How to reach your dreams - 5 simple steps

People tell you to follow your dream, become something, achieve something. The cultural norms and expectations in the society that you live in, most likely have what you see as your dream figured out for you. You maybe wouldn't come in here and read if you already figured out things, and already enjoy you dream life.

You can maybe identify typical questions where the aim is to measure your success rate. They pop up in most social settings, some cultures define them as rude. So they have to be packed in with a vague approach. While other cultures allow more direct aimed questions, and approaches to analyse your success.

We get information in all directions on how to find success, and what is successful. But what people often forget to tell you: What real success actually is. Real success can only be defined and achieved by you. What you need to remember is that success is relative, there is no universal understanding of what success is.

I know people from different parts of the world, many successful in ways that are defined by the society they live in. Where ever I go, I see so many clearly defined success criteria. People I would say are clearly identified as intelligent by most people. I observe following blindly norms, even the obviousness that this will not lead them anywhere near success in they would define for themselves.

The world today offers more possibilities, than ever before to be able to follow your dream. Where the world is full of possibilities in all directions, for those who face their fear, leave their comfort zone, grabs the opportunity to reach their dreams, and create their own story.

We live in a time where entrepreneurship is encouraged and supported by almost everyone, everywhere. Governments encourage, teachers are willing, possibilities for learning and developing your talent. Learning skills, and concepts has never been more available. The demand for exceptional skills, skill combinations and various competences have never been greater. And the possibilities to perform these skills anywhere in the world is increasingly present.

So how this fit together?

As you maybe have understood in the direction of the article so far. In todays efficient driven economy, the achievement drive is fuelled according to goals others have placed for you. Your parents, society, the education system, your friends, anyone you talk to in a society you live in will remind you on these fixed success criteria.

Those goals and values, are often what most of us think is what the future will bring. Even these goals towards a defined success are not your own goals. The reality is thats not how the future should or possibly will be.

Reaching goals other people placed for you is no certainty either. The future will demand skills, and talent at a higher level than today. The way of becoming a talent, and a skilled person is to have a passion for what you do. To love it…. to follow your dream. So by following your dream… the chances are probably that you will have a greater success in the future if you do things right. Makes sense?...

Reaching goals other people placed for you is no certainty either. 

5 simple steps to reach your dream

Ok, so you understood my point so far? You define your success. So the next step: Most people get the impression that your dream, or own success definition will come screaming in your face. "This is who you are, this is who you will be !!!".... This is rarely the case for most of us. Your dreams has a tendency to come sneaking on you, is shapes slowly depending on the input you fill your mind with. And it whispers in your ear……listening to this voice can change your life.

It doesn't matter what happens, think of it as a steady process. Many struggle and "hawk" around. Just slow down, and enjoy the process. Life is too short. There might be things that happens in life that forces you to put your life on hold, find the passion that will keep you on track. Learn how to cope with it.

Step 1: Create habits

Habits, the way of creating your own reality. There are people that have the ability to follow the habits towards their goals, no matter what…. But remember being constantly buzzy does not mean that you will be successful. Take your time to observe your surroundings, and work smart not hard. 

A small bush grow into a three, but this does not happened over night, its the result of habits of smart work over a long period of time towards a conscious goal.

If reaching your goals includes getting a certain skill set, create habits towards that goal. And again… remember things will take time. Nothing is done within a day. If that skill set towards your dream includes getting an academic, or technical degree. Identify and create goals towards getting that degree, and create the smart habits towards accomplishing that specific goal in the process.

And remember if that degree is a part of your dream, the degree is only one milestone in reaching that dream. An academic degree and/ or skill sets you learned will in itself will never alone get you anywhere.

Dont rush the process, enjoy the process while it last. Success takes time. It takes 30 years to get 30 years, you can’t rush that process. The same applies for success as a process.

Step 2: Find your environment

What matters is now… this moment. Se the now, take responsibility and move forward. Finding your environment is essential. People strive for happiness, and many would argue that happiness correlates strongly with progress in individual values. 

The world is filled with unhappy, and unsuccessful people that often strive for values that society has planned for them. Values that rarely overlaps with their own values and dreams. Many can even be materially rich, have a comfortable lifestyle and have the specific factors that many see as success in todays achiever society. All this without being successful at all…. , and most importantly they often dont feel happy or successful at all. Create your own path, create your own environment.

Test your imagination to find your environment, to develop your knowledge, skill sets, passion and a platform of things, that will push you towards good habits in the direction of your dreams. An environment can be the people you hang out with, maybe people you have to change. It can be your physical location. It can even be where you find, and have access to information. It can be your own thoughts, and you mindset. See your environment as the collection of the stuff that makes up your surroundings, all the stuff that influences you.

The habits you create in step 1, should be aligned not only with productive habits within your environment to reach smart goals. But also create habits to constantly seek environments that are good for you.

Step 3. Dont make excuses

"Thats in my future", "ill do that in the future"." I see what I have to do to reach my goals, but that will be for another time".

