Posts by Allan Lacoste

What kind of world do you imagine when you think about the big American dream? Some folks strive for riches beyond perception, while others look for the comfort, safety, and security that America has to offer. Some want the world to know their name while others want a world where they don’t have to hide. To some, it just stands for freedom. So, who is right in the great debate about the American Dream? All these responses and more would be considered more than adequately correct. While the American Dream differs from person to person, there are some factors regarding it that everyone has in common. For instance, the American Dream won’t manifest itself to those who fall asleep. Not physically of course, but if you never put in the work to find your dream, you have no chance of ever finding it. Or that the dream is about a land in which someone can live a life that’s better, richer, fuller, and above all else, equal for everyone. Complete with opportunity for all depending on nothing more than a person’s abilities or achievements. So, if you can’t sleep to reach the dream, then how do you get there? This is a great question, and one that may confuse, but the answer, I assure you, should be interpreted as simply as it sounds. The road to success is never an easy one to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, you will undoubtedly arrive at your American Dream.

While some might argue that rules are meant to be broken, some also serve as the foundation of a respectable human being. For example, we could all benefit from learning how to listen with curiosity, speak with honesty, and act with integrity. It’s simple really, work with integrity, succeed with integrity. A major problem with the way a lot of people communicate is that they don’t listen to understand, instead we tend to listen only to reply. However, when we successfully listen with curiosity, we’re looking for what’s behind the words. This shows integrity, the act of doing something good, even if no one is watching. For those who want to be truly free, a life of integrity is what needs to be lived. Integrity frees us from hiding, because those who have it, have nothing to fear. It’s having a life full of intentions and beliefs that are aligned perfectly with our words and actions. Integrity is a word that a lot of people know, but some have trouble defining. However, it can easily be summed up with one small, easy-to-understand, sentence. If it’s not right, don’t do it and if it’s not true, don’t say it. Practice this and enjoy freedom at the cheap cost of having integrity. Wisdom is knowing the right path to take in life, but integrity is having the intelligence and courage to take it.

Perseverance is vital for all of us because it keeps us going when the road of life gets a little rough. Persistence and patience go hand in hand and someone who lacks either will just tend to give up when the circumstances start to become too difficult to bear. On the other hand, someone who is persistent never loses hope and regardless of the size of the hurdles before them, they’ll always find a way around so that they can successfully achieve their dreams. Even the darkest of nights will end with the brightest mornings. Of course, it’s easy to understand just how crucial perseverance can be, especially for someone who sets a lot of goals in their life. Perseverance is failing something 100 times over, but succeeding on try 101. While moving mountains sounds hard, perseverance is the act of achieving it by moving all the small stones that it’s made of. It’s all the hard work that we do after we’ve grown tired of doing the hard work we already did. It’s not the long journey, but all the small ones that the bigger one is made from. Perseverance means we can take as long as we need to complete something, so long that we do actually complete it. Champions become champions by persevering through all the trials and tribulations that are speckled throughout their path to the top. Enthusiasm to do something is common but the endurance to see it through is rare. Perseverance makes all the difference. However, don’t become stuck down a road without anything of worth at the end. Perseverance is seeing something through, but if the endgame doesn’t produce fruit, it’s not worth your focus.

Courage is the most important virtue. We all need to show a little of it every now and then whether we’re changing careers, moving to a new place, or having to do something else outside of our comfort zones. Courage is key that makes the impossible become possible. Even taking a stand for something you’re passionate about takes courage. Courage starts with showing up and being seen. It’s the most important virtue because, without it, we can’t practice any other virtue consistently. Without this virtue, we can only practice erratically, but nothing consistently without a little bit of courage. If we want to grow as people, it takes courage. Not only does it take courage to stand in front of a room of strangers to give a speech, but it also takes courage to sit in that room and listen. While some may tell you that courage is a resistance to fear, the truth of the matter is that it’s more of a mastery of fear. Courage can be found in the unlikeliest of places. Even creativity takes courage and with enough of it, who needs a reputation? To put it plainly, courage is having grace under pressure. Without it, we’d never be able to do anything. It’s the greatest quality we possess, next to honor. Even John Wayne once said, “Courage is being scared to death … and saddling up anyway.”

Vision is more than what we see with the naked eye, it’s the ability to close our eyes and envision things that have yet to come. Vision isn’t what sits before us, instead, vision is insight. It’s the capacity to see beyond the real and mundane. With true vision, we can take a step back from life, evaluate it, and then find within it a future that hasn’t yet occurred. Life is a trip and to best understand where you want to go, you need to possess a clear picture of where it is you want to be. To have vision without execution is nothing short of a delusion. A vision that lacks passion is like a picture that lacks possibilities. People who fail to obtain a vision beyond what their eyes tell them will find themselves stuck within the world as they know it. They’ll only be able to see whatever it is that they have already seen with no possibilities, no dreams, and no future. It’s more than just an image of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a beckoning deep inside of our souls that are screaming for us to evolve our minds into something more, and why not, It’s powerful enough. Words to the wise and to those who want vision beyond sight: have a vision, be demanding, and don’t settle for the ordinary. Trails are meant to be blazed, so blaze them. Because a person living without vision will remain frozen in illusion forever.