Dare to dream and then dream big!

For the last three years I’ve been working on my dream of becoming a keynote speaker. Everyday I do something that helps me move this dream forward. It’s a big dream that requires a lot of my time, energy and focus. But I have to admit, some days I don’t feel like working on my dream. There are days that things don’t workout, deals fall through or don’t materialize. It’s easy to become discouraged, distracted and disenchanted making it harder for me to work on my dream. Can you relate? So what do you do when faced with adversity, obstacles or road blocks? Do you quit, procrastinate or do you move forward, shrug it off and keep going?

We all have familiar patterns of behaviour that we exhibit when times are tough or tasks become difficult. It’s important to recognize the signs of these behavioural patterns so that you can deal with them before they become an issue. For example, I can feel when I’m working too much because I don’t enjoy the company of other people as much. I love to connect and help people so when I start to feel this way I know I’ve got to take time off and re-connect with myself.

I withdraw and this helps me to re-focus and take stock in what I want and why. I usually take a day or two off to re-charge my batteries. This allows me to move forward again with a fresh prospective and renewed attitude.

When I’m feeling stressed it’s a lot harder for me to feel creative and come up with new ideas. I find my creativity is stifled and no matter how much I work at trying to make it flow, it just doesn’t happen. Since my dream relies on my being able to be innovative this is a big problem. When I start to feel like this I walk, a lot. I take my dog and we go for long, long walks in the forest. I walk until the ideas flow naturally like a river and I don’t stop until this happens. Seems to work but I’ve gone through a lot of running shoes.

Lastly, if I don’t wake up bouncing out of bed and excited about the day ahead then I know I’m starting to feel burnt out. The best cure for this is lunch with friends, a change of scenery and a spa treatment. Hey work hard, play hard.

Working on a dream no matter how big or small requires do much of your soul to make it happen. If you dare to take on the challenge of working on your dream then you need to ensure you take care of yourself. If you don’t then chances are you will abandon your dream somewhere down the road as the challenges of reaching this dream pop up. You won’t have the mental or physical fortitude to see it through to the end.

Know and understand yourself and how you work best. Watch for signs of over working, stress or even under working when things get tough. Yes, it’s going to be hard at times but the bigger the dream, the greater the risk and the more time and focus it’s going to require on your part. But here’s the thing, the bigger the pay off. Most people don’t go the distance in realizing their dreams. They get close and often times stop just before reaching the pay off because that’s where it’s the toughest. My suggestion to you is to recognize that it’s  going to be hard and do it anyway because no one is going to do it for you. If you are going to get to your dream it’s up to you. I wish you sweet dreams.

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