Dream, Believe, Train and You Will Achieve

Dream, Believe, Train and You Will Achieve
My dear brothers and sisters and friends, oftentimes life is compared to a sport, where in the different stages of our careers, as we achieve or obtain success, we are like athletes who start with a dream of making it and they believe they can do it.  Believing that they can, they begin their training, and through their efforts they gain the reward of achieving their objectives.
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“Dream, believe, train and you will achieve” is the motto that an excellent swimming coach uses to motivate his athletes, so they will achieve their goals of breaking personal bests and exerting themselves to make it to those big events in their sporting careers (Robert Núñez Domínguez, Aquatic Sports Academy).

Moses 1:39 tells us that our Heavenly Father’s purpose is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man”. Just as He has an objective for us in our earthly state, so too do coaches have objectives for their athletes; that is why I want to relate this topic on a level with us as Latter-day Saints and our efforts to achieve our goals in this life.

Dream

Dream

Dreams are the things we most desire to achieve some day. Lord Lytton[1] took it for granted undoubtedly that where a youth dreamed nobly and manfully, that it would inspire him to have a purpose in life, and to “hatch the same into action,” and not allow it to “run into decay.” Having purposed to become a book-keeper, President Heber J. Grant[2] tells us: “I immediately set to work to attain this object.  Well do I remember the amusement I furnished my fellow-students.  One remarked when looking at my books, ‘What is it; hen tracks?’ Another said, ‘Has lightning struck an ink bottle?’ These remarks and others, while not made to hurt my feelings but in good-natured fun, nevertheless cut deep, and aroused within me a spirit of determination. I resolved to live to set copies for all who attended the university, and to be the teacher of penmanship and book-keeping in that institution.  Having a purpose and also ‘the will to labor,’ and agreeing with Lord Lytton that, ‘In the bright lexicon of youth there’s no such Word as fail,’ I commenced to employ my spare time in practicing penmanship, continuing year after year until I was referred to as ‘the greatest scribbler on earth.’”

All aspects of his life reflected a principle he often taught: “The law of success, here and hereafter, is to have a humble and a prayerful heart, and to work, work, WORK.”  He counseled: “If you have ambitions, dream of what you wish to accomplish and then put your shoulder to the wheel and work. Day-dreams without work do not amount to anything; it is the actual work that counts.”  (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant. Chapter 12: Work and Self-Reliance, pgs.111-112)

Believe

Believe

In the great teachings of the Savior, He said: “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”[3]

Part of success in achieving our goals is exercising our faith in the Savior and in His power to help us in the challenges and dreams of our lives.  For those whose faith is weak, I refer you to what the prophet Alma taught us: “Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things…”[4]

President Heber J. Grant said: “There are any number of people who have faith, but they lack the Works, and I believe in the people that have both the faith and the Works and are determined to do things.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant. Chapter 12: Work and Self-Reliance, pgs.111-112)

My dear brothers and sisters, when we exercise faith that we can achieve our dreams, the Savior will help us in those moments when Satan, and his hosts, place one of their most powerful weapons – discouragement – in our path.

Train

Train

Training is synonymous with practicing, preparing, instructing and guiding.  All represent the word ‘action’.

President Heber J. Grant often preached the principles of hard work. He counseled: “Let every man feel that he is the architect and guilder of his own life, and that he proposed to make a success of it by working…Do not be willing to work four or five days and then only half labor.  Let every Latter-day Saint give value received for everything he gets, whether it be in work, or whatever he does.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant. Chapter 12: Work and Self-Reliance, pgs.111-112)

In this aspect, the scriptures teach us:

In this aspect, the scriptures teach us:

“Let every man be diligent‍ in all things. And the idler‍ shall not have place in the church, except he repent and mend his ways.” (D&C 75:29)

“Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault‍ one with another; cease to sleep‍ longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.” (D&C 88:124)

“And the inhabitants of Zion also shall remember their labors, inasmuch as they are appointed to labor, in all faithfulness; for the idler shall be had in remembrance before the Lord.

“Now, I, the Lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of Zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness; they also seek not earnestly the riches of eternity, but their eyes are full of greediness.” (D&C 68:30–31).

 “Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall note at the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer.” (D&C 42:42)

 “…Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.” (1 Chronicles 22:16)

I often tell my children that if we only do the minimum in what we want to achieve we will never achieve success.

“I quote with pleasure … from Lord Bulwer Lytton: ‘What man wants is not talent, it is purpose; not power to achieve, but the will to labor.’ Samuel Smiles has said: ‘Purposes, like eggs, unless they are hatched into action, will run into decay.’” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant. Chapter 12: Work and Self-Reliance, pgs.111-112)

You Will Achieve

You Will Achieve

This is the point where we see the fruits of our dreams, our belief and our preparation.  When thinking about our achievements, the following comes to my mind: “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated,” (D&C 130:20-21) and no man will get the blessing without fulfilling the law.

May we strive to achieve our dreams and goals, both temporal and spiritual.  May we have the firm determination to return triumphant, ready to receive our rewards, in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

In the Savior’s great commission, He promised His disciples that He would be with them even unto the end of the world.[5]

Esteemed brothers and sisters, dream, believe in yourselves, prepare yourselves, and the Lord will open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings upon you until there shall not be room enough to receive them.

 


[1] Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, was an English novelist, poet, playwright and politician (1803-1873).

[2] Heber Jeddy Grant served as the seventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from 1918, with the death of his predecessor, Joseph F. Smith, until his death in 1945 (1856-1945).

[3] Mark 9: 23

[4] Alma 32: 21

[5] Matthew 28: 20