didn't think I was crazy! What a RELIEF!!!

     Let's stop here for a second. How many ideas have I had that died in Phase II? Thousands and thousands. In fact, how many brilliant ideas have died on the vine in this country because someone shared a great idea with the wrong person, destroyed the fragile vision in its infancy?

     More positive people joined the Dream Roundup. They chose to play with the possibility of success. They encouraged the project.

     Who you choose to hang around with plays a big part in your life. You may not notice until you step back and look at your circle of friends and analyze what they're up to. Slowly, I replaced mine with positive people, and my life became more positive as a result. And, more of my ideas survived past Phase II.

     Don't let others crush your idea or your dream. Anything is possible. Anything! Keep moving forward, a little bit every day, and you will be absolutely amazed where you'll go.

     Phase III of any idea is making it tangible. Now that you have a great idea, how do you make it real? In his new book, You Can Have It all, fellow Dream Team Board Member Bob Dunwoody writes that when you have a vision, a plan will appear. With the Dream Roundup, that certainly proved to be true. All the resources I needed just started to arrive.

     Phase III has some pitfalls. It is not easy to make ideas into tangible things. If you're like me, you fight the mental battle of procrastination and follow-through. It's so easy to put things off! This is a battle I've fought all my life and continue to fight today. The biggest pitfall of Phase III is to make the project too big. It becomes overwhelming. When this happens, most people shut down, and the idea shuts down with them. A few years ago I found this quote, which now hangs in my bathroom:

 

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one."
 Mark Twain

This quote has had a huge influence on my life. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Thus, 3 bricks a day. Do 3 small activities every day and watch Phase III of your idea materialize before your eyes.

     Funny -- I've been procrastinating on writing this newsletter. Now that I've started, I don't want to stop!

     The Dream Roundup is now in Phase IV. We'll spend more time on this phase in the next newsletter. Thank you for your participation and support!

 

Bradley E Dugdale, Jr.
Co-Founder

 

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