Dyslexia Book, Day 4 of 30: How to Dream
🧞♂️30 Moon Wishes — How I figured out what my top 3 life goals are
🧞♂️30 Moon Wishes — How I figured out what my 3 life goals are.
When I was in my second year of high school my mom told me, “Cliff, it’s a full moon tonight. You get 30 wishes, make sure to write down your wishes.”
So I did. That night I found a note book, numbered it 1–30 and wrote down the 30 wishes I wished for my life.
I wrote about what I wanted my family to be like, what I wanted to accomplish, what I wanted to do, what I wanted to have, where I wanted to live, who I wanted to be friends with, what I wanted to learn how to do
Who I Wanted to Be
How I wanted to feel, where I wanted to go, what I wanted to experience, how I wanted to affect others, what I wanted for others in my life that I cared about. I thought about what makes me happy, what I think is fun, what I think would be cool to do. Then I wrote down my 30 wishes.
After writing my 30 wishes I played a game with myself, I imagined that a Genie appeared and offered me 30 wishes. I thought ok, what could be 3 wishes into which I could collapse my 30 existing wishes?
So I divided my 30 wishes into folders each folder labeled with the wish I would ask the Genie. I prioritized these 3 top wishes as well. These three wishes became my life goals. They are the goals I now aspire to and work towards every day. They are the things I believe will make me the most happy content and satisfied in life and the things that I think will lead me to being the vest version of myself.
Here is a Google Sheet I made that will make it easy for you to do the same exercise (ore you can do the same thing with a notebook and a pen):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10bDcbbpLT0qFTQyt8bqiTZD_bKLHrACQDFUoeyItemI/edit#gid=0
On the sheet click File>Make a Copy Rename the Copy “MyName’s 30 Moon Wishes”, then go ahead and write your 30 wishes below, and then use the other tabs in this spreadsheet to collect them into groups and find the phrase for your 3 wishes that you would ask the Genie.
Weather you are 6 or 60, you can do this exercise and it will be extremely useful in helping you find new passions, clarifying to you what your goals should be, and motivating you to do everything you can to make those goals happen.
Once you determine your goals, start chasing them down like your life depends on it (it does). A lot of time it takes a lot of courage and overcoming fear to go for some of these goals. Find the courage.
Sometimes you don’t have the resources you need to achieve your goals. Find the resources.
How do I find those resources? The best way I have to answer this question is to pick a goal that I had when I was younger and to tell you the story of how I achieved that goal.
💪🎸🎨 How to Pursue a Dream (even as a kid)
When I was 6 years old I saw a movie where Jacki Chan did a backflip. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen a human do. I wanted to do it so bad. Every day I would imagine myself doing a backflip.
I would go to every event that had bouncy castles because it was an opportunity to practice. I got my mom to sign me up for capoeira (martial art dance with some flips), and then gymnastics. When we moved to the U.S. and gymnastics became too expensive I looked up every YouTube video tutorial on how to do a backflip. Every time I saw someone who could do a backflip I would do whatever it took to get to know them and asked “How did you learn how to do that? Where?”
One day, when I was 14 I was talking with a friend when in a park (separated by 3 fences from us) I saw someone do a backflip. I shouted to the guy who did it, and proceeded to climb over all the fences. “Wow, where did you learn how to do that?” “At the reck center on Sr. Francis Drake.”
This was likely the 50th time I’d asked this question in my life, but this time I got an answer. I googled the place but it did not show up online. So one day I hopped on my bike and biked there, 4 miles away from my house. It was closed — but a note on the door said on what hours and days it was open. So a few days later I hopped on my bike again and biked there again. This time it was open. They had a bunch of matts on the floor and people were doing flips. This was heaven.
I started biking to this rec center every day after School. Every day I would dedicatedly work on getting a backflip. After 1 year I was able to do a standing backflip on the ground! I was so happy.
Over time I kept getting better and better.
No matter where I go now, I can always do a backflip — at this point I can do it even if I roll out of bed at 3 in the morning without thinking about it, it’s like skipping. But to others it looks out of this world.
Picking up little skills like this makes it easier to have confidence because people look up to the skill. Mastering skills like this, whether it be in sports, painting, music, etc. is also one of the most rewarding things in life.
At the same time it teaches you discipline and the perseverance to never give up.
The same thing I did with a backflip, my little brother did with beatboxing, my sister did it with graphic design, and another of my siblings did it with piano, Pole Vaulting, and memorizing Pi to 300+ digits. Literally any interest can become a goal that you set for yourself and that you grow in the process of accomplishing.
When you have some small wins in setting goals and attaining them through hard work, Growth Mindset sets in and it starts invading every part of your being. Consider the fact that I wanted to do a backflip when I was 6, and I carried that desire with me all the way until I was 15 to accomplish it. Sometimes the biggest accomplishments require a long time to achieve. Give them that time.
Here is a video of me learning how to flip when I was 13:
Here is where I got when I was 18:
Today I am even better and only keep growing :)
Most recently I actually hired a coach who is teaching me 1 on 1 most days. This is the first time I hired a coach and it’s paid off big time. So I started when I was 6 and I’m still at it at 24. It’s never too early or too late to start, never stop, and there are always new ways to improve your process.
If you liked this, and think this post could help others understand or benefit, please click share.
Much love ❤ and would love your help along the way here,
Cliff
This is the 4th post in my challenge to write a book about Dyslexia during the month of January. I’ll be posting 500 words of it every day during the month.
Day 5:
Coming soon ;)
Cliff Weitzman is the founder of Speechify, a free productivity software that lets’ you listen to any reading 3x faster than most people read (iOS, Mac, Chrome, Android). He is featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List, Studied Renewable Energy At Brown University, and his signature move is a backflip ;) The best way to keep up with him is to follow him on facebook here.
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