Achieving Your Dreams

“You can run from your dreams in fear or you can run to your dreams with faith.”
Tina Downey

Setting goals is essential for getting ahead in life; however many of us fail to set perhaps our most important goals, or at least we fail to deliberately work towards them. The goals I am referring to are our long-term life goals or our dreams. And because our dreams often seem so far away or so impossible, we stay away from focusing on them or truly striving to reach them each day. Working toward obtaining dreams in life is certainly not for the weak, as it takes real commitment, focus, determination, and hard work. However, the satisfaction in the end is always worth the effort.

When setting our life goals, many times we are reluctant at setting too high or too ambitious of goals for fear of falling well short. Learning to put fear aside and setting a “super-stretch” goal for your life will help you reach your full potential. In fact, when contemplating our dreams, we must never place limitations on what we can accomplish. I sincerely believe the sky is the limit for each of us as we each have tons of hidden, unknown potential. I believe each of us is born for greatness!

To be successful in obtaining our long-term super-stretch goal or dreams in life, I believe there are certain steps we must take to have the greatest chance for success. These steps include many things we must do to mentally prepare for the challenge of obtaining our long-term goals. Thinking through and applying these steps will propel us to achieve our wildest dreams. So, before you truly set out to achieve your dreams, take time to consider the following:

#1 Take a Good Hard Look

It can be demoralizing and frustrating when we don’t reach our goals even though we can certainly learn and grow by simply working towards them. However, before setting long-term super-stretch goals, I believe it is important that we take a good hard look within ourselves to determine if the goal is something we truly want to achieve and are willing to work for long-term. We must be honest as we self-assess our motives and desires for obtaining our goal. Once we have taken a good hard look at ourselves, we then can move forward with the determination and knowledge that we know what we want. Without doing this first, we may set ourselves up for failure. And although failure is not always bad, obtaining the goal is still the objective.

#2 Once In, There is No Getting Out

Often people fail to reach their long-term super-stretch goals or dreams, because once the road gets rough, they abandon their cause. This lack of determination and endurance can often be linked to improper mental preparation and frame of mind before embarking on accomplishing the goal. As we set out to achieve our dreams, we must determine before we ever begin that we will not give up or quit until we’ve achieved our goal. Roadblocks will certainly come, but those who stay the course and overcome roadblocks will succeed. The desire to accomplish the goal must be greater than the obstacles we will undoubtedly face. Beginning with a “no getting out” mindset will allow us the greatest chance for success.

#3 Choose Passion Over Pain

Obtaining a long-term goal will most likely result in some pain, sorrow, fatigue, frustration, etc., etc. Thus, it is important that we are not only passionate about the goal, but that we are willing and prepared to choose passion over pain. When the road gets rough and we are exhausted, what will we do? Too often people give up on what they want long-term to settle for something more pleasant in the present. Giving into the pain and not choosing passion often results in unfulfilled dreams. Thus we must never give up what we want most for what feels good right now.

#4 You Can’t Hide Progress

Are you making progress? How do you know? Many times we say we are doing okay or that we are doing all we can to achieve our long-term super-stretch goals when it is not true. To best achieve our dreams, we must be willing to be brutally honest with ourselves, and make adjustments in our lives as needed. Thus, we cannot finesse or hide our progression or lack thereof. We must frequently and honestly assess our progress rather than try to hide from it or ignore it.

#5 Ignore Skeptics & Keep the Faith

You will most definitely encounter many skeptics along the road, however you must keep the faith. Skeptics will come frequently, especially as you begin your journey; however you must remain focused and determined to succeed. If you are not ready to face skeptics, then you are not ready to achieve your dreams. Though not easy, keeping the faith under all circumstances will give you a real opportunity to accomplish your wildest dreams.

Achieving your dreams in life will not be easy, but it will be worth it! Now that you’ve taken time to review these steps, it is time to go for it! As you spend time thinking about the items above, you will give yourself the greatest chance for success. And truly striving to accomplish your dreams each day will cause your inner fire to burn.