What’s your dream? Do you want to give your vision a jumpstart? If, you answer yes, and why would you not, write down your goals. Use these questions to assist you in pursuing your dreams, one goal at a time.
Before I get to the questions. Have you a goal that you have held on to? Many years ago, when I left school, my dream of going to university was squashed. Only a limited number of students got to study further at a selected school where the chances of gaining university entry were greater. I was not among the chosen students, and my study dreams began to fade. Despite fading into the background as I went about my life, the dream of going to university never left me. As my children completed their studies, I learnt about opportunities for mature adults to go to university. My study goal was reignited. Studying around work and family life is not easy. To ensure I was pursuing my goal, I asked myself these clarifying questions many times.
How To Know You Are Pursuing Your Dreams, Your Own Life Goals.
The first question asks about your main goal in life, yet knowing what your main goal is can be a challenge in itself. To explore your life goals take note of your feelings and reactions to your daily activities and hobbies.
1. What’s your number one life goal?
What’s most important for you to experience, explore or embrace during this lifetime?
This may and most likely will change as you age. However, until you answer this question, your life goals will be off purpose. Unaligned with your core values and inner passion, your intentions will lack the power to attract the people and situations necessary to become a reality.
The world has changed so much since I was a child. Maybe, it’s changed a lot in your lifetime too, but our childhoods hold many joyful memories and activities that can help us discover our true passions.
- What activities did you enjoy as a child?
- What are your hobbies now?
- Are there places you want to visit?
- What pastimes do you enjoy today, and what pastimes did you enjoy in the past?
- Who do you want to help?
For more questions, read, How to write down your goals for a more balanced life.
Fulfilment comes when your goals are aligned with your inner passion and your purpose. All you need is to dream, believe and pursue your dreams.
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them”
Walt Disney
2. Is this your dream or someone else’s?
Have you ever looked at your goals and wondered if you are pursuing your dreams or chasing someone else’s dream for you?
It is so easy to get caught up in living someone else’s dream for ourselves. Receiving praise and recognition can push or pull you in a different direction than you imagine for yourself. Just trying to fit in or please others may have you looking back on life one day with regret.
One of the 5 biggest regrets people have before they die is ‘I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me’.
Fortunately, goals are something that can be pursued at any age. New experiences and opportunities present themselves as we experience life. It is never too late, and it is not selfish to go after your own dreams.
Achieving your goals brings happiness and fulfilment. Achieving goals is inspiring. Yet, what joy can you give to others if you haven’t given it to yourself first?
3. Are you settling for less than?
Are you resigned to accepting less than your full share of love, health and success?
There are times I thought I had compromised and sacrificed my dreams. The stopping and changing of career paths to suit my current environment or health. Though I now see the experiences, I gained with each opportunity as learning events guiding me and aiding me in embracing my core values. With each side step, I learned what I liked and what I didn’t. I believe we all have personal values that speak to us, dictating our behaviours and actions.
“If your present is painful, you can escape to the past and get out of the pressure of change. Or you can escape to the future, because no one knows what it is for sure.”
Tony Robbins
Happiness in life comes from living your true passions. Living with joy, living with and doing the things we enjoy most in life.
4. How can I feel my goal achievement while pursuing my dreams?
Personal passion fuels dreams. Bring your vision alive through creativity. One creative way is to make a vision board and look at it daily. A vision board can help you take action towards your goal.
Use the power of visualisation to feel your achievements. Imagining your achievements helps you focus and feel your success. The power of emotions through visualisation can assist you with taking action towards your goals. Visualising your ideal day provides the feeling of living your dream before you have achieved it. Visualisation helps keep your dream alive.
“Where your creative attention flows, so flows your life”.
Hawaiian Kahuna
5. What steps can you take today towards pursuing your dreams?
When you set a goal, it is important to do something and take action towards that goal as soon as possible. The action does not need to be a big step, just something small that helps you commence the goal.
Don’t defer starting your goal till tomorrow. Your dream is your dream, and small actions lead to big results.
- Learn the power of stacking habits to turn your dream into reality. If for example, one of your goals is to drink more water, start today by downloading an app on your phone to remind you to drink water.
- Set up supports and systems around you to instantly translate your intentions into action.
- Achieve your goals by creating successful habits.
- Measure your progress by using a habit tracker to track your routines, your wins, and your habits or write in a journal. Writing and tracking are key self-development strategies that can aid with goal achievement.
- Assess your personal values as your individual beliefs and values will push or pull you closer or away from your goals.
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Life goals are generally larger goals that take time to achieve. Like a project broken down into small sections that lead to the end result. Life goals require to be broken down into small steps.
In 2016 I commenced a part-time degree at the local university. In 2021 I completed my undergraduate. It felt like a long journey, working, studying, and looking after the family. Attending university was a childhood goal which I put aside for 30 years. Finishing my degree felt amazing. Achieving my study goal was only possible because of my self-belief, the support of my family, work, and friends and establishing a good life and study routine.
6. Are you believing in yourself and your dreams?
Most people don’t believe they can live their dream. Either their belief system has them believing they can’t make a living doing what they love, or they feel they don’t deserve their dream. We all deserve to achieve our dreams.
We all have goals, usually more than one, which may cause confusion in deciding which dream to follow.
Some of us push our dreams and goals aside, believing that we can’t have our dream.
If you are struggling to believe in yourself, start by defining your core values. When you live according to your personal values your inner confidence increases, which may help you believe in yourself and your dreams once more.
Everyone has a dream! And everyone is destined to fulfil that purpose. Life is too short to delay taking action towards your goals. Start chasing your dreams.
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