Make a Wish or Achieve your Dream?

A wish is a hope or desire for something. On the other hand, a dream is doing something! It may have started when you were young or yesterday! Your dreams can take shape over time or you just seized an opportunity. It may require specialized skills and talent to make it happen or idea. Dreams range from education, family, career, buy a home, love or financial freedom. Here are five (5) steps to achieve your dream.

As a teacher, I see good students with lots of potential talk about their hopes and dreams. For many of them, they just talk about as though it were a wish as though the simple expression of a desire for something is enough to make it happen. Just wanting something is not enough! Om some ways it is similar to New Year’s Resolutions. I wan to lose weight or pay off debt are typical wishes. I know the individuals who say this want it to achieve it, but do not do what is necessary to do it. anyone can achieve goals, but you have to work at it.

Five Steps to Reach your Dreams

• Raise Expectations – Dream big or not at all! You really do not know your potential unless you test your limits. When you dream, you do not think about can you do it or not! You let your imagination go free and think about all the possibilities. That is what you should do and then get the skills, training and find the talent to succeed. That is what successful people do! They do not set artificial limits on themselves. They get what they need to achieve success.

• What is your Reason for Success? – You have your dream, but you need motivation. Funny, I always thought just having a dream was enough to go for it, but it isn’t! There will many obstacles, hurdles and failures. This is not unusual or unexpected, but you need a compelling reason to pick yourself up and keep working despite all of those problems. You know, it is something that will keep you on track. Sometimes it is fear of failure or money and time invested.

• Start with your Dream – It may or may not work, but it is yours! Maybe you want to be a doctor, but you are not good at science. You can improve or find another dream. You should never discard your dream just because you encounter problems, but you should give your full effort. I established a mantra that addresses this issue. I feel that impossible is just an opinion. You can change your opinion, thought or even your dream, but you have do something to make it happen. The difference between success and failure is determination. How determined are you to succeed?

• Positive Thinking – What you think does matter! If you do not believe you can and will succeed, you will fail. I just watched a show regarding mental health or resilience of people who go through tragedy. The focus was on war, but the people who got through the difficulties were resilient. It starts with a positive attitude, optimism, problem solving skills and a strong social network. Everyone knows this intellectually, but the ones who give up seem to forget it.

• Goals and Planning – A goal without a plan is just a wish! Part of the planning besides establishing the goal is gathering everything you need to achieve them. If you wanted to earn another $1,000 per month, you need to examine all of your choices and pick one. The $1,000 is your goal, but there are lots of ways to achieve it. You establish your plan and monitor your progress. This is the important part!

• You need to monitor your progress daily/weekly/monthly. You will not reach every milestone or objective every day/week/month! When you fall, you adjust your efforts or change something until you achieve your objective. I think this is definitely the most important part of achievement because this is where determination trumps everything else. The difference between success and failure is quitting too early or at the first obstacle.

• Success with goals is starting small. As you achieve success, you have confidence in your ability to do it again. Reaching those daily tasks or objectives helps motivate you to achieve more. It can be weight loss, earning additional money or just paying down debt. As you reach milestones and success, you can achieve more. Success breeds more success! Holding yourself accountable if you really want to achieve success.

Final Thoughts

There is a huge difference between a wish and your dreams! A wish is something you want to happen and a dream can come true. A wish is missing all the factors to make it come true, but you can change that by making it a goal. For example, wishing to become wealthy, thinner or debt free cannot happen unless you do something to achieve it. I know because I achieved my dream of financial independence! A wish is a hope or desire for something!

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