19th October 2007

Are You A Day Dreamer Or Achiever?

posted in Goal Setting, Successful Mindset |

Hey Folks,

The last 2 post about Goals and Dreams had generated a fair amount of discussion, which is good and I am very happy about it. If you would like to read about them, Click here and here.

In this post I would like to establish the fact that everyone has goals and dreams based on my observations of people around me. The only difference is whether they know it consciously or not and if they know how to achieve it or not. I categorize them into 4 types of people and here’s the matrix and their relative state of consciousness (about their goals) and their competency in achieving them:

Goals And Dreams Matrix

Day Dreamers
Majority of the working class belongs here, unfortunately. They have a general goal in life, probably defined as “I need to work for a living, raise a family, enjoy while I can while staying out of trouble, hope my boss don’t fire me before I reach sixty, hope I am not too sick by then to tour the world while still have enough money to finance my retirement“.

Their goals/dreams are somewhere in their head, never written down, never shared but it’s there. Even if you manage to convince them that they have a goal, they will have no idea how to properly plan, execute and achieve it. Their idea of planning and execution following the trend of work hard and work even harder. Rings a bell?

The Dreamers
Like in the show, The Matrix, these group of people have taken the pill and has waken to the idea of what a goal is and how useful and helpful to have one written down and to focus on. They have taken the first leap towards achieving great things in life with a focus on the goals they set.

Most new entrepreneurs falls in this category.

The Motivated
This group of people are a positive and determined lot. They normally follow their guts or higher calling and they take actions to get what they want. Your working class high fliers who seemed to achieve greatness out of no where commonly falls into this class.

Generally, they will progress to become an Achiever halfway through their career once “take the pill”. It is an easy step for them as they are a motivated lot to start with.

The Achievers
All successful people falls into this lot! Believe it or not.

They know their goals/dreams.

They plan for it and take massive actions to achieve it.

They are unwavering in their determination.

That is why they are successful.

What Shall It Be
So which group do you belong to? It’s your chance to talk again. :)

Cheers
James

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There are currently 35 responses to “Are You A Day Dreamer Or Achiever?”

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  1. 1 On October 19th, 2007, SK WONG said:

    Hi Karen,

    Good Matrix. Some one once said, there are 3 types of
    people in this world.

    1. Those who make things happen.
    2. Those who watch things happens.
    3. Those who wonder what happen.

    Your matrix is somewhat different from the learning matrix.
    The learning matrix put Unconscious Competent at the highest level
    where high achievers are at. They do thing subconsciouly and in
    auto pilot. High Achievers do not need to consciously telling them that they
    are competent. They are so competent that their skill
    is second nature to them.

  2. 2 On October 19th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey SK,

    The unconscious here means, well, unconscious. Not sub-conscious. It means, I don’t know what I want but I feel like I want so I do it. For goal setting purpose, you can’t “don’t know” what you want.

    The motivated may be able to achieve success with smaller, more immediately achievable goals (that comes through as a sort of instinct) but with larger goal, you need planning. That means knowing exactly what you want. :)

    Cheers
    James

  3. 3 On October 19th, 2007, Raymond said:

    Wow! 4 quadrants of goals.

    I would say I’m the achiever. I always believe that.

    Ask, BELIEVE, receive … :)

  4. 4 On October 19th, 2007, SK said:

    Hi James

    By your logic, unconscious means “Unconscious” then the person cannot be competent. The Learning matrix is an established principle of learning process and skill development and achievement assessment. I know you may not convince if I explain here, in the book by Dr Harry Alder NLP - The new art and science of getting what you want, page 20-12, Dr. Harry explain how the 4 levels work .

    I do agreed with you that you need to know exactly what you want, but you need not know everything that you need to achieve your goal. ;-)

    SK

  5. 5 On October 19th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Raymond,

    Glad to hear you are an achiever :)

    Cheers
    James

  6. 6 On October 19th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey SK,

    I should mentioned that although it looks like the learning matrix, it is not. :P

    In the Learning Matrix, if I am not wrong, it relates if you are conscious or unconscious of your competency. An analogy is
    - I don’t know that I don’t know how to draw
    - I know that I don’t know how to draw
    - I know that I know how to draw
    - I don’t recall that I know how to draw but I can draw

    In my matrix, it’s about do you know your goals/dreams or not vs do you have the competency to achieve it. The analogy here is
    - I don’t know how to draw and I don’t know WHAT to draw
    - I still don’t know how to draw but I know WHAT to draw
    - I know how to draw but I don’t know WHAT to draw
    - I know how to draw and I know WHAT to draw

    I think that should be clear and thanks for creating the chance for me to clarify :P

    Cheers
    James

  7. 7 On October 19th, 2007, lisaq said:

    where do i belong? good question! i’d like to think i belong in the achievers group but some days i feel more like i fit into the dreamers group…my goal? the achievers group! :)

  8. 8 On October 19th, 2007, Lynda Lehmann said:

    Very insightful and interesting post, James! Of course we all hope to be “achievers”!

  9. 9 On October 19th, 2007, SK said:

    Hi James,

    In this aspect, you are absolutely right. Thanks for sharing.

    Hi lisaq,

    don’t despair, a lot of our everyday items, were invented out of day dreaming. Scientist had prove that day dream is good for human progress, but ACTION is needed. ;-))

    SK

  10. 10 On October 19th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Lisa,

    Don’t worry, as long as you are predominantly in the achievers quadrant, that’s good enough. From time to time, I get to slip into other quadrants too :)

    Cheers
    James

  11. 11 On October 19th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Lynda,

    I expected all my dear readers who are interested in Personal Development to have that goal - to be achievers. You folks are simply great! :)

    Cheers
    James

  12. 12 On October 19th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey SK,

    Glad to clarify. Again, thanks for asking. This is the type of conversation I am looking for. More interaction, more valuable information is exchanged. :)

    Cheers,
    James

  13. 13 On October 20th, 2007, Peter said:

    Interesting post, and a strange coincidence that I came across it as I have been thinking about writing an article on a similar topic.

