What are your dreams?

 As adults do you still dream of what you want to do in your life or have you forgot these? As a young girl maybe you had a dream of being a Princess and you would act like a princess by getting all dressed up and living the life of a princess. You felt how good it was to just be something you wanted to be… You loved the play acting and the passion it gave you! Do you remember your dreams? Unfortunately as you get older you lose sight of these dreams you get involved in the mundane chore of living your life, you get caught up in the need to earn money, get a house, have a family and these are good and important things but what you need to explore is are these your top values is this what you really want? You are sometimes a bit like a ship on the sea without a rudder and you just get moved around by the tide of life and you end up not really honor yourselves by holding your dreams as your top value? What do I mean by this? When you are not looking at your values and your priorities you are just existing and not living.

 To achieve your dreams you need to look at your values and beliefs and see if they are in congruence with your dreams, to achieve your dreams you need to set goals and focus on these. Then there is nothing stopping you except your inactions in achieving your goals and dreams.

 I feel dreams are just goals that need to be acted on. In past articles I have spoken about the importance of your thoughts, to look at your values, beliefs and self limiting beliefs so the next step is to set goals that you can action. Once goals are set and you focus on these the opportunities for you to make changes will be noticed.

 Your values are based in your beliefs. Remember your thoughts become your beliefs and your beliefs become your actions. So to achieve your dreams and set your goals you need to check what are your top values and this is then the base of your goals.

 So the next step is to set your goals

 How many of you make New Year’s resolutions?

 Do they work?

More often than not we write a list of things that we want to change in the New Year and a few weeks later they are forgotten or we have not been able to keep them.

 Any change that needs to be made requires action, commitment and focus.

 So instead of making New Year resolutions, what you need to do is set goals.

 What is the difference between setting a goal and making a resolution? In essence they are the same thing but the difference is when setting goals, you set them with a specific action in mind, you set a timescale and you have an end result in mind.

 In Brief what do I mean by this?

 Goals need to be planed properly. I like to use the SMART acronym but there are others

 It is important to have goals as these help to give you direction and focus. It helps you prioritise and make changes. It also helps you to move towards the fulfilling life that you want.

 So before we set goals, I would like to define what a goal is? A goal is a statement of intent, correctly formed, made with absolute commitment and followed through with daily action with an end date in mind. Another important thing to remember is when you think of the end date is to think of what represents to you the achievement of your goal, by visualising this achievement you remain focused and will feel exhilarated at meeting your goal. Think of an example your goal is to go to Spain on holiday. What would represent to you the achievement of this? Would it be packing the suitcase for the holiday? Getting off the plane in Spain? Walking into your hotel room etc. if you visualise this it helps you stay focused and helps motivate you towards your dream.

 What does the acronym SMART mean?

S – Specific, significant, stretching – Well defined and clear

M – Measurable, meaningful, motivational – Is the goal obtainable?

A – Achievable, acceptable, action-oriented – Can it be done. – This is the how.

R – Realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented -Within the availability of resources and knowledge

T – time-based, timely, tangible, tractable -Enough time to achieve.

So using this you can start to set your goals.

 To be motivated and achieve your goals you need to focus. There are a couple of ways you can focus and therefore action your goals.

 Here are a few ways to focus. 

• 1. Use a vision Board or Book
• 2. Review the goals every day. Break down large tasks into smaller tasks. Use a daily to-do-list.
• 3. Visualise your goal and be passionate about it.
• 4. Use a daily journal or an ideas book
• 5. Once you are focused the opportunities will be noticed, take the opportunities when they come to you.
• 6. If the goal is not too personal tell as many people about your goal and what you want to achieve, it keeps the passion and motivation alive.
• 7. Seek help from experts, learn and read as much as you can.
• 8. Organise yourself well and have a defined plan – remember your plan may change; it is not set in stone.
• 9. Keep yourself healthy and focused by having a balanced diet, doing exercise and getting enough sleep.
• 10. Do a daily De-stress routine by taking some quiet time to think, focus, plan and visualise what you want to achieve.