The Dream Doer League

YOU always FIND a WAY to DO what you DREAM when you STICK to your STRENGTHS.

Feb 10

Ever Heard of The Champion Crusher?

Hey Athletes:

Today I want to warn you about a little enemy I like to call Normalcy, a.k.a. The Champion Crusher.

You can’t see him, but he’s attacking you every time you step on the playing field. He attacks you with his weapons of doubt and fear and deceit.

I remember the way he attacked me when I was training for my first marathon. See if you can spot the fear and doubts in my running journal entries:

August 14: Three miles in clear weather. First official day of training. Hard getting started. Probably would have skipped my run today if I had no purpose in mind.

September 15: Fifteen miles in cool weather. I made it! I lapped the lake twice, plus one mile! It was chilly out, but a gorgeous day. I seem to be on track to actually run in Raleigh. I haven’t registered yet, though. Maybe I never will. Maybe that will be the reason I don’t become a marathoner. Surely something will prevent me from running on December 2.

October 13: Eighteen miles in warm weather. Toughest run ever. Felt dead the last half. Didn’t think I’d make it. Somehow pushed myself to the end. Knew I wouldn’t be able to face my family and friends if I didn’t reach my daily goal. They may not run the miles with me, but their interest in my training is perhaps my greatest reason to run. They expect me to succeed. I can’t disappoint them. But if I can barely survive 18, how will I run 26.2?

October 27: Twenty miles in cool weather. I did it! I was worried about today’s run after having trouble with 18. Spent the last two weeks mentally preparing for today. Never thought I’d have to do that, but I’ve learned that running distance is more of a mental challenge than a physical one.

November 9: Twenty-two miles in sunny weather. Horrible run. Had to run longest distance before the race Friday instead of Saturday because of last minute trip out of town. Thought I could handle the switch. I was wrong. I never found a good rhythm. Did not enjoy myself at all. Legs hurt. Knees hurt. Shoulders hurt. Dragged along final lap of lake. Prodded to finish. I was insane to think I can run a marathon. Only it’s too late to back out. I’ve already paid the entrance fee.

November 17: Twelve miles in cool weather. Felt good through six, then wanted to walk. Made myself keep running. Worked through it. Finished strong.

November 29: Four miles in warm weather. Slowed my pace to be more like race pace. Good finish before big run. I’ve done all I can do.

The doubts I had about being able to actually run 26.2 miles didn’t end with my training. If anything, they got worse.

I’ll tell you more about that next week…and share if I was able to crush Normalcy during my marathon…or if he crushed me.

So what about you? What are some of the fears and doubts you deal with when you compete?

To your sports dreams,
Bonnie Jean

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Tagged with: overcome fear

Nov 18

Ymara Reveals Her New Big Dream

Fun Fiction, Motivating Stories 1 Comment »

It’s Weirdo Friends Day!

Welcome to another wacky, totally fictional interview of a ‘Weirdo Friend.’ Today’s story features Ymara Ecrof Tency, best tv watcher. (Video of this interview is coming soon…)

When we first met Ymara, she loved to watch TV on all six of her televisions in her room at once any time she wasn’t sleeping or in school. As a matter of fact, her big dream was to be ‘the best tv watcher ever.’

After completing the first 30 days of missions, though, she realized that wasn’t a very motivating dream. But she wasn’t sure what her new big dream was. Let’s check in with her on Day 60 of the game and see if she’s figured out what she wants.

*****

YMARA: Amazing news! I only have one TV in my room now. One! I’m like so much more calm now that my attention isn’t scattered all over the place. It’s kind of relaxing to focus on just one show at a time (when I’m not using the picture in picture feature and watching two shows at once…cause I still do that sometimes).

Bonnie Jean: What did you do with the extra tv’s?

YMARA: Check it out—I traded them with a dude down at the pawn shop for a video camera! I decided that I love tv so much I should make tv shows of my own. That’s my new big dream: create my own TV channel!

Bonnie Jean: Now that you have a new big dream, what’s your Day 90 goal?

