5 Things To Do To Make Your Dream Come True

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5 Things To Do To Make Your Dream Come True

Oh my goodness, it is a dream come true that I officially have a podcast! I am so excited to be sharing with you my heart and soul through The Best Day Podcast! It was extremely important to me to make sure that in this very first episode of The Best Day Podcast that I brought something of value. Within this very first episode, I wanted YOU to be able to walk away feeling fired up, feeling motivated, and feeling encouraged. It is for that very reason that I am sharing 5 things to do to make your dream come true, in hopes that you can feel inspired and motivated to pursue your dream, regardless of what may or may not stand in your way! 

The Importance Of Your Dream

Your dreams matter! I want you to be able to continue with the rest of your day feeling like the very thing you dream about, the thing that your heart desires, the thing that you have way back in the corner of your mind, hidden underneath all the other to-do lists, and all the other things, and hidden behind all the unfolded laundry of our brains, is a dream. A dream that belongs to YOU and only YOU! 

I want to speak to that dream and to tell that dream to wake up, to get up, and to come alive. Whether that dream is to write a book, start a blog, start your business, get that degree, or train for the race. Whatever that dream is for you, because I know you have it – I want you to know that it’s so incredibly important. Your passion behind it, matters. Your dreams matter. The beliefs you have matter. Your thoughts matter. And if you have been sitting with this dream for a while, or only for a few days, I want you to know that your dream can come true. And I am going to share with you the 5 things you can do right now, this very moment to make your dreams a reality. 

Step #1 – Brain Dump

The very first step to take to make your dream come true is to clarify what your dream is. Our dreams live in our mind and our hearts. Our dreams are connected to our passions and our desires. Who we are as human beings is fully layered into the things we dream about. If you are looking to make your dream a reality, you need to define exactly what that dream is. Even if you aren’t fully sure yet, it is best to start somewhere. And that is with a brain dump.

Now, you can do this either on paper or digitally. Personally, I would suggest using something other than your phone. Reason being – when you are trying to do something specific via your phone it can be so easy to get distracted. A notification pops up, or you get to a moment where the thoughts slow down and you switch gears and go to what feels more comfortable. You start opening up all the apps and doing all the things.

Instead, use either a notepad or Google Doc. Just be sure it is something that is clear and clean and allow yourself to be undistracted and completely devoted for just a short window of time and let your mind go. Write out all the things connected to your dream. The little things, the big things.

My Own Personal Brain Dump

For me, with this podcast, my brain dump looked like a giant list of episode ideas. I used a project based management system that I will talk about shortly, to organize my version of the brain dump. Now, if you are one who needs a little bit of structure – I have a free resource for you – your very own Dream Brainstorming Worksheet. This very worksheet can serve the exact purpose of your brain dump. 

After spending a good work session or two on your brain dump – you should have some solid thoughts forming ideas locked down on either paper or electronic notepad. This is GREAT. By transferring the thoughts, the foundation of your dream, to an actual surface, whether physical or digital, allows your dream to be ALIVE. Your dream now EXISTS, and when that dream exists it can be much more clearly designed. 

That brings us to the SECOND step to take to make your DREAM come true – investment!  

Step #2 – Invest In Yourself

Are you willing to invest in yourself?  You are going to want to invest in yourself if you want to see your dream become real.  You got too. If you are unable to invest in yourself – how can you expect others to invest in you. Investment can come in many different forms, we often think first the financial investment, but TIME is another really big investment.

In order to make your dream a reality you are going to need to invest in yourself. Financially and intentionally, and with your time.  It doesn’t have to be the biggest investment, but it does need to FEEL big. You need to be able to FEEL that level of risk. If you don’t have that level of risk, then what is going to motivate you when the task becomes hard, or when the dream seems a little further away.

My Personal Investment

Let’s take my podcast for example, to start a podcast you can do it pretty cheap. Technically, all you need is your phone and then upload it to a cheap hosting site and publish. OR you can spend the money and purchase the high quality microphone, purchase a more advanced hosting site, spend the money on an education course teaching all the ins and outs to podcasting.

When I decided that this podcast was going to move from dream to reality, the very first thing I did (after convincing myself that I had enough ideas to at least get us to the first twenty episodes) was invest. I used business money that I had just earned from a higher paying collaboration and decided if I was going to take myself seriously, take my dream seriously, I needed to treat it seriously.

When The Doubt Comes In

And throughout the process of planning, and drafting, and recording and doing ALL the things that were required to do to set up this podcast for launch day beyond – it wasn’t always easy. In fact there were definitely several moments where I thought to myself “What the heck am I doing?” I thought to myself “Can I even do this?” “Will this even succeed?” Will people even listen.” “Do I really want to put myself out there to the entire world?”

The best part about ALL of these questions. Every time I felt myself ask them, every time I felt those questions rise up as insecurities and fears within my heart, within mind – a stronger voice quickly shut them down and pushed them up – and that voice said “No – you have invested in this dream, you have invested in yourself, you are not going to give up. You WILL see this through.”

Pursuing Your Dream

Pursuing your dream, especially when it is a giant leap outside your comfort zone is going to be hard. It is going to be challenging. There will be moments that feel like giving up is the best option. But if you can hang on, hold on for another moment, another hour, another day, you will realize that you are so incredibly close to reaching that next door, moving through to that next step to reach your goal, to achieve your dream. When you invest in yourself, you are investing in the process, and you are investing in your dream, and sometimes that is all it takes to know in your heart of hearts – that it WILL be worth it! 

And just a quick disclaimer before moving on to #3 – I want to make sure you understand this very clearly. By investing in yourself, you don’t have to go spend a crazy amount of money. Please don’t be irrational. Do not go spend a large chunk of change that you cannot afford. Instead, be financially sound, but do take a level of risk, so that you know what it is that you are fighting for. So that you know it really will be worth it. 

