HJ: People who are consistently able to turn their dreams into reality all share a similar set of characteristics. As they say, “Success leaves clues.”
It is easy to fall into the trap of being tempted to think that certain people are born lucky or talented. However, luck is created… it doesn’t just happen. Having spent quite a bit of time around highly successful people who have been able to turn their dreams into reality, I can tell you that there are absolutely common characteristics that they all share outside of the 3 keys listed below.
One of those things is confidence. Another is resourcefulness.
But most importantly, above all is passion and conviction. Without these, unless you pay someone else to execute a vision for you, it will be very difficult to turn your dream into reality. Passion and conviction are what will keep you going through the highs, lows, challenges and accomplishments that you will invariably encounter on the path towards fulfilling your life purpose, because, after all, that is what life is about right? Turning your dreams into reality…? I absolutely believe it is.
Turning you dreams into reality is a tall order with its share of difficulties for sure, but is it worth it? You better believe it is. And the alternative… staying stuck where you are at now or constantly living below your potential… well, that will never give you the true fulfillment you seek. As Joseph Campbell so wisely realized, we must all realize our ‘Hero’s Journey’. Said another way, we must turn our dreams into reality and not let ANYTHING get in our way.
– Truth
3 Keys to Realizing Your Dreams and Goals
By Jonathan Wells | Advanced Life Skills
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Your Dreams and Goals
When it comes to manifesting our dreams and accomplishing our goals, there are three vital components that deserve our attention. Before we get into that, ask yourself the following question:
Am I actively moving in the direction of my goals and dreams each and every day?
Everybody has dreams and most people have goals. If you want your goals and dreams to become reality, you must move toward them consistently and purposefully. By nature, we always begin with distance between where we are and where we want to be. Our job is to narrow that distance until it no longer exists. To accomplish that, we need to draw our goals and dreams closer to us, while simultaneously moving toward them.
Some people attempt to attract their goals without taking much action. Others choose to act on their goals, but without the added advantage of also drawing those goals to them. Action alone can bring positive results, but it is much faster to combine the two techniques.
For the sake of clarity, let’s differentiate between dreams and wishful thinking. In some conversations, the two might be interchangeable. Not so in this case. When I talk about dreams, I am really talking about highly desirable goals, future realities that we fully intend to realize. For our purposes, a dream is something that we are willing to work toward, and are determined to manifest, just like a goal.
What kind of life do you dream about?
When you project your thoughts into the future, how do you see things? Do you see a variety of positive changes across the full spectrum of your life? Do you see yourself healthier, wealthier, and wiser? Are you willing to move toward that vision in order to realize it?
If so, then this is really a highly desirable goal, and that is exactly the kind of dream we are talking about today.
3 Ways to Move Toward the Realization of Our Dreams
1. Total clarity. Before we do anything else, we need to clearly define exactly what our dream or goal is. This is not the time to deal in generalities; we need to be very specific. One of the best ways for you to get really clear is to write down a detailed description of exactly what you want to accomplish.
Writing things down requires that we get a well defined mental image first. The very process of putting our thoughts into words creates clarity. This clarity will help you to form a vivid mental image that you can carry around with you 24 hours a day. Most of the time your personal reference to your new goal will be that mental image, but you will also be able to refer back to the written description to help you maintain clarity.
One of the most powerful things you can include when writing down your goals and dreams is how they make you feel. The feelings you attach to the things you intend to accomplish are your greatest source of motivation and energy. So, be sure to include your feelings in your written description. Think carefully about each aspect of this future reality. How does it make you feel? What emotional anchors resonate with each detail? Write them down.
As you read back through your written description, allow yourself to experience those feelings and get emotionally involved in the picture. When you conjure up this mental image of how your life is going to be, fully experience it on an emotional level. This is the true power of having clearly defined goals, and identifying your emotional attachments to them.
2. Take action. Now that you can see and feel your goal with clarity, it’s time to begin moving toward it. What steps do you need to take to move you closer to realizing this dream? What sequence do those steps need to be in to produce your intended result? What action can you take each and every day to keep you moving in the right direction? Once again, writing these things down will produce clarity. It is much easier to take action when you know what actions need to be taken.
Reaching your goals means that you need to take the proper actions at the right time. There is a natural sequence that will produce your intended result. Following the right sequence allows events to unfold in a very productive way. Always take time to create an action plan. Not only will it keep you moving in the right direction, but it will also allow you to anticipate what comes next.
Of course, we can’t anticipate everything, and we need to be willing to make adjustments along the way. That’s the beauty of having an action plan, it allows us to be flexible without getting too far off course. So, even though we will need to make minor adjustments, a plan keeps us heading in the right direction until we reach our goal.
3. Attract your dream to you. Now that you know exactly where you are going, how you feel about it, and how you are going to get there, what’s next? When we started out there was distance between you and the goal you are working toward. You have been actively closing that distance by moving toward your vision for the future. Now, it’s time to draw your dream toward you.
How can you do that? It’s really just a matter of perspective. Up until now, you have been projecting yourself into this vision that exists in the future, but let’s reverse that. Instead of projecting yourself into a future reality, allow yourself to receive that reality in the present tense.
See yourself as stationary and your goal as something that moves toward you, and then surrounds and engulfs you. Wrap yourself up in it like a giant blanket. Feel the joy of receiving that vision. Imagine how wonderful it feels to have the reality of that vision totally permeate your life right now. Feel it in the here and now.
Here are a couple of examples:
– If part of your dream was a beautiful new home, don’t see it from the outside; see yourself in the middle of that beautiful dream house. See yourself living there, going about your daily activities, feeling completely at home and comfortable. See yourself as a full participant, not a spectator.