    Here is a quote I have always loved:

    “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”
    Thomas E. Lawrence

  14. 14 On October 20th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Peter,

    Great minds think alike :)

    The quote is very true but I know of instances too of dreams I had at night that was so inspirational and vivid that I had to take action to implement it. So the important thing is whether the person is willing to take action :)

    Is this the same Lawrence as in “Lawrence of Arabia” - Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence?

    Cheers
    James

  15. 15 On October 20th, 2007, Marta said:

    Hi James,

    Great posting again! I know where I am, most of the time in between The Motivated and The Achievers. Now, moving towards The Achievers more…however being in the Motivated is not bad either as that means we do it subconsiously anyway. Again, you have to know what you want, you have to know where you want to aim your arrow and which point you want it to go first before you can release it, otherwise it will go somewhere where you don’t want it to go. Know what you want, plan it, put it into clear specific action steps, execute/do it, and get the results.

    Like Raymond said: ask, believe, ACTION, receive…I add the word ACTION there…:)

  16. 16 On October 20th, 2007, Matthew Anton said:

    I dream big but also can do the day to day work so I guess I would be a dreamer that is forced to be an achiever ;) to achieve the dream.

  17. 17 On October 20th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Marta,

    Just to clarify. As I have explained to SK, the unconscious here refers to “not knowing your goals”. It does not refer to the subconscious mind. :)

    And for that last part, yes, action is the key. And action in the right direction is the desired outcome. :)

    Cheers
    James

  18. 18 On October 20th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Matthew,

    I guess you mean you are a achiever at work but a dreamer for your own goals? So you need to know how you can become competent in achieving your own dreams and implement them. Then you will be an achiever for yourself. :)

    Cheers
    James

    PS: Check out The Ladder of Dreams if you have not done so.

  19. 19 On October 21st, 2007, Success in Life is definitely a Process! | SuccessDynamic.com said:

    […] around not knowing what to do with their life? I cam across an interesting post on Goal Setting - Are You A Day Dreamer or Achiever. I particular like one of the traits James mentioned on […]

  20. 20 On October 21st, 2007, Danny D said:

    always struggling in the face of adversity, but my sorrows bring better tomorrows.
    of course I am the dreamer who becomes a a dream catcher!

    Great post!

  21. 21 On October 21st, 2007, Joel Robinson said:

    Now that I’ve dreamed(and still continue dreaming), I’m out to achieve it(Dreaming about achieving it)!

  22. 22 On October 21st, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Danny,

    That’s a nice tag, “Dreamer who becomes a Dream Catcher!” Nice!

    Cheers
    James

  23. 23 On October 21st, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Joel,

    Don’t stop dreaming! It’s good! But also start taking massive actions on catching that dream (like what Danny mentioned)! :)

    Cheers
    James

  24. 24 On October 21st, 2007, OmrelaP said:

    Thanks. Very insightful entry.

    Dream
    Wake up
    Act
    Achieve

    Can we dream again?

  25. 25 On October 21st, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey OmrelaP,

    Sure you can! But make sure you follow through with that last dream first! :)

    Cheers
    James

  26. 26 On October 22nd, 2007, Epentesis said:

    I’m a dreamer sure!!

    Great post :)

  27. 27 On October 22nd, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Epentesis,

    At least you have dreams. :)

    Thanks,
    James

  28. 28 On October 23rd, 2007, Tomas said:

    Wow, THANK YOU for a chance to talk again. The post about Goals and Dreams helped me greatly. It helped to get the clearer picture of the world whose member I am. I understand the life of people with disabilities (the mystery of the darkness of the dependants on their families) much better now. That makes the sparkles of the love exceptionally hot there.
    Personally I couldn’t choose any group, because I perfectly recognize all four in my life.
    Your observations are very interesting, worthy memorizing them indeed. Thank you once more.
    However, is it our knowledge of the reality of the dreams that defines our place in life in the concrete? I would not hurry with claims, because too many people would not fit there. I have in mind not only the disabled I know but try to look globally. I think you will agree with me that it would be the total nonsense to claim that well being of my country depends on my consciousness or that the poverty of my country don’t has any impact on my conscious acts…

  29. 29 On October 23rd, 2007, Weddings said:

    I think to achieve big things one need to dream first.

  30. 30 On October 23rd, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Tomas,

    I am glad that my post has given you a better understanding of people around you :)

    A persons perspective of life is heavily influenced by it’s environment and education (or lack of), to that I fully agree. But I still believe that we can be categorize them predominantly into one of the 4 categories.

    From time to time, depending on our state of mind, we do move from being in one category to another (I do that too) but I’m still tend to be in one particular category more often then the rest. :)

    Cheers
    James

  31. 31 On October 23rd, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Wedding,

    Yap, agreed. Dream big, take massive action and reap massive rewards! :D

    Cheers
    James

  32. 32 On October 31st, 2007, Toronto SEO said:

    Hey, how do you make this out. I do agree with u. I must say you are 100% right.

  33. 33 On November 4th, 2007, JamesKaren said:

    Hey Toronto,

    Thank You. :D

    Cheers
    James

  34. 34 On March 14th, 2008, Rafi Michael - Wedding Photographer said:

    Great post, thanks for the suggestions.

  35. 35 On March 14th, 2008, Toronto Limo said:

    i like that All successful people falls into this lot! Believe it or not.

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