When you’re working toward your dream job, most likely you won’t be making a lot of money. When you’re first starting out, you don’t need a complicated financial plan. This is advice that my lawyer friend gave me:

Finances are easy, just spend less than what you earn.

If you have financial stress, you’re more likely to give up on your dream job. So you have to be smart about money, and do whatever you can to get by. And that may include cutting back on your expenses.

If you can hang in there, the better chance you have to get to your goals, so you always have to be careful about your money. Don’t let financial stress make you give up on your dream job.

If you really believe in your goals, the sacrifices you make today will be worth it. Have confidence in yourself that you can succeed.

If you believe your goal is possible, then you would naturally point yourself in that direction. When you believe, you will start to take steps, however small, toward your goal. If something gets in your way, you figure out a way to get around it. You may get stuck, but if you’re determined to get your goal, you won’t stay stuck for too long.

If you don’t really believe in your goal, then you won’t even take the steps. You probably won’t even get started, but even if you do, you would probably get discouraged easily when obstacles appear.

Getting to your goal is not guaranteed. But NOT getting to your goal IS guaranteed IF you give up.

Success depends on how strongly you believe, how clear it is, and how passionate you are about your goal.

Believing in your goal may be a process, the farther you move in the right direction, the stronger your belief becomes, because you build upon small successes along the way. That’s why it’s important to start taking the steps.

John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States. I’ve often wondered how people get to be President of the United States. Do they just magically become president?

Well, I’ve read that Kennedy’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., actually groomed him to be president from an early age. Joseph Kennedy was born to a political family in Boston. He became wealthy from finance, the stock market, real estate, the movie industry, and importing liquor. He was rumored to have been a bootlegger during Prohibition, but this was not firmly proven.

Joe Kennedy became friends with Franklin D. Roosevelt when he was working for a steel shipyard company, and Roosevelt was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. When Roosevelt became president, he appointed Kennedy to Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Joe Kennedy was very ambitious, and in his eyes, the ultimate prize was the American presidency. He wanted his eldest son, Joe Jr. to become president, but after Joe Jr,’s death in 1944, he became determined to make the second eldest son, John, president.

There are two points I want to make with this example. The father Joe Kennedy, decided on a goal, and was fiercely determined to achieve it. He was a strong force to make his son, John F. Kennedy president. John F. Kennedy, on the other hand, was made to believe that he COULD become president from an early age.

I myself, didn’t become president, in part, because I never thought it was possible, and it was a far off, distant possibility for anyone in my family. It sounds like I’m being facetious, but when you think about it, it’s true. If you believe your goal is possible, you will point your life in that direction. John F. Kennedy had many advantages which enabled him to become president, but the first step in achieving a goal is believing that it’s possible.

This is what I’ve observed about how people choose their careers. I can’t prove that this is true, it’s just what I’ve observed.

Many people choose their careers simply because it makes money. They get a job just because they need money, but they may get stuck in a career that they don’t really like.

Many people choose their career because it’s what their parents did. It’s what they grew up with, so it’s what they’re familiar with. It’s not necessarily good or bad, but it demonstrates that you usually do what you believe is possible.

Many people choose their career because their parents or others want them to have that particular career. Again it’s not necessarily good or bad, but it might not be based on what you’re really suited for.

Most people DO NOT choose their career based on their talents or love of their work. They usually think that it can’t make money. That might be true, but before you give it up, it might be helpful to learn more about that particular career. Maybe try talking to people who actually do it.

I heard a definition of insanity once:

Insanity is when you keep doing the same thing, and you expect a different result.

Sometimes when you are working toward your goal, it’s not working out. You may be convinced it’s going to work, so you keep doing the same thing, and you can’t figure out why it’s not working. But sometimes you may have to just try it another way, or try something different. You have to be flexible in your thinking. Be open to evaluate what you’re doing, and be willing to make adjustments if necessary. Of course you have to be realistic, but don’t give up too early.

I was able to become a Disney artist. But there was a time in my life when I didn’t really consider it to be a possibility. There was a time when I wasn’t successful, and didn’t know exactly how it was going to happen. But I kept on working, looking for opportunities, and preparing myself so I would be ready when the right opportunity finally came. I persevered and didn’t give up.

I think that anyone who is reading this and really absorbs this can do the same thing, no matter what your goal is. You may have to make adjustments, improve your skills, or change course, but you can still get there. It’s actually pretty simple, it’s just that when people don’t have a clear idea of what they want to do, or don’t believe in themselves fully, they may give up too early. Of course it’s never guaranteed, but I keep repeating this, IT IS POSSIBLE.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda is training Luke to lift his sunken X Wing fighter with his Jedi powers. Luke thinks it’s impossible, but he says he’ll try. Yoda chastises him, saying “Do or Do not, there is no try”.

Star Wars creator George Lucas said in an interview, “The philosophy of ‘put your all into something, and don’t just try’, but actually envision yourself doing it and accomplishing it, is a philosophy that runs through all my movies. It is something that I encountered first when I was in college, a lot of the students would give up on things before they really had a chance to explore them, they would convince themselves that it was not possible. For me, it was the whole issue of getting to make movies, was a completely impossible idea, there was no even remote consideration that it could actually happen. But, I put my mind to it, and never considered any other possibility. It was through that, that eventually I did manage to do the impossible. It’s only by considering the impossible, that one can get to it. You can’t get to it by simply saying, “I’m going to try to get to it”, you have to say “I’m GOING to get to it.”

I want to emphasize the important points. George Lucas saw that lot of people give up on things before they really have a chance to explore them. A lot of times they’ll convince themselves it is impossible. Before George Lucas became successful, making movies also seemed impossible, but he put his mind to it, and didn’t consider any other possibility. He believed it was possible even before he was able to do it. That’s how he was able to become a film director and make Star Wars.

After Luke gives up, Yoda raises the X Wing Fighter himself with the Force, and Luke, astonished, exclaims “I don’t believe it”. Yoda, tired from his effort, says “That is why you fail”.