Personal Development: 6 Ways To Make Your Dreams Come True

Last updated on December 29th, 2011 at 11:33 am

There is a quote in my journal I like to read when I’m not in the mood to work on my dream, it says,

“Your dreams can be realities. They are the stuff that leads us through life toward great happiness.”

The quote is by Deborah Norville, two-time Emmy winning American television broadcaster and journalist.

I imagine it was not an easy dream to get where she is , and it didn’t happen overnight, even if she has beauty on her side.  How do we get to the place where our dreams come true? And how do we hang on in the meantime?  Clearly drinking large amounts of alcohol and moving in with our parents is not the answer.

I’ve been studying the dreams-come-true phenomenon for some time now. I’ve studied people like Deborah Norville, who have enjoyed great success at their own dream achievement, and this is what I have found. . .

6 Ways To Help Your Dream Come True —

1. Treat your dream like it’s your mission.

You must love your dream with everything you have. It’s not just “liking” your dream, as one might enjoy a Popsicle on a hot day – you must fall in love your dream – the can’t-live-one-more-day-without-it kind of love. You should awaken each day with your dream on your mind – picturing yourself in it – what it smells like – tastes like – feels like.

You should fall asleep at night imagining yourself living your dream. These thoughts should bring you pleasure.

2. Put your dream down on paper.

You need to write your dream down with all the details, right down to the color of the shoes you are wearing. Let’s say you dream of opening a restaurant in a particular location. How much will it cost? What kind of credit does it take? How many employees will you have? Who will cook? Who will do the books? What does your menu look like? What are you wearing the day the business opens?

You need to write down specific, measurable details about your dream so your mind knows exactly what needs to be done to help you obtain it. When you get this specific on paper, your mind begins to believe your dream is possible.

3. Be flexible and accept feedback.

Your dream can change over time and morph into something completely different from what it is in the beginning. For example, you might dream of becoming a trial attorney, but once you start law school you discover you really love litigation; the trial work – not so much.

Instead of abandoning your dream, allow yourself to make the shift and go where the dream takes you.

Remember to accept feedback when coaches, teachers and respected peers attempt to give you helpful advice that may change the direction of your dream too.

4. Start by doing something small.

Often people don’t go after their dreams because they are too busy thinking about the end result, so the dream seems too monumental. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s the small daily steps which move you forward in your dream.

Break your dream down into a list until the items become so small you almost laugh. The smaller they are, the easier they’ll be to accomplish. Let’s say you dream to lose weight – start with something small like I will drink 1 eight ounce glass of water every day for a week. Once you’ve made this small step a habit, then move on to the next small step like walking 10 minutes a day.

Sometimes people make their goals so big in the beginning that they set themselves up to fail.

Start small.

5. Vow not to give up, then do not give up. EVER.

The road to dream-realization might be long and stretch out over years. Prepare for this mentally. Give yourself enough time to achieve your dream. It took Lonnie Johnson seven years to get his super-soaker water guns on the market, and he was 600k in debt by the time it happened.

You have to ask yourself up front how far you are willing to go to see your dream through to the finish line. Trust me, in the end you will feel it was worth the struggle. But you have to be honest with yourself what you are willing to sacrifice during the process of getting to your dream.

6. Control your negative thoughts.

You must make a conscious decision to recognize ineffective thoughts when they occur. These are the thoughts which stop you from taking action steps toward your dream. Look at these fear-based thoughts like a parent would to a child.

Let’s say your thoughts are telling you, “This is crazy, you can’t do this!” If you step back from the thought, you might see that you don’t have enough information about what needs to be done to listen to it. You could also argue the opposite point, “This is not crazy, and I can do this.”

Which feels better? Which thought is more true?

When it comes to believing in your big dream, all you have to do is believe that it’s possible. Just say to yourself, “It’s possible.”

Start here.

Dreams come true by expanding as a person, staying with it every day, controlling our negative thoughts, believing it is possible, and committing to the time it takes to see it through to completion.

Write this on your bathroom mirror –

“My dream is a direct fulfillment of my purpose and I cannot, and will not shirk or relinquish my duty to pursue my dream every day with every ounce of energy I have.” (Rollan Roberts)

“My dream IS possible.”

Now get out there and get working on your dream!

Because there’s no time like today –

Catherine