6 habits that will help make your dreams come true

When I was young, I dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur. I discussed this desire with family, friends, and career counselors, making plans at three in the morning in the kitchen of a student dorm. This was the main topic of discussion in the corporate cafeteria, where I took a job in order to survive until the opening of the business. One day I met a friend whom I had not seen for fifteen years. We reminisced about old times, discussed working abroad, retirement plans and leadership roles. When the topics dried up, I mentioned that I was going to open a business. An acquaintance took my hands, looked into my eyes and said: “Rick, you have been talking about this dream for 20 years. Maybe it’s time to do something?”

Walt Disney once said, “The best way to start is to stop talking and get down to business.” Finally, I made my dream come true. Today, I own and run a leadership development consulting company. It was not a wish made on a shooting star that helped me at all. The secret is that I turned the dream into a concrete vision. A vision differs from a dream in that it is structured, purposeful, sustainable, and grounded in the realities of everyday life. It pushes you to action. Six habits will help you move from ephemeral fantasies to real results.

1. Visualize your dreams

Visualization is a technique that creates a desired life through the power of imagination. Simple visualization techniques help people turn dreams into future possibilities. Athletes use visualization to set themselves up for excellence and success in competition. Visualization techniques are also widely used in the business environment for goal setting.

2. Make dreams a priority

One of the tricks that Stephen Covey suggests in The XNUMX Habits of Highly Effective People is to mentally start at the end. To begin strategic work on dreams, you need to be clear about what you want to achieve and give long-term priority to the most important goal. Goals should create some tension, not be too easy. However, they should not be divorced from reality, otherwise they will be impossible to achieve. Imagine a rubber band. There is no tension in the slack tape. Tape that is pulled too tight may break. It is important to set a goal that will not be easy, but achievable. It motivates to work in accordance with the vision.

3. Set intermediate goals

Organizational behavior consultant Warren Bennis once said, “Mountain climbers don’t start straight from the bottom of a mountain. They look where they want to go and then decide where to start.” The same is true for goal setting – when you start with the end result and make a plan of action, you can work from the end to the beginning and set intermediate goals that will move you along the road to the vision. Achieving a goal in small incremental steps is a powerful strategy.

Princeton University economics professor Stephen Morris has put forward a theory that if dominoes were lined up in a row, starting with a five-millimeter one and increasing the size of each next one and a half times, only 29 pieces could topple the Empire State Building.

4. Track your progress

One of the benefits of a structured approach to goal setting and vision is that people can clearly see how each action moves them towards the main goal. It motivates and helps to accelerate. Dreams, on the other hand, are vague in nature, so it is often unclear how to approach them.

5.Get support

Far from reality, dreams that do not give results are usually hidden. A realistic, goal-driven vision is another matter entirely. Joe Yaworsky, founder of the consulting firm Generon International, explains in his book Synchronicity that it is beneficial to openly share your vision with others. People begin to better understand your aspirations and priorities, so they try to contribute to your success.

6. Learn to refuse

Motivational stories convince us that anything can be achieved. But the achievement of the goal directly depends on the current reality. Let go of unrealistic dreams that sap your energy and creativity. Instead, set achievable goals, otherwise the rubber band will keep hitting you in the nose. Never stop dreaming. Dreams are what make us human. They hone our personality and guide us in life.

But being a dreamer and turning dreams into something tangible are fundamentally different things. The ability to achieve realistic goals is one of the key indicators of self-control that every effective entrepreneur possesses.