Part Three: Diggin’ in to Your Dreams
It should come as no surprise that I once dreamed of being the Queen of the World. It sounds pretty awesome in theory; though, I imagine it would be truly awful in real life. If you don’t believe me, watch Bruce Almighty. The good news, of course, is that it is never going to happen. Thanks to dreaming SMARTly, I know that my dreams need to be both Attainable and Realistic.
Once you have a realistic and attainable dream in mind, and you have a specific and measurable timeline in place, it’s important to keep the following checklist in mind.
- Remove (or at the very least limit) anything that distracts you from achieving your dream. Binging on Netflix documentaries is not going to help you achieve your goal … unless of course your dream is to be a documentarian. Each step you take should be in the direction of your dream. This includes ridding yourself of any and all naysayers. Just because your neighbor’s sister’s best friend gave up on a similar dream, doesn’t mean you will.
- Get backup support. Any realistic dream is going to require a lot of your time and energy. You want to make sure that you have a strong support system in place comprised of people whom you trust and that will help you stay focused and positive. Any knowledge they have in the arena of your dream is a definite plus! Your Aunt Bertha who thinks your dream is so much hooey is not the sort of support you need. See point #1.
- Believe in yourself. The beauty of working towards a realistic dream that you know is attainable, is the reassurance you’ll find in knowing that you can do it. Though you may be taking a risk, it is a reasonable risk that you are being responsible about. So, visualize yourself achieving your dream. Often. Try on the “fake it ’til you make it” approach. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just stay positive. See point #2.
Our dreams await. So, let’s dig in and get to work. Yes!
Micki Allen 