YMARA: This is going to be so much fun. By Day 90, I want to create my first ten minute show and post it on my YouTube channel. I don’t know what I’m going to call my channel yet. Or what the show’s going to be about. Or who’s going to write it. Or who’s going to act in it. But I know I’m going to record it and direct it!

*****

We’ll check back in with Ymara in several weeks to see if she’s able to find a way to make her dream of filming her own 10 minute show happen.

She does have a few weird quirks, but as long as she follows through with the missions, she’ll be able to find a way to do what she dreams.

Weird quirks or not, you can find a way to do what you dream, too. Life is really much more fun when you set goals and take action to make them happen. So…

Join the Dream Doer League. Play The Champion Creator Game. And DO what you DREAM!

To Your Dreams,
Bonnie Jean

P.S. Stay tuned for details about how you can play The Champion Creator Game. (‘Ymara’ may be made up, but the game is REAL!) Until then, enjoy listening to the entire bestselling young adult novel The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets by clicking here!

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Tagged with: big dreams • blog fiction • feel confident

Nov 17

Shakable Confidence Stinks!

About Self-Confidence, Motivating Stories No Comments »

Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean.

Have you ever wanted something but only had a brief amount of time to choose to chase that dream to try to get what you wanted? Except by the time you chose to go after it, it was too late?

I have.

Now I always have to wonder ‘what if?’ I’m never going to get another chance, and I’m never going to know for sure if I could have made it.

I’m talking about the chance I had in high school to play Division I softball in college.

I wanted to be good enough to compete at the top level of college competition. Looking back now, I know I could have been if I had just tried.

So why didn’t I?

The answer comes down to this: I didn’t have enough confidence in my softball skills to even attempt to play softball at a Division I college.

I knew I was a decent player, but I never let myself see how good I was. I was too busy pointing out my mistakes to anyone who would listen, secretly comparing myself to every other player on my team and trash talking to me about me.

Even when my coaches, teammates and parents would encourage me, I didn’t want to listen. I thought I needed to be negative and hard on myself to become a better player, so I didn’t want their praise or encouragement.

To be honest, I was downright grouchy and unbearable to be around if I played a bad game!

I realize how wrong I was now, but back then, I seriously believed the way to make myself better was to mentally beat myself up on a regular basis. And I believed the way to keep from being cocky and obnoxious was to focus on my mistakes, not praise my successes.

As a result of my negative mindset, I killed my own confidence. So as much as I wanted to play Division I college softball, I didn’t want to endure the embarrassment of not making a Division I team at the college of my choice.

I did want to play softball in college, though, so my goal was to find a small college that had a varsity softball program. That’s why I didn’t even consider attending a Division I school.

I chickened out on pushing myself to be my best because I had no confidence.

Part of me regrets that decision; the other part is glad I had the college experience I did. Still, I’ll always have to wonder if I could have made it at the next level.

Don’t lose your chance to be your best. If you want something, go for it no matter how scared you are.

Learn what it takes to be good, then practice DOING the skills you learn. The more action you take, the stronger your confidence will become.

To Your Dreams,
Bonnie Jean

P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to find your unshakable confidence! No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today! To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets. To claim your FREE gifts, visit TheDreamDoers.com now.

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Tagged with: high school sports • negative thinking • no confidence

Nov 11

Checking in With Sally Safari…

Fun Fiction, Motivating Stories No Comments »

It’s Weirdo Friends Day!

Welcome to another wacky, totally fictional interview of a ‘Weirdo Friend.’ Today’s story features Sally ‘Super Fit/Super Smart’ Safari, scientist-in-training. (Video of this interview is coming soon…)

When we first met Sally before she started playing The Champion Creator Game, she called herself ‘Super Fit’ because her big dream was to be a ‘personal trainer for dogs.’

But when we checked in with her on Day 30 of the game, she had changed her big dream to becoming a ‘Super Smart’ scientist who invented a way for humans to survive without sleep.

Let’s catch up with her on Day 60 to see if she was able to achieve her goal of staying awake for 30 straight days using her super secret strategy.

*****

SALLY: I am ready to answer your questions. You may begin. (See what I was doing there? I’m being Sally “Super Powerful” Safari. Cause that’s how powerful people talk.)

