Of all the important habits we need to teach our kids, the one we probably stay away from the most is teaching them how to follow their dreams. We spend a lot of time trying to discourage our children in many ways. And this is partly to do with the dreams we had, and then, we finally “snapped out of it.” But the fact is that everybody has dreams, and when people have the right attitude and take the right steps, they can achieve almost anything they want. If you have experienced regret in your life, this might be because you haven’t achieved something that you want. But if you are ready to start aiming high again, it’s time to break it down into the following approaches.
Break Down Your Plan Into Chunks
If we have an overarching dream, we can feel intimidated, and we may believe it is unattainable. And during the early days, looking at something so massive is overwhelming and intimidating. The benefit of breaking it down into little pieces means that you stay motivated. It all depends on what your overarching goal is. If, for example, your goals relate to worldly possessions, finances, or luxury real estate, you need to write down the big goal or desire, and then start to break each little bit down. If you want to invest in luxury real estate, what will it take to get there? It’s not just necessary about finding a job that pays excess amounts. It can be about finding other approaches to achieving this. You could start to invest in stocks and shares. And gradually, when you start to break down each task into shorter, manageable chunks, it’s going to keep you going in the right direction and make sure you are motivated to achieve this.
Be Positive and Confident
Something that we can really underestimate. Mindset is so important, whether you want to achieve a goal, or you want to earn a certain paycheck, mindset is crucial. When you have a goal, looking at your positivity and attitude towards it will have a significant bearing on the outcome. This ties into the Law of Attraction. It states that whatever you put out into the world it will come back to you. And when you start to think the best of yourself, the right people will come into your life. And partly, we can look at this in terms of psychological functions. The self-fulfilling prophecy is a very common example. If you start to believe you cannot do something, you begin to manifest it. This is why you’ve got to start making little changes in your life so you begin to go in the direction of positivity. You can do this through visualization or positive self-talk. But the point is that you should start it now.
Focus Ahead of You
Going forward is vital. There will be times when we hit the wall or feel discouraged. When we have setbacks, we have got to remember that they are inevitable. It is so important to keep going onwards. And sometimes, when you are going forward, you can lose sight, but this is why it’s important to visualize your goals. If you can see your dreams in your mind before they happen, this is sending a message to your subconscious telling you what it needs to move forward. Visualization may seem like a hippy-dippy tool, especially for those people who have never done anything like this before. But you have got to remember that if you start to visualize happiness, it’s going to have an impact on your frame of mind. The brain is unable to tell, in a functional sense, what is real and what is imagined. And if you use this to your advantage by focusing on the positives, but also visualizing your dream every single day when you get up, it’s going to make you feel fantastic, so even if you do not get there tomorrow or the day after or in five years time, you still feel great. And when you feel more positive and confident, it’s going to help you take action.
Make it Fun!
We are told that if “you work hard enough, you can achieve anything.” And we can look at people who have worked hard all their lives to get what they want, but they either didn’t get what they want or were just plain miserable when they got there. When you feel happier, you are more inspired. You might be someone who wants to write a novel, and therefore, the idea of the “suffering artist” appeals. But time and time again, we have encountered people who have been through the creative process and would give anything to go back and make themselves happier during those early days. It’s not about making yourself miserable and putting yourself through the wringer in order to make yourself worthy of your goal. It certainly provides redemption, especially if we had to endure tough times. But if you start to make happiness a priority in your life, regardless of what happens, everything seems better. As you go, focus on happiness, but also make things fun. Everybody gets setbacks in their lives. It could be something big or it could be something small. Even those small things appear big to the person who is trying to avoid setbacks.
Avoid Negativity
This is a very big one! When we have big dreams, there will be people around us that want to pull them down and rip them apart in front of us. They will tell you that you are wasting your time, or it will take forever to get that amount of money. But we have to remember that those people are like that because they don’t believe in themselves. Don’t listen to them, which is easier said than done. But if you can feel that your dream is possible, and you’ve got an actionable plan to achieve it, it is yours! On a purely personal basis if you are hanging around with people that are always quick to shoot you down, why are they in your life in the first place? Sometimes, there are those people who just like to spout off negativity, but even if those people are good friends, you can benefit from keeping your distance. This is especially true if you are someone who is prone to negative thoughts. By making sure that any negativity stays away from you, it helps you to focus. These people will tell you that they are just being realistic or “looking out for you,” but if you are feeling yourself being derailed by these people, remember, there are thousands of examples of people that achieved their dreams against the odds. Keep yourself inspired, and listen to those people, and see what they did. Get some inspiration from people that are working towards their dreams.
Take Risks When They Feel Right
There will be times when you don’t know what to do, and this means that risk is needed to move forward. Sometimes it’s about moving somewhere new or starting a business that could break you. We have to remember that if we want to achieve things in life, we’ve got to take risks. But remember, not all risks are bad. You got to choose risks that you know feel good deep in your solar plexus. The risks that feel right will take you in the right direction. It is so important for us to trust our instincts.
Achieving your dreams is something that we all have regrets about, or we feel that we were just foolish. Sometimes, we start to gradually dampen down our dreams, and there is nothing wrong with this. But don’t let anybody tell you that dreams are not achievable.
