5 Ways to Make Your Dreams a Reality

I was a high school English teacher. For eight years, that’s how I defined myself; for the rest of my life before that, I was a student. I was content in life. I was content with my career. I was content with my location. I was content with my extra-curricular activities. I was content in my marriage. I was content. I thought that was enough. I figured no one actually lives their dream life or finds complete happiness so having a roof over my head, a permanent job, and enough money to get by were plenty. Then I woke up. It literally happened over night. I was no longer okay with “good enough.” I wanted my daily life to be better than vacation. I wanted to feel like I never had to work another day in my life because my job was so great that it was more like play. I have something to offer the world and I’m worth more than a content life. So I did it. I found ways to make my dreams a reality.

5 Ways to Make Your Dreams a Reality

1. Jot Down Your Goals
The first step to make your dreams a reality is to jot down your goals. That’s right, pen and paper! I call it a bucket list but you can call it whatever you like. It’s important to write down legitimate, measurable goals. Saying, “A dream career” is not enough, but saying, “A career in travel writing as a blogger/journalist” is a step in the right direction.

2. Focus on Your Dreams Completely
If you are serious about finding ways to make your dreams a reality, you may have to put a few things on the back burner for awhile or let go of the past. I was a school teacher for eight years but it wasn’t my dream job. I needed to accept that just because I went to school for eight years to be a teacher, doesn’t mean that my life should be confined to that career. Figure out what’s meaningful to you so you can be who you were born to be. Don’t waste your life fulfilling someone else’s dreams and desires.  You must follow your intuition and make a decision. While many of us decide at some point during the course of our lives that we want to answer our calling, only a select few of us actually work on it.  Remember, life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile.  Achieving your dreams can be a lot of work.  Be ready for it.

3. Seek Inspiration
Follow those who inspire you. Seeing others achieve their dreams is extremely inspiring. You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with.  If you spend your time with the right people, you will be far more capable and powerful than you ever could have been alone. I seek inspiring travel bloggers and motivational leaders.

4. Lose the Negative Attitude. Think Positively
Negative thinking creates negative results.  Positive thinking creates positive results. That’s it. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story.  The mind must believe it can do something before it is capable of actually doing it.

5. Measure your Success in Baby Steps
Don’t measure your success by looking at your final goal but instead by each and every baby step you achieve along the way. Sometimes we discourage ourselves by withholding cheering for our accomplishments until we reach our final destination. Cheer, cheer, cheer and build momentum along the way.