Step #3 – Work backwards.

When you are truly setting up to not just dream your dream, but to actually create your dream – you want to be sure to start putting dates attached so that you can move your way into making sure your dream truly does come true. This step is super important. It can be easy to move too fast, and set yourself up for some hiccups, as opposed to setting yourself up directly for success. How many times do we all have an idea, or a project or something we want to embark on and we don’t actually come up with the plan and the method to get it all done. And instead, we watch as the days and the weeks and the months go by, and the idea, the project, the dream is left unfinished and sometimes even un-started.

Therefore, I suggest using a method that we use constantly in the classroom and that is backwards design. What this is, from the teaching aspect, we look at all that needs to be taught during a given semester and work backwards. Starting with the units and then breaking it down to each specific day. This works the exact same way for your dream. And if you are one like myself who loves all things planning then this step is most definitely for you. I would suggest using either a month by month view calendar OR a project management system for this task. 

Making Your Dream Come True Through Backwards Design

For the backwards planning, you want to start off with the end goal – whether that is a to-be completed by date, a launch date, or what the finished product/finished dream looks like – start there. And based on the end result, figure out by working backwards what needs to get done to get there. So this is where you are going to start to get a little technical, and I would have this either in writing or typed out, but you want to actually define each step of the process. And it’s completely okay if you don’t know the exact set values of things, but at least the framework.

So for example – with this podcast – I knew that I was going to launch The Best Day Podcast with three episodes on Monday, April 4th. Therefore, I knew that by Monday, April 4th I needed to have three episodes outlined, recorded, edited and published. I needed to have the corresponding blog posts that contain the show notes written, edited, and published. I needed my social media graphics created and scheduled. And I needed to give myself time to promote the podcast before launch day.

Working Backwards

I was able to define what needed to be done and then work backwards by looking at the calendar to see when and where each task needed to be completed to ensure that I was setting myself up for success. The best part about backwards design is you are coming up with the plan on how you are actually going to execute the dream. For me, by working backwards, and creating the road map for my dream, it allowed me to not stress through the  process, instead I was able to enjoy it. Through working backwards and creating this design, I was able to let go of the stress. I didn’t need to worry about all the things I wanted to say in Episode 2, because I knew I had a day where I was devoting a work session for Episode 2’s outline.

And I gave myself permission and freedom to not stress about it until I was in that moment of planning. Working backwards gives you freedom and permission to not only dream your dream into reality, but by providing you with the tangible and actionable steps to get there. 

Step #4 – Use a project management system.

Number 4 of 5 steps to making your dream a reality – use a project management system. Okay this one is newer for me personally and as a devoted and completely committed pen to paper kind of girl, I do have to rave about how using a project management system has actually changed my life and productivity. There are SO many different project management systems out there, my personal favorite is Trello. There is a free version which I have been using just fine to be able to plan out every single detail in organizing the ins and outs of all things this podcast, but there also is a premium version which is great if you dream includes building a team of more than just you, or you need additional views and boards.

My favorite project management system – Trello

The way Trello works is a giant board that allows you to add sections and cards and organize each with different labels based on what category of task it is. You can easily assign due dates, create checklists and monitor your progress the entire step of the way. The reason this is in the top five list is using a project management system is like creating the exact path of making sure you dream becomes a reality. It is an extremely user friendly way to come up with the exact road map to get all the things done. This dream of mine with the podcast would have been nowhere near completion without using my personal favorite project management system Trello. 

Step #5 – Set aside specific intentional time every week to devote entirely to your dream.

In order to make your dream a reality you are going to want to spend specific time every single week devoted to your dream. And this is something you are going to want to be incredibly intentional about. On Sunday, when you are looking at your week ahead, go ahead and block out time in your week where you know you have completely devoted time to work on your dream. Write it down and set it up. Make an appointment with yourself.

Make sure you schedule time where distractions are limited, time where you don’t have to worry about anything else. Furthermore, make this a time where you can completely devote to working on your dream and not have to worry about doing all the other things. And make this a habit. Do this every single week. This way you can ensure you have time to work on all the things that you have set up to do in order to be sure this dream can become a reality. 

Okay, I actually have ONE more step for you. Think of this as a bonus, a little THANK you for showing up, for being here, and supporting The Best Day Podcast! 

Bonus #6 – Become your own biggest fan.

Become your own biggest fan. Get excited. Be giddy. Let your passion for your dream overflow into all the areas of your life. Let it radiate through. The more you are your own biggest fan, the more people will be attracted to you. They will see your excitement, they will feel your joy and that is something people want to be a part of. This will help you attract your very own people that you can have in your corner cheering you on and supporting you.

Because building your dream isn’t always going to be easy, it’s going to be hard, challenging, and at moments feel like the hardest thing you could have chosen to do, but that is life, and our dream wouldn’t be our dream if it didn’t stretch us and make us uncomfortable. But it’s when we chose to walk through the uncomfortable, when we chose to build and grow, that we put the pieces of who we are together in a stronger, more solid way. 

Recap of The Five Things You Need To Making Your Dream Come True

1. Brain dump
2. Invest in yourself. 
3. Work Backwards. 
4. Use a project management system. 
5. Set aside specific, intentional time every single week to devote entirely to your dream.
6. Bonus * Become your own biggest fan!

I hope you found something worth taking in this message on the 5 steps to take to make your dream come true! Before you go, please know that your dreams matter, your vision matters, and your thoughts matter. Your life has a purpose and you will get there! Trust in yourself and trust the process and keep on dreaming! Until next time, have the BEST day!