Believe in the Future

The other day I read about a man who was unhappy with his salary. At the time he was making $25,000 a year, and he decided he wanted to make $100,000. He did not know how he was going to do this, but he decided to make this his goal and really focus on achieving it.

The first thing he did was to write a short paragraph stating that making $100,000 a year was his goal, and to copy this paragraph down on index cards that he distributed around his house and workplace. He would read this paragraph several times to himself each day. He even prepared a mock check for $100,000 that he made out to himself, and taped it to the ceiling in the bedroom, so that at both the beginning and end of everyday he would see the check, which would remind him to read his paragraph. (His wife observed this behavior with a mixture of support and silent wonder.)

Can you guess the end of this story? Within two years he did not make $100,000 a year – but he did make $92,000, by writing a book. In reflecting on his experience, what he found most interesting was that his paragraph did not seem to work at first – it did not generate any ideas for making $100,000. He then revised it so that it read as if he had already achieved his goal – that he was enjoying his new salary of $100,000 and all the things it could purchase for him and his wife. He felt that by convincing himself and believing that he had already achieved his goal, it inspired him. He started to get ideas for ways to actually achieve his goal – which, by the way, took a tremendous amount of creativity and hard work. But the belief came first; then ideas; then implementation. Then came his new salary.

He goes on to comment that we all have built in inhibitors – people and experiences that sub-consciously tell us that our goal is impossible for us to achieve. He cites that many lottery winners go through their new found wealth very quickly, because sub-consciously they are uncomfortable with their new standard of living and wish to return to their former standards. By imagining that you have already achieved your goal, these inhibitors evaporate and enable you to move forward.

After reading this, it occurred to me that this scenario also applies to the Lake Wales community. There are some individuals who criticize and find fault, more often than not using faulty information; and there are some who see a goal for our town and work for it – the ”true believers”, working for “our best future”.
In recent memory, there have been a number of important accomplishments - including the sale of the hospital, the adoption of the new land development code, the charter school system, and now the planning for downtown - that indicate that we are beginning to believe that we have already achieved the goals we seek. If we believe, the ideas will come… and generate the excitement, which fuels the hard work to get there.

The City Commission has adopted a strategic plan, which lays out goals for our town expressed in six foundation statements. These goals that can be viewed on the city's website. I recommend that we review these goals and believe – despite the naysayers, the budget crunches, and the “we’ve never done that before” syndrome - believe that we are already enjoying their fruition. The next steps for us to take will then appear – just as they did for the man who didn’t like his salary.

The future belongs to us. We need to believe it.