Imagination is one of the joys of being human. What a gift to be able to create images and ideas without the thing being present or real. Combine that with the thought that energy flows where focus goes, so whatever you focus on is what you’ll think about and be more likely to act on. So now you have two things working to make your dreams come true. But that’s not enough to make it happen. Let’s face it, most of us have dreams and that’s all they are, dreams, they never become our reality. We keep those dreams tucked up safely, gathering dust, and we don’t really believe we can have them. And let’s not even think about whether we deserve them or not.
Now my dreams were so dusty and unloved that they were a congealed blob of bleh, tucked away in the back corner of my mind mouldering away for decades. I had no time to focus on them because I was busy working all the time. And when I read these words by Tony Gaskins, I realised this was exactly what had happened to me. Damn it.
“If you don’t build your own dream, someone else will hire you to help build theirs.”
I believe it’s never too late to start afresh. I began to live life more consciously and I came to the realisation that my life and my dreams belong to me. What I think, feel, do and believe matters and that’s what counts. I choose to live every mundane, mediocre, marvellous or magnificent moment exactly as I please, I really do.
I looked at why it was that some people can make it happen, some people have a dream and make it real? And what those people have is a plan and what they do is take action. A plan is the outline and details for doing and achieving something, to help the dream happen one small piece at a time, some small action for you to focus on that heads you in the right direction. A plan keeps the dream, the end destination in mind and lets you break it down into organised, achievable steps that don’t seem too big and overwhelming.
And, wait a minute, I’m a coach, strategist and project manager, planning is like breathing for me. I can organise anything. Why don’t I do that for myself? So I did.
My big dream, the one I’d had since I was little was to write a book.
A dream come true
Then I got side-tracked with life for about 30 years. As I started down the road to taking back conscious control of my life I grabbed hold of the dream, dusted it off and set the plan in action. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, lots of false starts and distractions but they’re a story for another day.
The things that made it really work were a plan, people to keep me accountable to the plan (writing coach included), and taking a small action every day on the plan. Even if I wasn’t putting words on a page, I was thinking about ideas for the book, or researching or talking to people about it, out loud. Keeping the attention on it, keeping it in my focus. Imagining it done, imagining telling people about it, holding it in my hands, turning the pages
And now it’s done. The book is written!
How about you?
- Which one of your dreams needs dusting off, needs a plan to get you organised and on track, taking action to make it real?
- What are your strengths and skills that you take for granted that could bring your own dream to life?
Spend a little time writing or drawing in your journal. Go wild, put your dream out there, big, bold and brassy or small, special and soft, whatever. Take the very first step to making it real.
And, if you’d like a hand to get your dream in real sharp focus, send me a note and book a free 30 minute strategy session to get yourself organised and on the right track.
Thanks for reading
Veronica