By Melissa McCreery, Ph.D.
So many people have wonderful dreams that are buried just beneath the surface – a book they’d love to write, a business venture they’d like to pursue, a race they’d like to sign up for, or a trip they want to take.
If only.
If only they had: more time, more motivation, more get-up-and-go. If only they weren’t so busy, or if only they had–more money, more connections, more support. If only they could get organized, or if only they could get some time to think. If only they could figure out the first steps.
Here’s what I know:
1. The bigger we allow ourselves to dream, the more we accomplish and the more we start to see what is possible.
2. We don’t have to be any more amazing than we already are to do amazing things.
3. We don’t have to know exactly how we are going to make our dream come true in order to start pursuing it. But we do need to HAVE the dream. We do need to have a clear intention that we’re going to do whatever-it-is and we do have to create space in our life for our dreams to emerge.
4. Big dreams usually don’t require immediate big steps. Small, steady, consistent steps tend to create the most solid and enduring results.
Your Coaching Challenge:
1. You’ve heard this from me before – set some goals.
It is vitally important to put what we want into words. Set goals that are concrete and goals that you can get excited about–both short term and longer term goals. Think about what you WANT to do, not what you think you SHOULD do. Choose goals that make you smile when you think about achieving them.
2. Ask yourself how and when you can commit time to your dreams.
If you need to create some space, ask yourself what you can give up, say “no” to or delegate. Even if you only have fifteen minutes a day or one Saturday afternoon a month, claim your time. Schedule it for you and write it in your calendar.
3. Ask yourself what you need to get started.
Do you need a boost in motivation or some inspiration? Do you need an actual place to work on your dream? A supporter or a mentor? More information?
Don’t expect yourself to solve this problem in one fell swoop. Try to define one small step you could take towards obtaining what you need. Write the step down and set a date by which you’ll accomplish that piece.
4. Take Action.
Sharing our goals is one of the most powerful steps you can take. Tell somone you trust about your goal and share your plan for completing your first concrete step.
Author’s Bio:
Melissa McCreery, PhD, ACC, is a Psychologist, ICF Certified Life Coach, emotional eating expert, and the founder of www.TooMuchOnHerPlate.com, a company dedicated to providing smart resources to busy women struggling with food, weight and overwhelm. Find out more and pick up her free audio series: “5 simple steps to move beyond overwhelm with food and life” at www.TooMuchOnHerPlate.com.
Yes, I am dreaming big! Thank you for this encouragement.
I think that when you have big dreams, the biggest challenge is to keep the motivation because you cannot accomplish big goals instantly. Setting smaller and easy achievable goals on the road is the essential part of achieving big dreams.
Reading articles like this one can give you enough motivation to keep going.
Truely inspiring,motivating,brief and insightfull..Thank you for this wonderfull ancedote that has the ability to put spring on one’s feet!!
I agree that it is very important to have dreams and even more important to make them reality. The tips you give are great. What is important is to keep going forward at all times, to have the right support and resources to have the dreams come true and also to be flexible. This is very important not to have a strict deadline as you never know what can happen in your life in the next few weeks or months. It also enables to be open to opportunities and seize them. This is what I call proactive living and I blog a lot around this topic as this is how I live my life.
I really like this post. I always dream big but for some reasons these dreams never come into reality. I only have one big dream that came to reality and this dream is to have a wonderful family. And this dream makes my life complete.