Turn Your Dreams into Reality

How many times have you thought about what you want in life, just to end the thought with, “it would be nice… maybe when we win the lotto!”?

Have you ever seen someone living your dream? They have the ideal job, home, car, holidays and boat and seemingly, all the time in the world to enjoy them all? How did that make you feel?

How would you feel if I told you that you can have everything you desire without winning the lotto?

Most people would think that I am some sort of self help crack pot that is going to try to sell them the next in a great line of “Get Rich Quick” schemes.

The honest answer is you can have it all, but it may not be quick and it may not be easy. Are you still interested?

If so, let’s play a little with a few ideas that will help you get to your goal.

1. Desire– How much do you want it? What are you willing to do for it? How easily swayed would you be if you were offered a similar result for half the work and in half the time, even if it meant not achieving your dream?

• Take stock of yourself; are you where you want to be right now?
• How do you see yourself right now; are you achieving everything that you set out to in life?
• How do others see you; are you perceived to be the person that you know that you are?
• What are you doing to change your situation?

2. Commitment– With that one word, “Commitment”, I have possibly lost half my readers. It is a word that congers up thoughts of hard work, sacrifice, longevity and faith. How silly does it seem that some of us have more faith in eventually winning the lotto than we do in our ability to commit to a dream? Lets break this down into something more achievable;

• The first step to being a self made success, logically, is to take the first step. That could be as simple as taking ownership of your dream and no longer leaving it to fate.
• Once you have decided what you desire, you now have to commit to achieving that
  result.

3. Assessment– In order to achieve anything, we need to use the right tools. Some of which, we may have and some we may need to obtain.

• What skills, assistance and tools can you tap into to get the results you need?
• What training, assistance or tools do you need?
• Where are you going to obtain the necessary skills, assistance and tools?

4. Plan– What do you think would happen if a builder went to a vacant building site and started to build what was in his head for your dream home? Do you think he would end up with exactly what he set out to achieve? How would those assisting him with carpentry, plumbing, block work, electrical, etc, know what his expectations are? Would he finish the job, and give you what you want, in the allotted time frame and within budget? Common sense tells us that the job would end up a mess. For that reason, a builder speaks to his customers and reaches agreement on their expectations. They speak to Architects, Engineers and Consultants to ensure that the end result is achievable and agreed upon by everyone. Then they provide detailed plans to all stake holders.

• Have a picture in your head of what you are setting out to achieve.
• Set a plan as to how you are going to achieve it.
• Enlist the help of others to ensure that the plan is going to work.
• Ensure that all stakeholders have the plan and understand the desired outcome.

5. Activity– Or, more specifically, results based activity. If you have followed the last three steps, then start out to achieve your results without paying any attention to your Dream, Commitment, having the right tools or sticking to your Plan, how are you going to achieve the desired results? Each step of a plan will depend on the preparation that you have put into it. In the case of the builder, would they start building the roof before the walls?

• As your level of activity increases, so too will your level of desire and commitment.
• Keep revisiting and reassessing what you need to achieve and your plan. Be flexible, but unwavering. A small change in plan to improve on the result is great, but any changes that decrease your commitment and desire are unacceptable.
• Keep moving forward. There will be times that you feel like throwing in the towel, during these times, even small steps are moving you in the right direction.

Most people in the world would now be saying, “If it is that simple, why aren’t we all rich?” I agree, this is simple, but how many of us are doing it? The real question should be, “do I have the discipline to follow these simple steps?”

Desire and commitment are very personal to each of us, we all have them, but they differ between each of us. If we have more desire than commitment, we often end up envious of what others have. If we commit to something we do not desire, we can find ourselves doing things for the wrong reasons. True desire and commitment, stay with us, even if we have been influenced by others. This can build resentment and is the reason why we must be true to ourselves.
Once you have the desire and commitment to achieve your goals, you are ready to set out on the next three steps of assessing, planning and doing.

These three steps are a lot harder to do on our own. Some of us allow our desire and commitment to cloud our judgement when we assess our ability. In turn, this will affect our ability to plan effectively, and ultimately our ability to deliver the activity required to achieve our results.

It is important to be honest, searching and humble during this phase. Enlist the help of those that know you well, sort out and learn from people that have achieved the success you are looking for and, most of all, enlist a mentor that will make sure you remain true to your plans.

What is the likelihood of success if you follow these steps? I think that you will agree, it is a lot higher than the likelihood of winning lotto.