How To Realize Your Dream

Many of us in the blogosphere have a vision. That vision may be creating streams of passive income, helping others realize their potential, creating a platform for a career as an author, or becoming self-employed. Perhaps a combination of these things. One thing is for sure, we all found our way here for a reason.

If you’re like me, you’ve decided that you don’t want to work for other people the rest of your life.
For several years, I’ve dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur while becoming increasingly disheartened with the politics and bureaucracy involved in being on someone else’s payroll. While I have typically been successful in my endeavors, I’ve grown tired of the sheer lack of ethics I’ve witnessed, bosses who treat their staff like minions, and working alongside zombies who’ve resigned themselves to a life of mediocrity. Most organizations harbor as much negative energy as death row. I’d like to say I’m exaggerating, but I’m not.

I’ve also discovered a deep-seated desire to help other people like myself to put the beat down on life’s barriers, realize their potential, and go for their dreams for the love of Pete. If not now, when?

Here is the step-by-step process for realizing your dream:

1. First, you need to know what your dream is. This is obvious for most people, but others need to do some digging. If you’re not entirely sure, then what are your hobbies and talents? Take some time to discover what you really want. For some people, it’s a work in progress. What you think you want may need some tweaking. For example, I’ve always dreamed of writing fiction. I’ve played around with it a bit, but recently discovered I’m more in love with personal development. It’s possible that my dream changed along the way due to personal challenges I’ve had to face. When I write for my blog, the words just come to my fingertips with nary an effort. When I write fiction these days, I might squeak out 500 words a day. Listen to your intuition. The signs are there.

2. There is more than one path to your dream. Don’t give up if your efforts don’t pay off in the way you’d initially planned. Just because one idea for passive income hasn’t panned out doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel. Case in point, while I had to put my dream of writing fiction on the virtual shelf, I am making inspiring progress with my blog. Either way, I am writing. Thus, I am still realizing my dream. There are tons of ideas for whatever dream you have. Do some research and devise a plan of action.

3.Be devoted to your dream. Turn off the boob tube, log off of Facebook, and turn the ringer off on your cell phone. A large number of people who argue that they just don’t have time are simply making excuses. Are you going to let The Voice or American Idol take precedence over your dream? Let me ask you something. What’s the winner of that reality talent show going to do for you when they win? They don’t even know you. While they go on to become rich and famous, will you be a turd in the herd? Don’t watch other people make their dreams come true while you waste yours.

4. Make it official. Some people may poo-poo my buying a domain name, obtaining an EIN number, getting a business license and getting professional help to devise a business plan. After all, I’ve only been blogging a few months. Why in the world would I go through the trouble and expense of doing these things? Because it’s my future, by George! I mean business here. I’m a doer, not a talker. I’m putting my dream into action. Nothing smells more like success than knowing what you want and going for it.

“Move forward with no second-guessing, no guilt trips, no hesitation. Your purpose is to recreate yourself anew in each moment”. ~ Neale Donald Walsch

5. Persistence. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here’s that “P” word again. Just some text on a blog post…NOT. You must have persistence if you want to realize your dream. Even when you don’t feel like it. I still have challenging moments and feel lost sometimes, but I keep putting one foot in front of the other, regardless of how I’m feeling. Because that’s the only thing that will lead me to my dream in the end. Affirmations, podcasts, eBooks, and mediations are great, but without persistence, they’re just mind candy. Let me give you a real-life application of persistence. I’ve literally had to stop eighteen times while writing this post. My four-year old is feeling especially temperamental after having had dental work this morning. I could easily throw on the slippers and ride the couch while eating a quart of Ben & Jerry’s. But persistence means NO EXCUSES.

There you have it. Five easy steps to realizing your dream. It’s so simple, even a caveman can do it! How do you think they scribbled on cave walls and overpowered mammoths? (Which I would abhor, even as a cavewoman).

“If I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, it stands to reason that I'm going to get there. I've begun to think we sit far more than we're supposed to." He smiled. "Why else would we have feet?”

~ Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry