Have you ever had a big audacious goal or dream that seems so huge it feels like it will never happen? Almost like it’s a pipe dream, and there’s just no way you can achieve it?

I hope you do! I really hope you have something in the back of your mind that you want to do that is so awesome you wonder if it’s even possible.

I recently had an experience I want to share with you real quick…

So, it was a couple days before Creating a Dynasty (our advanced leadership seminar), and there I was, sitting at the kitchen table with my family, eating turkey soup. And in walks Rayven, who is just an amazing, beautiful, incredible lady who assists me with our social media. She brought in some materials that I needed to take with me to Creating a Dynasty, and I told her to grab some soup and cornbread and have dinner with us.

As we sat there, she started to drop a few seeds – seeds that had been planted even before that day – and it had to do with the cheesecake I make for Thanksgiving every year, and how our clients really want to try it.

She then proceeded to tell me that Mariana – one of our faithful clients who flies from Finland to wherever we are for First Steps to Success every month – suggested doing a fundraiser with the cheesecakes so they could taste them and raise money for the orphanage in Belize.

Now, if this is your first time hearing from me, you have to know I have a burning passion for the orphan, the widow, the sick, and the hungry, as well as those in the sex trade. I mean a deep passion. It’s what gets me out of bed every day. It’s why I do radio shows and business consulting. It’s why I work. I work to help people succeed and to help people come out of ruts, out of debt, out of a lifestyle that is killing their future, and teach them strategically how to succeed. I take the income that is generated from that work to supply jobs for people and give the rest to those in need.

So Rayven calculated it: if we sold raffle tickets for $20, and only half of the people at Dynasty bought a ticket, we would raise $8,000. I decided it was definitely worth it to make two cheesecakes.

Well, I was leaving the next day to St. Louis to speak to 900 people for 3 full days, and I had a TON of stuff to get done before then. I still had to finish packing, had a radio show the next morning, and as soon as that wrapped, I was hopping in the car straight to the airport – and I was somehow supposed to fit two cheesecakes in there somewhere!?

Long story short, we worked together and pulled it off. They were finished literally minutes before I walked out the door.

Fast forward to Friday morning…

I got a message from Jenn, our events director, telling me $3,300 had already been collected from raffle tickets just during registration. I was blown away! But then at noon that day, she came to me with a note telling me we had received $20,000 already. I fell to the floor and started bawling.

You see, $8,000 was an astronomical goal to me. It was such a huge, audacious goal, and I was thinking, "There’s no way this could happen, but I’m going to step out in faith and go for it."

Jenn had a goal of $50,000. I told her, "I don’t even want to hear that number! $8,000 is a big enough goal." She was asking and praying to raise $50,000, and there I was, not wanting to get my hopes up. Yes, me, Dani Johnson, not wanting to get my hopes up…

The drawing happened Saturday afternoon, followed by an auction for the last few pieces. The number kept getting bigger and bigger, and my heart was racing and I had tears in my eyes. My goal of $8,000 had been far surpassed, and I was literally looking up to the heavens, saying, "God, really?! When you say you will do immeasurably more than I could ask for, hope for, or imagine…really?! This is so much more!"

As the final numbers came in, I was shocked and amazed. We raised $114,000 from two cheesecakes! A single piece sold for $16,000, and another piece sold for $15,500! It was crazy!

This group that was in St. Louis that weekend totally blew my mind. They were so giving. They came together as a team and made it happen.

I’m telling you this today because if you have a big audacious goal, you must understand it’s not just you that’s going to achieve it. It’s you and others! It’s a team I believe will come together once you step out in faith to take action.

And while you’re on your path to acheiving your goal, you also must understand that you will have moments of "Is this really going to happen? Will it really happen for me? Are all the pieces really going to come together?" But I look forward to the moment you have YOUR mind completely blown, when your heart is racing, and tears fill your eyes as you look to the heavens, saying, "God, really?! This is so far beyond my goal!"

I believe you are coming into that season. And I believe if you choose to believe that something far beyond anything you could ever ask, hope, or imagine will happen in your life, then you are going to receive it.

That’s what it takes to succeed in today’s world. That’s what it takes for your children to succeed. We must believe in something bigger than we think we can do. We must believe and know that it’s going to take a team to make it all happen. And then when you step out to do something great with your life – like taking care of the orphan, the widow, and the sick – that’s when you have a greater power coming in to deliver far more than you could have ever even imagined.

So if today you’re looking at that big audacious goal, wondering whether or not it’s going to happen, I’m here to tell you YES, IT WILL! So choose to believe it!

I can’t wait to hear what your big audacious goals are and watch you far surpass those goals! Tell me your story in the comments below!

I believe in you. There is a team of other people who believe in you. Push through the doubt and choose to believe. Keep moving forward with faith, and until next time, God bless!

In great faith,