We all have dreams in life – things that we want to achieve, and that we get excited at the prospect of turning into a reality. (Image Credit: Arek Socha/Pixabay)
Some dreams centre around high-flying success in a given career, while other dreams focus on an overall lifestyle – maybe living in a particular location, engaging in certain leisure pastimes, et cetera.
Whatever your particular dreams and aspirations may be, it’s clearly the case that achieving a dream is easier said than done – and for this reason, among others, many people go through their entire lives without not only not achieving their dreams, but without ever really trying in earnest to pursue them.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that you will achieve a particular dream – and, along the way to a dream of yours, you might re-evaluate and find out you’d prefer to be going down a completely different path altogether.
In any case, it’s a good thing to be able to take effective action to follow your dreams, so that you have the best possible chances of achieving it, or at the very least are likely to gain something from the attempt.
Here are a few tips on how to be more effective at following your dreams.
Use the right tools for the job
There are all sorts of different “tools of the trade” that apply to different professions, and also all sorts of tools that might make a dramatic impact in your ability to achieve a more abstract dream, because of the ways in which those tools will affect your mindset, productivity, relationship to your environment, and more.
One effective exercise when trying to enhance your odds of achieving a dream of yours, is to thoughtfully assess the “tools” you are using in the pursuit of that dream.
What are the pros and cons? Are you missing out on something essential?
For certain tactical professions and pastimes, the necessary tools may be strictly and directly apparent and practical.
For other pursuits, however, you have to be a bit more outside the box with your thinking about the best tools to use.
For example; are you trying to be some kind of an artist, but find that whenever you sit down at your computer to check your emails you end up getting sucked into a black hole of idle web surfing, and using up all the free time you would have otherwise had in your evenings for pursuing your craft?
Maybe something as simple as getting a touchscreen tablet for quickly reviewing your emails and then putting the device away immediately after, could have a significant positive impact.
Stay organised and disciplined, and reduce chaos in your personal life
Life naturally tends to be, or become, chaotic – and you are very likely to be met with plenty of uncertainty, and complications, whenever you are pursuing any sort of ambitious dream.
If, however, you allow yourself to be completely swept away by the general chaos and uncertainty of everyday life, and to lose track of what it is you’re trying to achieve, or else end up dramatically faltering in your resolve or in your routine, your odds of achieving success plummet dramatically.
Discipline and organisation are not necessarily “sexy” concepts, but they are essential, and are also some of the most reliable and time-honoured ways of ensuring that you are making yourself as effective as you can in the pursuit of any goal.
Among other things, try to reduce obvious sources of distraction – for example, don’t leave the TV on in the background.
For another thing, try and maintain consistent daily routines. Go to sleep at roughly the same time every night, and wake up at roughly the same time every morning.
For another thing, use an effective task and project management system, and schedule important events and commitments in advance, using a reliable calendar system.
Pay proper attention to good sleep, nutrition, and exercise
It’s easy to end up thinking about your goals and dreams strictly in terms of visualising the desired outcomes, having the right internal motivations, and “wanting it enough.”
All of these things are important, but one of the best things you can do in order to maximise the odds that you will achieve your dreams, is to pay proper attention to some of the more directly physical aspects of your life. These will have a major impact on your well-being, energy levels, health, and performance in a wide variety of areas.
Make sure to get good sleep each night – and aim for eight hours of sleep minimum, to the best of your ability. Eat a nutritious whole foods diet, consider supplementing with a good multivitamin, and definitely take up a regular exercise routine.
All of these things can have a truly dramatic impact across the board.
Focus on instilling the right daily habits, for consistent incremental progress
It’s one thing to have a broad general idea of what it is you want to achieve, and to always be on the lookout for big shining opportunities that can transform your life and move you towards your desired outcomes.
But while you certainly should look for these sorts of opportunities, the more common and everyday dimension of success tends to lie in regular, consistent daily adherence to productive habits.
If you want to write a novel, one of the best things you can do is to establish a habit of sitting down and writing for a certain amount of time, each and every day.
If you want to get fit, you have to have a consistent exercise routine, because working out extraordinarily hard every few months will achieve nothing.
The specific daily habits that you should focus on will vary depending on the particulars of the dream you are trying to achieve. In any case, however, realise that truly dramatic progress can develop in a fairly short space of time, as long as you are consistent and pay attention to the proper daily routines.