It's no certainty that you will have the possibility to follow your dream in the future. Life has its ways of making no guarantees. So create those habits towards your dream, and be the part of the environment that grows in your direction already today.

Talk and think from a perspective, you are not a CEO, a HR manager, a recruiter, a consultant, an accountant, or an intern. Talk from the perspective of what you do. what your goals are, not your title that someone else have given you.

Sit down and think about what you have today. and what you can do to reach the goal. 

Success is done by creating superior effort, and focused execution. Dicipline and consistency towards your goal is the key. So once you have found that direction, don't make excuses towards maintaining those habits.

It is not a great effort if you manage to make these habits a part of the environment that makes you. This is your passion by then, be true to your passion. Remember, if you make excuses a part of your habits and environment. It becomes a part of you. Excuses are nothing else than uncertainty, this is an uncertainty you should fight.

Step 4. Accept failure

Life will always have ups and downs, accept that as a fact of the reality you live in. And it is important to remember that it is in your downs that you learn. Create habits of learning at the max potential from your mistakes, fail fast and recover fast. 

Dont congratulate yourself to much, or regret yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody elses. Remember that failure is just a part of a set of chances. By learning from failures you reduce the chances for similar failures to happened again, and open your mind for growth and development.

Dont feel guilty if you don't know what to do with your life. Most people I meet don't know what they want to do with their life. Some of the most interesting people i have meet still also dont.

The fear of having a dream, and failing at it is great in all of us. Just having a dream and accept failure as a process towards reaching your dream is the key.

You will fail, that is a certainty. But the key is how your perception of the failure as a resource is. How many times have you taught about something you want to do in your life, a dream that you have? And you talked yourself out of it….Remember, it is when you are uncomfortable in life you learn. So learn ways to include this in your environment, and be comfortable with it.

Dreams change, but finding meaning in life and finding the meaning in your life of who you are, will shape your dreams.

So keep in mind, your dreams are not static either. They will take shape with you, along with your environment and the habits that follow.

Step 5. Find meaning in life

There is no prize out there. We grow up with motivational features, rewards and prices for accomplishments we do. Some get rewards for good grades, rewards in their work for good accomplishments. If you see the big picture, there are no prizes, there are no existing prize you will achieve, reach or stretch towards in life. 

The only prize is the one you create for yourself. To want and to be ambitious is not enough, thats just a desire. To know what you want, and to achieve in that direction towards the values you care for… your dreams should be your goal.

This will enhance meaning in what you do. If all you do is running around and achieving goals, there is nothing more to it then that. The points of goals is to have some kind of sense, some kind of meaning. No one can live a life without a sense of meaning. You got to have a reason for what you do.

If you take your passion, and make it into something. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. By accepting that you get shaped by the habits within your environment, that align with your values. In that way, you are guided by the failures you do along the way within this environment.

This meaning in life does not only make it easier to find your dream and passion, and follow it. It makes it easier for you too self- regulate towards values, goals, success factors and finally dreams.

Finally. So how do this add up as logical?

No clear path on where to start? Well, I haven't mentioned that for obvious fact that there is no fixed solution. Then this article wouldn't be any less success defining, than any of the others in your current environment. Many maybe also influencing you on what success, values and dreams are.

If you dont know how to do it… that doesn’t have to mean that you can not learn. You dont have to be great to start….. But "you have to start to be great", that is a famous phrase many self development coaches uses. And it is true, start somewhere.

If you know your dreams, learn towards the goals to reach them. Develop yourself and on the way become yourself, get more attractive to others as a person, as a partner, as an employee, as a business partner or any other reason in the direction you want along with your self- development.

If you dont know your path, the same rules apply, follow the steps from 1 to 5, and seek to improve them. Learn…. start to learn. Find out who you are, learn more about yourself, your skills and your dreams.

You have maybe neglected, and forgotten yourself for a period time. Remember your dreams as a child, who were you then? Find what you love, love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet. keep looking. Dont be scared of closing your eyes and dream, that is what we all do.

But when you open your eyes you have to see the reality, that is what makes the difference in at least this setting. You have defined the goals along the way, what does it take to reach those goal, and the next ones? What do you have to do to reach those goals? Remember to occasionally also find, and write down the reasons for the goals. Are they aligned with what you try to achieve?

Remember dreams without goals, remains dreams. Dreams without goals are just dreams. And they ultimately lead to your disappointment. Dreams can not be achieved without accomplishments towards a goal. 

Somewhere deep inside, you know what kind of person you were designed to be. You know your strength. If you know you are smart, that not enough. How are you smart? How can you use this towards your goals? Discover yourself, respect your nature, find and follow your dreams and…….Create your own story

Invent yourself, and then reinvent yourself trough the steps….If the reinvention of you changes your dream one day, adapt to that. You can not expect your dreams to be the same, if you have adapted your values so much that you changed to another person.

Its not about victories or losses in life, but truly about creating habits and a mental mindset towards continuous growth. The habits of success. 

And remember, we are who we choose to be.