For when you think back on it, who would have imagined even two short years ago that this young man new to Washington politics would capture not just the nation’s imagination and confidence, but that of the entire world?
Barack Obama did. And that’s who mattered.
And over the ensuing months, he (and the 24/7 news industry) gave us the opportunity to witness step by step, intimate detail by intimate detail, the tremendously accomplished way in which he enlisted tens of millions of us as supporters.
Even more amazing, we all have the same potential inside ourselves that President-Elect Obama exhibits! We each have our own gifts and talents, interests and abilities, that we can develop expertise in and use to provide for ourselves and positively impact our world. It’s merely a matter of developing and mastering these aspects of ourselves -- of bringing our potential into reality.
Where to begin? Start with these simple steps:
- Begin imagining yourself as you would like to be in the future and start journaling about that person.
- Identify and write down several actions you can take to take to move in that direction, even if today the ideas you envision seem impossible or far fetched;
- Step out on faith and take at least one baby-step today.Choose an action that moves you in the direction of your vision --something that’s not too scary to complete. When I was working in the corporate world, dreaming of becoming a writer but didn’t know how to get there, the idea of relocating to New York was so scary that even thinking about it paralyzed me. However, it was not too scary to make phone calls at lunchtime to order course catalogues for local adult-education classes. It was not too scary to read through those catalogues after they arrived in the meail and then sign up for a class. It wasnot too scary to go to class, although it was too scary to volunteer to read my writing first -- I decided to go second. From there, my dream began to take hold and unfold. The point being:you take one small step today, another one tomorrow and another the day after that. Before long, you’ll be feeling excited and stepping into your new life.
So, as you begin to develop you gifts and talents and unexplored aspects of yourself, don’t forget to look to President-Elect Obama and his family -- and other people in your family, community or the world that you admire -- for inspiration.