2. Believe it is achievable. Unfortunately, too many
people will never accomplish their dreams because they simply refuse to
believe in themselves. Optimism is absolutely required for dream
fulfillment and life enjoyment. If you don’t have natural
self-confidence, make finding it your first dream to accomplish. I
suggest, “How to Believe in Yourself: A Four Step Plan.” If you do have self-confidence, begin to specifically direct it towards your chosen goal.
3. Ask for help. People have gone before you. Learn as much as you can from them. When I decided to run a marathon, I read How to Run Your First Marathon
and talked to my co-worker Carole almost every single week. When I
decided to write an ebook, I talked to Jeramiah (technology), Martha
(editing), and Jana (title/outline). Each had information that I needed
and played a significant role in helping me accomplish my dreams. Don’t
let your pride be the one obstacle that keeps you from them. Instead,
humble yourself and ask for help.
4. Adjust your life as necessary. By definition, if
you have not accomplished your dream yet, you’ll need to adjust your
lifestyle to accomplish it. And while some of the adjustments may be
major, they always start small:
- Running a marathon starts with running one mile.
- Writing a book starts with deciding on a subject.
- Clearing your home of clutter starts with cleaning one drawer, closet, or room.
- Losing 50 pounds starts with changing one meal.
- Buying a home starts with saving one dollar.
Fulfilling your dreams will require you to change your lifestyle –
one small step at a time. And while there may be a large number of steps
to take, the good news is that the first one is completely achievable…
and so is the second…
5. Set a deadline. Deadlines force our hand and call
us to action. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to pick a realistic
timeline and get moving. Buy a home in the next 3 years. Fix your
marriage in the next year. Lose 20 pounds in the next 6 months. Or start
a blog in the next 30 days. Find a calendar, a red marker, and a day.
Go ahead, circle it. After all, a dream without a deadline is just a
wish.
6. Tell others. I have found limitless encouragement
by sharing my dreams with others. The number of people cheering for me
automatically doubles. Soon, it triples. Suddenly, I’m not just trying
to let myself down, but I’m trying to not let my friends down as well.
And the cost of failure has just increased.
7. Stay focused. By nature, dreams will require
perseverance. There will be successes and failures along the way. Those
who persevere through the failures will accomplish their dreams. Those
who give up will return to step #1. And if you’ve gotten this far, why
would you want to start over? Instead of allowing failures to kill your
dreams, use them to refocus you and your resolve.
On a side note, I realize all too well that the circumstances of
life ebb and flow. I humbly recognize that the positive circumstances of
my life this past year have allowed these dreams to be accomplished.
One major illness, accident, or misstep could have derailed any of them
listed above. If you currently find the circumstances of life derailing
you from reaching your dreams, let me encourage you. Don’t lose hope.
Just redirect your dreams.
I have a postcard taped to my wall. It says, “The secret to making your
dreams come true is to wake up.” Well, how? Leading off with selecting a
dream (step 1), each of these tips is a pull out of sleep. Personally,
I’ve struggled with asking for help (step 3) and starting small (step
4). I find it both hard, and essential, to remember that people do like
to help, and that most thousand-mile walks had a humble first hour.
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