Make Your Dream a Plan
If I had a nickel for every person that tells me they have a dream they have never acted on, I would be retired right now. Is that really where we want to live? Just dreaming about what life *could* be like? No! No! No! Fuck no! Let me virtually slap you! We get one walk, people. Sitting dreaming about life instead of taking daily actions toward where you REALLY want to be is no way to live. The reality is that it is more common to dream about what you want instead of taking daily action toward your future. Turning a dream into a plan can be very overwhelming. Even admitting to yourself, let alone others, that you are dreaming about a life that may be very different than the one you are living can be beyond hard. Many of my clients have a hard time writing down what they want when we start working together. The omission alone takes time to get to, and then I ask them to write it down...OMG. Jesus take the wheel!
A misguided sense of responsibility can accompany a lack of movement. We will justify our current lives to ourselves and spend our energy convincing ourselves that the right or responsible thing is to stay the course on our current path. We will give ourselves messages like “all my degrees say I should stay in this job” or “I should love my current life because it was everything I thought I wanted”. Thoughts of “should” don’t allow us to see other options. Let’s stop “shoulding” on ourselves. It is completely unproductive. If we are able to take the blinders off, there are most likely more options than we are acknowledging. They may be out of our comfort zone, or downright scary-but they are there, we just need to do some work to see them- and then see them as viable. So, grab a nut, grab a pen, and let’s dig in!
Steps to walk towards the life you want:
Get really clear about what you want. Crystal. Allow yourself to strip off any inclinations of what you “should” be doing or what others want you to do. Remove those things. Be brave enough to write it down. It’s ok-you can do this. You’re not married to it...yet.
Set goals in line with your vision. Keep it simple-just write it down. We’ll get to the details and fussiness later. Just get it down. See a theme?
Have systems and strategies to take action. Take something that feels too big, and turn it into bite size pieces. Focusing on the daily can help to get where you are going.
Build in accountability. Accountability is key. Build in someone who you can share your goals with, check in with about your progress, and celebrate your wins.