By sharing my writing (Poetry in particular), a life long dream, I hope to inspire others to go after their dreams and goals.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

What Are You Waiting For?

Do you have a dream you believe will never come true?  Perhaps it feels to big, too hard, too scary, maybe even impossible?

Have you dreamt about it since you were a child?  Maybe it is time to take a new look at your dream.  Re-evalutate it, list the pros and cons, and ask yourself what is stopping you from achieving it?

Have you always wanted to go back to school?  Own a home?  Travel the world?  Meet someone famous?  Become famous?  Most famous people started with a dream.

We all have dreams, hopes, ambitions, desires, wishes, goals, intentions, life plans... but what do we do to make our dreams come true?  It is not easy, but most dreams are definitely possible.

The first thing you need to do is be sure that what you are trying to accomplish is YOUR dream.  Too many of us follow the dreams of our partners, parents, friends, etc.  Sometimes we don't even realize it's not our dream because we have talked about it for so long.  So do some soul searching and decide if you are pursuing this dream for yourself.

Next, ask yourself how important is this dream?  If you think about it all the time, and feel unfulfilled without it, then the next thing you need to do is "get to work."

The first step in putting your dream to work is to write your dream down.  Be specific.  Set a date for when you would like to accomplish your dream.  For example, I dreamed of going back to school and getting a college degree.  I dreamed it for over twenty years.  Finally I did something about it.  My first step was paying the application fee and from there I took the next step and so on.  Soon I will be graduating and I never even believed it would be possible to go back at the age of forty-five.

After you have written down your dreams and placed a date on them, write your list of pros and cons.  Once you see what the positives and negatives are, chances are high that the positives will outweigh the negative.  Along with a pros and cons list, I find it useful to write a to-do list.  Knowing what you will need to accomplish your dream will help you organize your time and money.

Tell people about your dream so that they can support, encourage and even hold you accountable if you  begin to falter in your quest.  Let's suppose you dream about losing weight.  You decide you want to lose 10lbs. in 6 mos.  You know it will make you feel healthier and more confident.

Write your list of things you will need to do to accomplish this dream:
Joining a gym
Exercising at least 3x a week
Eating smaller meals
Eating less junk food
Eliminating soda

If you tell others about this dream, and they see you drinking soda they will hold you accountable and keep you on task.

On the other hand, sometimes it is better not to discuss a dream if it is very personal.  You will know what choices to make by how it feels when you talk about your dreams out loud.  Sometimes friends do not mean to dash your hopes, but they may say something that will stop you from accomplishing your dreams, such as "You're too old" or "You don't have enough money for that" or worse, "Why would you want to do that?"  As if because they have no desire to achieve that dream, then you shouldn't either.  Dreams can be very personal.

Once you have decided your dream, wrote it all down, and talked it over, the next thing you need to do is ACT.  Dreams do not come true all by themselves.

Start working out, start saving for that dream trip, start taking a class that will teach you what you need to know, start getting to know new people that share the same interest.  Just START.

Here is the most important part.  Do not give up!  Dreams are wonderfully played out in our minds but in reality, to accomplish one takes a lot of hard work and determination.  Patience and faith help too.  You will not earn a degree without studying and learning.  You will not find a boyfriend or girlfriend staying at home.  You will not travel the world without making a plan or saving money.  You will not lose weight and keep it off if you do not eat healthy or exercise.

You will not have your dream come true if you do nothing.

Last but not least, believe in yourself.  If you believe you can you are half way to achieving your dream.

Keep in mind there are some dreams that will not come true no matter how much we want them to.  Try not to dwell on these for they will only make you bad.  Fill your life with what is possible because life is short and time is fleeting.

As Frank Sinatra famously sings "Dreams can come true...they can happen to you."  (from the song "Young at Heart")

So START living YOUR dream.  ACT now!

Dream on,
Valerie


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