Tony Williamson

We grow by dreams. All big men are dreamers. Some of us let our dreams die, but others nourish and protect them, nurse them through bad days - to the sunshine and light which always come.

- Woodrow Wilson

I dream of Life of Jamaica as a household name.

- Danny Williams, June 1970

Many years ago, as a young life insurance salesman, I was given a book by my friend and Calabar schoolmate, Arnold 'Scree' Bertram. That book was to change the course of my life. It was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

Scree, young and idealistic in the tumultuous events of the radical '60s, said as he gave me the book: "Tony, this book is about wealth creation. That is not what I am seeking, but its principles are amazing. I am going to use these principles to change Jamaica politically." Scree went on to change Jamaica - whether for good or ill, history will judge.

Not long after reading that book, I heard a speech that greatly impacted my thinking. The speaker made the point that a dream strongly held, produced the thing desired. He said thoughts are things, and thoughts will produce the things we constantly think about, good or evil. He gave several examples of people who, desiring what seemed impossible, achieved the impossible.

Engineering impossibility

One of these was Henry Ford, who was told by his engineers that the development of the V-8 engine was an engineering impossibility. Ford's reply was, "I can see it in my mind. If I can see it, it must be possible. Go back to the drawing board." After several attempts, they did the impossible and the V-8 engine is now ancient history.

As a Christian, I decided to check the Bible to see if this principle of a creative vision was there. I found it all over the New Testament! I also found it in the life of Job, the man who became sick and lost all of his wealth. To my amazement, I found that Job's thinking became a negative creative vision, bringing into reality what he was thinking about.

This is what Job says: "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." (Job 3:25)

High achievers

From his own confession, Job's thought process attracted into his life the very thing he "greatly feared".

When I reviewed the lives of Marcus Garvey, Mahatma Gandhi, Billy Graham, Ken Hall, Audrey Hinchcliffe, Nelson Mandela, Michael Manley, Merlene Ottey, Eddie Seaga, Garfield Sobers, Danny Williams and many other high achievers, I concluded that their driving force was a whip called desire, a mighty force called a dream.

Let me tell you two things about dreaming. First, if you never dream, you never have a dream come true. Second, a dreamless sleep is the sleep of death, so if you are not dreaming, you know your problem.

A dream leads to desire, and intense desire is creative, for good or ill. Hitler had a dream, a 'creative' vision that unleashed overwhelming destruction upon Europe. Marcus Garvey had a dream, a creative vision that lifted people of African origin with "Up you mighty race."

Any dream, any desire strongly held, leads to the achievement - for good or ill - of the dream held. This, then, is a creative vision. It starts with a dream, it becomes a desire, it then grows into an overwhelming passion, a magnificent obsession or malevolent madness ... then it becomes reality.

SPEECH AND REPETITION

Your mind will express itself in your speech. What your speech constantly repeats is transmitted to your subconscious. Your subconscious is like a blotter: it soaks up the ink of thought and words. It is neutral, it does not know fear or failure, success or achievement. It is programmed by your thought life, by your speech, by your dreams, by your desire. Think positively, your life is programmed that way. Think negatively, you have a Job experience. Your programmed subconscious moves you relentlessly, inexorably, to achieve that about which you dream.

Dream big dreams, for as Stephen Locke put it, "It may be that those who do most, dream most."

Tony Williamson is an international motivational speaker, sales trainer, author and lifestyle consultant. Email tonywilliamson_57@yahoo.com.

In this Gleaner file photo, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, iconic leader of the civil rights movement in the United States, addresses a crowd at Jamaica's National Arena in June 1965. Dr. King's famous 'I Have A Dream' speech has served as a rallying cry which, though not yet fully realised, has energised successive generations to grasp the 'impossible'.