How to keep chasing after your dreams
??Clotilde Bouaoud
Impact enabler | Performance & Leadership Coach | People & Ops Generalist | For entrepreneurs & businesses leading the change and breaking the rules | Podcast Host, Public Speaker
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Have you ever felt super excited and confident after getting a new dream in your head, just to end up feeling full of doubt and overwhelm a couple of weeks later? Have you ever given up on a dream because people around you doubted your ability to succeed or did not give you the support you needed? Have you ever stopped chasing after a dream because you could not see the results happening fast enough and got discouraged?
Humans are dreamers by nature. We are meant to be imaginative, creative and inventive. Think about it, when you were a kid, you probably created stories and believed in the impossible! Unfortunately, we lose it when we grow up. We get formatted and put in square boxes. We get taught to be more realistic, more responsible, more skeptical. We are pushed through overly structured education and work environment where big ambitions and dreams are not encouraged.
The problem with that is that we get used to feel disengaged. We train ourselves to suppress the things that would make us happy and tone down any excitement to not get disappointed. We go fast to negative beliefs, fear and doubt, instead of playing full out and engaging. We delay going after a dream because we convinced ourselves there are other more important things to do before. We basically miss opportunities to improve our lives significantly and make ourselves proud of what we’ve achieved.
I have experienced the harsh realities of chasing after a long-term dream since starting my own business last year. The ups and downs. The moments where things are not moving in the right direction or far too slow for my taste. The super exciting days followed by dips in the deserts and cricket sounds. The people doubting that I could make enough money to survive as a coach or just telling me I could always go back to my old life if I failed. The periods where the dream and the life that should come with it seem to slide further away. The rollercoaster is real when you are working towards a long-term dream and the temptations to give up numerous!
Being a dream achiever and not just a dreamer require some extra levels of commitment and consistency from you. And I want to help you there because I know it is not easy to figure out how to keep the dream alive and turn it into a reality.
These are 3 daily practices I have found helpful to stay on track and achieve what you already know you deserve!
Habit n°1 – Work on your mindset daily
Your “dream-chaser” mindset deserves a daily workout! Your biggest ambitions don’t get achieved in one day and it is essential to keep connection with your vision and motivation on a daily basis. It is also crucial to check where if your mindset is empowering you or not: Do you feel engaged and confident? Do you know where you are going? Do you believe you can be successful? If not, how can you re-engage and reframe what you are going through?
3 aspects to look at specifically to keep the dream alive:
#1 – Think journey and not outcome
We get so focused sometimes on the perfect outcome we want to bring to life that we forget to embrace the journey we are going through. Difficult to manage a journey with ups and downs properly if you are not aware of what is going on! The best practices here: connect with your goals daily and visualize your journey ahead; celebrate every step you made in the right direction (even the little ones) and how far you’ve come already; honor every struggle as an opportunity to learn and grow!
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#2 – Increase your emotional attachment to success
Feeling deeply motivated and knowing exactly why achieving this dream is important for you requires some deep thinking. Having a daily conversation with yourself about all the reasons why you must make it happen can do wonders! Go on a positive rant - How will your life change for the better? What is the cost of not chasing after it or failing? What emotions and feelings are you trying to create by bringing this goal to life? What will be the benefits for you, other people around you, or people you are trying to help?
#3 – Step into your future identity
Sometimes the future might seem far away and thinking from the point of view of your future self who has achieved the dream already can be super helpful. What would this person tell you about your journey? What actions would your future self recommend you to take next? How bold and courageous would he/she push you to be? What would he/she remind you or tell you to believe?
Habit n°2 – Prioritize action
The fastest way to kill a dream – not taking any actions to put it in motion and keep it in motion! I hear people say sometimes “I cannot start my dream right now because of this other thing… I don’t feel ready for it… I have this vision and I want to make it happen exactly perfect like that…”. These are big mistakes!
Momentum really matters for motivation and resilience to keep going. Actions, even imperfect and messy ones, should be something you are obsessed about on a daily basis! They definitely deserve space in your calendar.
Always ask yourself: What is ONE action I can take today that is helping move towards my dream? It does not have to be a big one – sometimes a simple small decision, an activity to book in your calendar, a conversation with someone who has already done the work can be enough. Or maybe you need to block some time to do some research or get training on a specific skill you need to advance.
Think as well about how to organize your time better so you can prioritize your dreams and find a positive balance to stay engaged. What are activities that are totally distracting you and not leading you anywhere that you could totally remove? What are things you could reprioritize or put on hold for now to make space? How much of your calendar right now is based on tasks that are passion-driven and 100% aligned with your dream, versus boring but necessary tasks?
#3 – Get social
Working on your mindset and taking daily actions are essential but can be a heavy journey if you are travelling on your own. Being proactive in finding the right people to support you and believe in you is one of the biggest gifts you can give to yourself!
Resilience, patience and struggle navigation is much easier when you have people around you who understands what you are going through and can cheerlead you. Let’s not mention how well they can help you celebrate and stay focused as well! It is likely that the people in your current life might not be the ones who can support you the best, so go find your tribe where it hangs out. Is there a Facebook or LinkedIn group of like-minded people you could join? Is there someone you know that could mentor you? Are there networking events worth attending?
Another important aspect of getting social about your dreams is to share them! When you say something out loud, it becomes more of a reality. The more you can explain what you are trying to achieve and why, the easier it becomes to be in the right mindset and feel engaged in the journey. This also allows you to get an extra layer of accountability if you need that. And you are also opening more opportunities because you give a chance to people to know exactly how they can help you. Maybe they have some tips, maybe they have someone in their networks who can assist. You would be surprised how people are happy to be part of someone else’s dream creation.?
Did you find this article insightful? Let me know in the comments!
Clo - Your Expanded Coach