Driving Dreams into Reality: A Year-End Message from Our Senior Partner

As a pharmacist and a healthcare professional with over 2 decades of experience across three continents and as a partner with The Strategy Boutique, I’ve worked with all sorts of people.

And I’ve discovered that all of us have dreams.

I’ve had scores of people from across every diaspora – all races, genders, and ages talk to me about their dreams, especially after I became an author.

But sadly, few people move to turn their dreams into reality. Why?

There is always a gap between an idea, a dream, a vision, and actual execution. And to get to the place where the dream can be executed, there must be movement - and as this article shows, whether we like it or not, we are always moving.

Until we inject intentionality into our movements, we will never reach our goals.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve met people that have been inspired by my story: one to begin writing a children’s book, one trying to start a business in real estate, another commencing the process of writing their memoir, and even another going on holiday abroad alone for the very first time.

The Joy of Movement – making a bold move.

Just like the popular gel in the picture above promises.

In each of these people I have met, I have asked them to do just one thing.

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?Write the goals down – put their stake firmly in the ground, begin to research and work out the stages and time frames to get there.

Then follow up with the action needed to realise those dreams.

This is where movement comes in.

Regarding our dreams, aspirations or goals, there are FOUR ways we can move:

1. The Reverse Gear: This is the kind of movement to avoid at all costs. It is moving in the opposite direction to your goal.

I have been guilty of this so many times, especially when trying to lose weight. A huge slab of chocolate or a doughnut with a sugar-laced latte for breakfast is a movement in the opposite direction to my intended goal. Pressing the snooze button when it’s time to get up for my meditation and morning run is another of my reverse gears. I call this the pain of self-sabotage in Pay the Price. The more we do this, the further away it takes us, and the tougher it would be to reach our dreams.

What’s yours?

2. The Sideways Gear. Nobody moves sideways on purpose unless we are trying to make room for another occupant in a bus, lift, meeting, or performance or in some sort of crowded space. But it is possible to move sideways concerning your goals.

Sideways movement is the movements we make that do not take us away from our goal but do not take us closer either.

This is another of my pain spots. This may come as a surprise, but one of the hardest things for me to do is to actually sit down to write. Immediately I sit down, I have the strange and almost uncontrollable desire to suddenly check my emails, and my socials read about the latest news, research some topic, or read a book. Anything but putting pen to paper.

Useful? Yes. Effective? No.

3. The Tangential gear: We’ve all heard of the explorer Christopher Columbus. In 1492, he set sail and thought he’d found a new route to Asia but instead stumbled on the Americas. His logic to sail westward from Europe to get to Asia was sound, but his maths was faulty.

In business, a similar phenomenon is termed ‘scope creep’. It happens when the goal or dream is not properly defined, and so we are continuously moving towards a constantly moving or ill-defined target. When Columbus arrived, he spent months and months sailing from island to island (most likely the Caribbean) and he never found the gold and merchandise he was looking for.

Is your goal or dream properly defined? Is how to get there achievable? Will you know when you’ve gotten there?

4. The Forward gear: In my first book, I elaborate on what I call the ‘honeymoon phase’ which consists of the trinity

a. The Person: you want to get your principles, and your desires right

b. The Purpose: well-researched, recorded, and validated purpose, so you know

you are headed towards a good and worthy destination

c. The Passion: You have the fuel and resources to get you to where you want to be.

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Once you have these nailed down, then you can take steps each day- some steps may equate to a crawl, a jump, or a leap to get you there. But you must always put the car in forward gear.

So, listen to your heart. Not the naysayers.

Go.

Remember, there is joy in movement.

So, remember, we all have dreams, aspirations, and goals. But it takes intentionality to get there.

So, in 2024 what small steps can you begin to take to put your car in permanent forward gear?

I hope this encourages you for the year ahead. Have a lovely holiday, and please get in touch – till we come your way in early January!!