Setting goals: Turning dreams into reality

There is a big difference between dreams and goals. Here's what to consider when it comes to setting goals and turning dreams into reality!

A dream is the starting point. It's where we allow ourselves to create images, ideas or concepts that we would like to have occur in our future. A dream may not always seem realistic or achievable at first, but we are filled with hope and inspiration when we think it might just come true ... one day .

A goal is created when we decide it is time to move this dream into action!

Setting goals occurs when we make the commitment to making our dream come true and start creating the plan to get us there.

Sometimes as a soloist it can be easy to do a lot of dreaming – I know I do! I have lots of wonderful ideas and aspirations dreamed up alone in my office. If I am not disciplined then I never move forward to setting goals. This is when I pick up the phone and start sharing my dreams with other coaches, people in my business networks, friends or my own coach. Telling someone else my dreams is a sure way to motivate me to take some action.

You can stay in 'dream mode' for a short or a long time before turning it into a goal. There is no right or wrong timeframe.

It is my strong belief that we are not capable of dreaming things we cannot actually achieve. So if you have the ability to dream it, you have the ability to do it!

My husband and I shared the dream of traveling to Nepal for five years before we made it come true. It took this long because we had other dreams which we decided to turn into goals and achieve first. For example our dream to travel around the world for 365 days without having to work, we had a dream to buy a house together, we had a dream to get married. All of these dreams became reality first.

What was really important during these five years was that we kept our dream of traveling to Nepal "alive". It was essential to keep refreshing the dream, plugging into it, to ensure it didn't fade into the background and become forgotten.

Have you ever had a dream that just seemed to fade away over time?

Dreams need to be kept on our radar and given some energy.

Here are some examples of things we did to keep our dream alive:

• We went to see the movie "Himalaya" which inspired us with amazing mountain scenery (this was our 2nd date together);
• We gave each other guide books on Nepal and Trekking as gifts;
• We talked to our friends about sharing this dream with us;
• We collected travel brochures and newspaper clippings;

What dreams do you have right now?

Write them down and then list one thing you can do to help keep those dreams alive.

How do you turn one of those dreams into reality? Commit to it, make a plan and start taking action!

Remember – if you can dream you can do it!

• Published 01 November 06
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Building confidence (6) | Business start up (13) | Choosing a career (5) | Office administration (4) | Setting business goals (6) | Working from home (13)

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9 comments | Add your own 1 2 | Next» View all»

• Hi Linda - a wonderful article because there are few things sadder than someone who is old or dying and filled with regrets about what he/she could have done but didn't do. Either do it now (for we never know what's next) or as you say in your article, keep it alive and burning in your heart until the soonest time you can do it ! Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles

• Hi Linda,
  I enjoyed reading your artical. What I am taking from the artical is, the importace of giving energy to our dreams and by doing that we actually keeping our dreams alive. Eilat from Sydney

• yes - giving energy to our dreams is important to help us then shift towards making them happen in the future. I like the way Grant has said "alive and burning in your heart". So whether you have a raging fire or some smoldering embers it all helps! Linda Anderson from Sydney, Australia | Read my articles

• Linda
  I read this yesterday and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since. You have so beautifully articulated the difference between goals and dreams that I understand how much I have been dreaming on some fronts. Thank you so much. Karen Morath from Melbourne | Read my articles

• Great article Linda. Here's my take: Dreams are always exciting and invigorating and inspiring. Goals are sometimes mundane and pedestrian. But necessarily to reach for the dream. Zern from eicolab

• We have a better chance of achieving our goals when we are able to stay connected the invigorating and inspiring feelings of our dreams. This helps propel us forward and keep us motivated.
  Goals are often mundane and pedstrian for people but they don't have to be. :) Linda Anderson from Sydney, Australia | Read my articles

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