HOW TO BUILD YOUR DREAMS
7:00:00 AM
There are
people who gave up on their dreams and there are people who gave up EVERYTHING
for their dreams. To me this is a great tragedy of life, and this should not
happen to you.
In the past, the
first scenario was more prevalent. People are afraid to reach for their dreams
for social conformity, security of
following the norms or fear of the unknown.
With the rise
of the millennial, the second scenario came in. Everybody bought the idea of “Be your own Boss”, “Working for myself”
and “Time Freedom” which are just empty promises (I’ll show you later why).
We’re so sold out that we don’t care about breaking laws, burning bridges and
thinking all for ourselves; they even call us Selfie Generation for the matter.
But there’s a
way to strike the balance – to reach for
your dreams without giving up life itself.
First, let’s define your dreams. Have a clear vision of what you really want to achieve. What it is that you really
want? Most of the times, we are not really sure about our dreams. We try to
pretend we know it and we realize it isn’t real. Make sure you don’t fall in
any of the following Defining Dream
Mistakes.
COPYING OTHERS DREAM
We tend to
copy the dreams the society gave us. We
are programmed to believe that those who have a lot of money, those
Entrepreneurs and Celebrities are the ones who live the dream life. We feel
jealous about the perfect life that we see on TV and social media. But what we
see is only a tip of the iceberg, a portion of their life. I remember
seeing an Instagram post of one celebrity going home at 3AM and waking up at
6AM for another taping. Wait, this is
not living the life for me. Chances are you get to sleep more than those
celebrities do.
Now let’s
look at the Entrepreneurs, they look cool and powerful at the same time. Be your own boss right? But that will
never happen! We simply change the name
from calling them “boss” to “customers or clients”!
How about working for yourself? Nobody works for
himself. We all have to work for others,
that’s how we get paid.
Time freedom? Try to talk to a successful
entrepreneur and you’ll find out they
worked more than 40 hours a week. Granted, they have a lot of social events on weekends, but actually
it’s just a better word for “marketing or networking events”.
I’m not
crashing your dreams of being a celebrity or an entrepreneur. What I’m trying
to say here is that, we may like the
things they have but we may not like the lifestyle that comes with it. If
you are up with the game, by all means go for it! But if not, don’t fake it.
There’s a lot of road to success, you
don’t have to go to the same road as others. We are made to believe that you’ll never get rich by
just being an employee. However, so many people had succeeded in life by being
an employee. They may not be popular, but they’re living the life of their
dreams.
I’m not
lowering your standards either. What I’m
pointing out here, is to be real about
what you really want.
Is it your dream to travel the world? You don’t
have to join multilevel marketing or build your own company just to fund your
travels. In fact, there are high paying jobs that allow you to travel the world
for free.
Ask yourself
honestly, what it is that I really want? Without knowing it, we have no way to
go. We will pursue anything, following any waves that flow.
DEFINING YOUR DREAMS WITH THE MEANS
People dream
about having a lot of money. They thought this is a big dream, but actually it
is just the means, the way of reaching
the dream. What you do with the money is what you really dreamed about.
Is it to be
financially secure until retirement or to finance a charity you care about or
to be a hero of some kind? Whatever it is, we must focus on achieving the dreams and not only the means.
I’m sure a
lot of parents dream of caring for their children. Of course, this includes
providing well for them. Some parents spend most of their time working hard
even working abroad thinking they’re doing this for their children. Then they
missed the PTA meeting and the soccer games. They even missed the graduation. Now
the children are all grownups, parenting missed.
Sometimes, we
get stuck on what we’re doing. We missed
the reason why we’re doing
things in the first place. Take time to evaluate
your means to know if it’s stillaccomplishing the dream.
When I had my
son, I have this dream of staying home and caring for him personally. I
stressed out returning to work. A colleague, also a mom told me, “I know it’s hard, but you’ll get used to
it”. Wait a minute, my mind tells me. Why do I have to just get used to this?
Thinking about it, I know I need my job and I love what I’m doing
professionally, but I also have this dream for my son. The idea of working from
home came to me. However, it doesn’t seem to exist, especially in my field of
work. I’m almost at the point of having a career shift, but God indeed never delays. I got a home-based job as an
Accountant.
Sometimes, we
have to give up the current means and find another that aligns with the dreams.
Don’t be afraid to give up the means, there’s always a new one. As Marie Forleo
says “Everything is Figureoutable”.
DON’T SLEEP AND DREAM
Take action.
Write down 12 things you can do right now to achieve your dreams. It doesn’t
have to be detailed yet, just write down
your ideas on how you will accomplish the dream. Don’t stop until you come
up with 12 ideas. If you can’t come up
with 12 action steps, maybe you don’t really dream about it that much. If
you do, you can list the 12 ideas right now. Do it, don’t cheat on yourself.
With this
exercise, you open your mind to possibilities on how to achieve your dreams.
Chances are, these are not all the steps. Along the way you will add more
action items and eliminate some. But the point is to get started. Get going. Take one step at a time and take the first
step now.
Build your
dream in your own terms, with the right means and chase it every day. Enjoy
every step of the journey. Sooner, you
are living the life you’ve always wanted.
PS. This is just the first
step in living the life you’ve always wanted. There’s more coming your way
on the next blogs. Be sure to subscribe
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