Chasing your dreams is not a silly, irresponsible thing to reach for. Instead, I think it’s a worse thing to do nothing but dream, without taking any steps at all to make your dream a reality. What’s worse, wishing you had a better job while stuck in front of the television all night or planning, budgeting and researching how to make it happen?
The problem a lot of people have when it comes to chasing their dream is that their dreams are too abstract to make the first step. Do you have a friend who says things like, “I want to write a book” but has no idea, plans or blueprint how to get started? At this stage, the goal is just an abstract idea without substance that seems impossible to reach.
Why is this? It’s far too easy to allow everyday life to get in the way of chasing the dream. It’s so easy to go to work, come home, do a few chores and fall asleep watching television than it is to do any work towards the dream. I know because I’ve been there myself. After a long day of saying ‘yes sir’ and dealing with a monster man-child of a boss, the last thing I wanted to do was to think about is some ethereal goal I wished I could do.
But it doesn’t have to be like this anymore. Even if your life is incredibly busy and you are stressed about your finances, you can start taking steps to make it happen. Here’s what I did and you can do the same.
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Write Down Your Dream And Goals
This is the first and most important step and is something you must do immediately. It doesn’t have to be ‘complete’ or finalized. It’s an idea that will grow and expand as you refer back to it. Write something down, look at it often, think about it and keep it with you.
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Let It Grow And More Details
With your dreams and goals written out, they’re going to evolve and get fleshed out over time. Write down any new ideas and thoughts. Add more details. Maybe they all won’t be keepers but they’ll likely inspire new thoughts too.
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But Stay Focused On The Main Components Of Realizing Your Dream
Main components are things like timelines, cost components, specifics and the resources you’ll need. When it starts getting detailed, enough so that it begins to actually step out of the realm of the abstract and becomes something tangible that you can actually understand, think of the first step you can take to make that dream happen.
This step gives you a very specific action that you can follow to get started. It moves this dream from something tangible.
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Talk To Friends And Family Members That You Trust
Share different little bits of your plan with those you trust. Maybe they can help improve on some of your ideas.
So what’s the next step? The first one of course! You now have your plan with all of its details, all you need to do is take that first step. The second step will follow from there. It may take some time to see everything come to fruition, but you need to start and stick with it.
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Budget And Make Some Sacrifices
I know this is easier said than done, but it will enable you to start saving money now and will only serve you for when you’re ready to make the leap for you to achieve your dreams.
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Turn Off The TV
Television is a big black hole that has a way of sucking people in and wasting time that can be spent on more productive actions. Believe me, I speak from experience! This step was probably even harder for me than saving money.
Instead of zoning out in front of the television after a long day, I instead did other things that were more fulfilling and much more in line with what I wanted my future to be.
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Stop Caring What Others Think
I’m referring to the negative people in your life. We all have them. What these people think about you does not have any bearing on your future. Will they help you reach your dreams? Are they going to walk the path with you? It’s your life, do what’s best for you. The sooner you do that, the better.