– If you have been actively moving toward a new career, visualize yourself actually performing the duties of that career. Again, don’t see it from the outside as a spectator would. If your new career involves a desk, a computer, and a telephone, put yourself there. Look at the screen, answer the phone, lean back in that amazingly comfortable leather chair – participate!
Always harness the power of a 3 dimensional approach
By employing all three of these techniques, your dreams will become your realities much faster than you may have thought possible. Nothing in life is one-dimensional. The quicker you shorten the distance between where you are and where you want to be, the more empowered you become. This approach allows you to override the perceived limitations of time and space, and to more fully comprehend your own ability to manifest your dreams and goals.
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Turn Your Dreams Into Reality
By Barbara Hofmeister | Trans4Mind | Training Visions
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Do you still have dreams? And are you interested in making them come true? Start by writing your dreams down, the clearer the better. Don’t judge the possibility, just write whatever comes to your mind. Remember, what the human mind can conceive it can achieve!
Have you heard of Dr. Robert Schuler? He dreamt of a Crystal Cathedral in Santa Ana, California, which is an earthquake area. In the 80’s he invited a famous architect to plan the Cathedral for him. The architect was skeptical that such a large glass structure could be built there and if possible, would cost a fortune. “Do you have that type of money?” he asked Dr. Schuler. “No” was the answer. “Well, then it’s absolutely impossible!” the architect retorted. Dr. Schuler showed him his dictionary. The word impossible was cut out, as it was in all his literature. For him, impossible did not exist and a few years later the Crystal Cathedral was built and today his “Hour of Power” is broadcast to the world every Sunday.
What he can do, you can do! Be outrageous! Think big! You can do it – if you really want to. Maybe the poem written by Marianne Williamson demonstrates what I mean. The words are very powerful and were used by Nelson Mandela in his Inauguration speech in 1994…
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be!
Our playing small does not save the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking,
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
You are born to make manifest to the glory of God that is within us;
it is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fears,
our presence automatically liberates others.”
Let these words inspire you to go all out to reach whatever it is you dream of. Because it seems that during the course of our life we forget the big dreams we had when we were young and believed we could do anything. The question is, why does life get in the way? Why do so many of us arrive at a stage where there seem to be more obligations than motivations?
The main reason is that we are “programmed” for mediocrity. We have not been taught that we can be powerful beyond measure. Since early childhood we are conditioned to swim with the swarm, to stay in the crab basket called humanity and there will always be people who will remind us of it – but in spite of all this, we have a choice at any one moment of our life.
We really can do what we are here to do – if only we do! And exactly here is our next challenge. To dare something new we must move out of our comfort zone and that takes courage because we feel safe and secure with what we know even when we are in a miserable situation. Einstein said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.”
To help you move out of your comfort zone, visualize what it would be like when you have reached your big dream. Open your boundaries and dream in 3D. Visualize in every little detail, with all 5 senses, what life could be like when you are actually there. Close your eyes and daydream. Stop only when you can “see” yourself in your perfect day and have a wide grin on your face and a nice, warm feeling inside. Now open your eyes and write it all down. Every little bit of it… where you are, what you feel, who is there, what you do. Is it warm? Are you in a city or in the country? Is it a special celebration?
Make it a vivid Vision of your perfect day. Imagination is the root of everything we do and by far the most powerful tool to succeed. Unless you can imagine yourself being richer, happier, healthier, fitter, or whatever else you want, the chances of you ever getting there are slim.
Your brain needs to “see” the results of your actions before it will allow you to apply your time and effort in striving for them. But unfortunately, although we are all blessed with imaginative powers as children, those powers often fade as we enter adulthood.
Regaining your ability to imagine, to picture something in your mind so complete that all your senses can experience it, IS possible. It just takes practice. The more detailed your written “vision” is the more it will draw you towards getting there. Mine gets longer and longer and I feel fantastic when I read it – which you should do frequently.
Jim Rohn said: “If the why is strong enough, the how becomes easy.” It is up to you to create your WHY. Get yourself into the feeling and create your WHY.
How much time do you give to your dreams every day? For most of us it is NONE! Then how can we ever expect to make them come true? Only when your vision is clear can you plan how to actually get there. Always start with the end result in mind! That is what most of us do wrong. We start walking before we know exactly where we are going. In consequence we stray off and get discouraged.
Work with the secrets of those who have done the “impossible”. Change your programming from “What if I fail?” to “What if I succeed? Then what?” Would that scare you? It shouldn’t! You are THE BEST in whatever field you are passionately involved in and if you know what you want. Your vision has to be crystal clear to you.
Dr. Schuler, Edison, Mandela, and thousands of other extremely successful people all have these 3 things in common:
1. They knew exactly what they wanted and started with the end result in mind.
2. BELIEF – People who do the impossible believe they can do it and eventually do!
3. They act in spite of their fears; in spite of their doubts and in spite of what their family and friends might tell them.
Always remember: These are your dreams not theirs. This is your life not theirs! Dare to go further, dare to create new experiences, implant greater ideas. Act in spite of your fears and doubts – step by small step. Move on even if you feel uncomfortable. It is in those difficult moments that you grow. I wish you to be all you can be and that is anything you want to be!
Barbara Hofmeister has been involved in Personal Development since 1978. She is a renowned public speaker and trainer and has authored several self development manuals. Barbara personally runs her Training Visions coaching site. Sign up for her Free Insight – short weekly sessions with practical tips for a great(er) you!