Bonnie Jean: What happened to being Sally ‘Super Smart’ Safari and your ‘stay awake’ experiment?

SALLY: (shrugs) It turns out that I’m really not all that smart. I tried all kinds of experiments to keep myself awake, but after 33 hours and 27 minutes, I…fell asleep…in school. My teachers and my parents got a little bit mad, and my mom told me I couldn’t do any more “weird” experiments. She let me keep playing The Champion Creator Game, though, and by working through the integrity and passion and focus missions, I came up with a new big dream.

Bonnie Jean: So what’s your big dream as Sally ‘Super Powerful’ Safari?

SALLY: I’m going to be the Super Powerful President of the United States of America. That’s like years and years away, though, so I’m going to start by being the Super Powerful Class President in school.

That’s my Day 90 goal: to be elected class President. I’ve already started working on my campaign posters and my campaign speech and dreaming about all the Super Powerful stuff I get to do once I get elected.

*****

We’ll check back in with Sally in several weeks to see if she sticks with her ‘super powerful’ dream and reaches her Day 90 target to be elected class president. She does have a few weird quirks (which you’ll be able to see in the video of the interview that’s coming soon), but as long as she follows through with the missions, she’ll be able to find a way to do what she dreams.

Weird quirks or not, you can find a way to do what you dream, too. Life is really much more fun when you set goals and take action to make them happen. So…

Join the Dream Doer League. Play The Champion Creator Game. And DO what you DREAM!

To Your Dreams,
Bonnie Jean

P.S. Stay tuned for details about how you can play The Champion Creator Game. (‘Sally’ may be made up, but the game is REAL!) Until then, enjoy listening to the entire bestselling young adult novel The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets by clicking here!

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Tagged with: big dreams

Nov 10

What Happens to Your Dreams When Confidence is Missing?

About Self-Confidence, Motivating Stories No Comments »

Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean.

My big dream in high school was to be a super star athlete in all three sports I played: volleyball, basketball and softball.

I could see myself winning games for my teams at the last second, collecting all kinds of awards at the end of each season and having dozens of college scouts offer me scholarships to their schools.

Those dreams sure were exciting. They filled me with hope and gave me a reason to go to practice every day. Too bad I wasn’t a talented enough athlete to be a super star and make those big dreams come true!

I was, however, a good athlete. I had enough talent to be a starter on my volleyball and softball teams all four years, and after playing a lot of minutes coming off the bench on my basketball team my first three years, I earned my way into a starting role by my senior year.

In other words, I had enough talent to be one of the better players on my teams. What I never had enough of, though, was confidence. Especially in basketball.

When I stepped onto a softball field, I believed I was good. I just never believed I was great. But I’ll share more in another episode about my shakable softball confidence and how that limited my softball success. Today I want to focus on my nonexistent basketball confidence.

When I stepped onto a basketball court, I believed I was lousy. I had no confidence at all in my ability to shoot or dribble the basketball, play defense or rebound. And because I kept telling myself I was a lousy basketball player, I never let myself gain the confidence I needed to become good.

Every time I took a shot, I was afraid the other team would block it. Or I was afraid I’d miss the rim entirely and shoot an embarrassing air ball.

Every time I caught a pass or had to dribble, I was afraid the other team would steal it.

Every time I had a player to defend, I was afraid she would dribble by me or shoot the ball and hit a shot in my face.

Every time I went for a rebound, I was afraid someone bigger and stronger would push me out of the way and take the ball from me.

I spent a lot of time being afraid and not a lot of time building my skills so that I wouldn’t have to be afraid to step onto a basketball court any more.

I’ll always have to wonder how good I could have been as a high school basketball player. I lost my chance to be good. Don’t lose yours. If you want something, go for it no matter how scared you are.

Learn what it takes to be good, then practice DOING the skills you learn. The more action you take, the stronger your confidence will become.

To Your Dreams,
Bonnie Jean

P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to find your unshakable confidence! No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today! To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets. To claim your FREE gifts, visit TheDreamDoers.com now.

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