dreamcatchers

The one reason to pursue your dreams needs to be why you get out of bed every morning. Life is full of love, opportunity, and challenge.

We can learn to embrace our dreams and covert them to goals through the realization that dreams are attainable, whether it is a dream career, financial independence, or community service.

My daughter’s gymnastic coach once told me that a great gymnast thinks big and has motivation. From that day, I realized the gymnastic coach offered a lesson for many of us. Our dreams are as big as we want them to be.

Dreams are a natural way of being

Dreams are important to have because they give us hope. Like a wish list or a bucket list, we envision what we desire the most that will fuel us with energy, drive, and ambition. Have you ever seen a joyful young toddler walking for the first time? It is natural to get up and walk, and when we do, like a toddler, we move forward in the direction of what else we may do next.

To actualize our dreams, we need to start with ourselves. These three keys can support and justify the decisions we make to pursue our dreams.

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst then be false to any man.” – William Shakespeare

Self-awareness

Self-awareness is the conscious knowledge of our own character, including our feelings, motives, and desires. How do you recognize and then develop greater self-awareness?

Meditation helps many people look inside themselves for answers to questions like, what am I trying to achieve or what can I do to change? Meditation can open up your mind to new ideas and the world around you, even for a few minutes a day. Read these 2-3 minute mediations for some ideas, and to ‘rewire your pathways’, as a neurologist suggested.

Try writing down your personal strengths and weaknesses that can give you a gauge of what you may want to build on or perhaps change. You will find merit in correcting weaknesses, like procrastination, and in concentrating on strengths, like having dreams worth pursuing.

Try understanding why you feel the way you do about your dreams to create greater self-awareness. For example, I have always dreamed of owning a home on or near the beach. I grew up on the south shore of Long Island, NY near the ocean and enjoyed the pleasures of ocean swimming and walking the beach. This feeling stayed with me as I pursued living within driving distance of coastal areas, like California, Hawaii, Seattle, and South Florida.

Priorities

Often we get trapped into writing long to-do lists that may not be priorities. I would be the first to admit writing “top ten” lists. Learn to distinguish the priorities most important to bring you closer to fulfilling your goals, without sacrificing current commitments in your work or home life.

A useful approach to get dream priorities in gear is to set aside a special time in the day, whether it is in the early morning, during lunch, or in the evening that will give you greater freedom to work on priorities.

Focus

In support of any decision to pursue your dreams, focus on what you want to grow in and take action. For example, Susan always wanted to pursue playing the piano. She wakes up one day and decides that in the coming year she will take piano lessons. Susan has focused on her dream in such a way now she is able to take action.

We’re able to accomplish anything truly meaningful through these essential ingredients. When we understand ourselves, being truly self-aware, we’re ready to establish priorities and focus on pursuing our dreams.

Are you ready to challenge your status quo? Taking action is the most important step in pursuing your new goals. Learn powerful techniques and strategies and get valuable support and feedback to help you make your dreams a reality when you set goals to pursue them.