Ariane’s Corner

Advice straight from the change expert at First30Days.com

How to Make Your Dreams Come True

by Ariane de Bonvoisin

We all have a dream. We tend to think of it around January 1st, maybe our birthdays, maybe when we witness someone else reaching theirs! It could be writing that book you’ve thought of, opening up a bed and breakfast or a business, starting a charity, going back to school to learn something you’re passionate about or simply starting a new hobby. These dreams tug at our heart. We know they would bring us joy and yet they come with their share of fear and doubt.

Here are some tips to make a fresh start to achieve that dream!

1) Do not wait for other people's permission or seek their approval. For many of us, we are secretly waiting for our parents, or spouse or friends to give us that green light. More often than not, our closest loved ones aren’t going to provide the impetus to encourage you. They will worry about you. Pursuing a dream is a journey that starts with a decision you make alone. No one else can give you this. Be true to yourself, your intuition, your desire, instead of feeling it's more important to fit in and not create any waves around you.

2) We all have our favorite excuse as to why we haven’t started working on our dreams. Any of these reasons sound familiar? I’m too old. I’m too young. It's going to take time. It's going to cost money. Someone’s going to get hurt. It's not my nature. I’m too busy. (By the way, that’s the #1 excuse I hear.) Ask yourself this. Who would I be without my excuse? If you really dig into the excuse, it's usually a way for you to avoid growing, taking a risk, seeing what you’re really capable of.

3) Whatever dream you have, you must do something you love. Don't just do something you think will be better, or make some money. It must be something you feel answers the reason why you are here. Your reason "why" you want this dream is your fuel. It's what will keep you going. Ask yourself these questions: "Why must I write this book?" When your motivations become a "must" and not a "should" or an "it would be nice," that’s when you start engaging your real change muscle. What needs to happen to make it a MUST? Every morning, remind yourself of your intention. State it. "I intend to…."

4) Pursuing a new dream involves a bit of an identity shift inside you. Maybe you’ve never considered yourself an entrepreneur; maybe you’ve been told you aren’t creative. All external changes start with an internal shift. You need to see yourself in a different way. Then the changes will start happening on the outside. Don’t let anyone box you into a label of what you are or what you are not.

5) Start taking action. Any action. Get a domain name for your web site. Print out some new business cards with a new email address. Register a trademark online. Take a class about the subject you want to pursue. Read some books. Go to a workshop or related conference. Start telling people about your dream as if it's real. When we voice it to others, it starts taking on a life of its own. Ask for help. Make a plan of how you see things going. Carve out a few hours a week that are committed to your dream.

6) Start looking for people who do want you to achieve this dream, who support you. Surround yourself with other people who are pursuing the same dream. Find someone who understands the dream you are planning to achieve. This journey will be filled with new people coming your way. You will be amazed how willing people are to help you in the field you want to go into if you are sincere.

7) Completely rethink time. It may take longer, it may happen fast. Do not put any artificial deadlines on yourself. It's normal to overestimate how much we can do in a month or two. So most of us give up on our dream when we don’t see any real progress with it. Remember, your life can be completely different in a year or two. Just take it a day and a week at a time. Be present. Do what you can today. Start with what you know and tomorrow the next piece of the puzzle will be given to you.

8) We live in a great time to pursue dreams. Everything is cheaper. People have skills that can be negotiated. If you don’t have money, figure out what you do have and trade it. Perhaps you can help someone with her finances and she can create a logo for you in exchange. Or if you are good with your health issues, you can help someone lose weight and she can help write a business plan for you.

9) Find a way to contribute, serve, give back. Doors open when people feel you are pursuing your dream for something beyond just yourself. People want to help with your cause, your bigger mission. You are allowed to make money, and you can figure out how you are also helping others. Plus, it's hard to have a really bad day when you know that what you’re doing is making someone else’s life better.

Pursuing your dream is not about being better educated, or being the right age or having the money you think is keeping you from your pursuit. It's about the emotions you need to remember you have inside yourself, emotions like courage, faith, persistence, discipline. Pursuing your dream is about making not only a choice to pursue it finally, but also making a commitment, a declaration, even maybe a vow to yourself to make it happen.

The world needs what you have to offer. No one else will do it quite the way you will.

“The journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step.”
Lao Tzu