We all have numerous dreams and goals. Some goals are big, some are small and some pop up and are immediately dismissed due to lack of time, energy and/or resources.
Let me ask you this, “How many of your dreams and goals have been with you for a year or more? How many of these goals or dreams are untouched, meaning you are no closer to achieving them than the day they were created?
Many of our dreams and goals are just a pie in the sky. They stick with us year after year yet we never get any closer to achieving them.
Why is that?
I think there are two reasons.
1) Many of our goals seem impossible; they are too big. For example, my husband and I will need to move to a bigger house in the next couple of years. Yet a two bedroom house in the East Bay (near San Francisco) will cost a minimum of $800,000! This means we need 20% down and it will double or triple our current mortgage payment. My husband and I make a good combined salary but we pay $1,500 a month for daycare, plus formula, diapers, 529 account, food for 2 dogs, etc. We are thinking about having a second kid and their daycare cost would eat the rest of our monthly savings. So how would we afford double the mortgage payment with daycare costs? It seems impossible. We save as much as possible every month but the goal seems impossible so I keep ignoring it. Obviously this is not going to help us achieve our goal.
Remember, hope is not a plan and someday is not a date on a calendar. – Anderson Cooper and Stephen Covey.
2) Many times we don’t know if our goals and dreams are possible and if they might be possible, where do we start? Here is one of my dreams: I want to double my income and work fewer hours. Is this dream even possible?! I have no idea. So it remains a dream and I am no closer to achieving it than the day I dreamt which was many years ago.
How to change this?
There are two things you can start doing to make your goals less elusive, maybe even achievable.
1) Come up with a plan. What are all the steps you would need to take to reach this goal/dream? For some goals/dreams, this can be really hard. Sometimes the dream seems so big, I can’t even come up with steps I would need to take to get there. Also, many of us do not have any practice reaching for something ginormous or something outside the norm so thinking outside the box is extra challenging. Regardless of the struggle, can you come up with any steps that would help you achieve this dream or goal? Can you break those steps down into smaller steps? However rough or incomplete, you need a plan. Without a plan, your dreams and goals will remain elusive. Create a plan, no matter how insufficient.
Remember, hope is not a plan and someday is not a date on a calendar. – Anderson Cooper and Stephen Covey.
2) Work towards your goal every single day. Say you want to chop down a tree. If you took three swings at that tree every single day, that tree would eventually come down. The same is true for your dreams and goals. Can you take a few swings towards your goals every single day?
These swings should not monopolize your day. Time wise, what is manageable for your? How many minutes can you allocate towards your dreams every day? You want this number to be low. You want this number to be so low that it is almost impossible for you to skip it. For me, that is 10 minutes. I can absolutely spend 10 minutes a day working towards a few of my dreams and goals. Will this be a slow process? Absolutely! However, if I spend 10 minutes a day times 365 days a year, that is 3,650 minutes or over 60 hours a year working towards my dreams and goals. Lets say I only take these actions during the week and have the weekend off. That is still 2,610 minutes or over 43 hours a year. 43 hours turning my pie in the sky into action, into reality!!!!
If ten minutes a day is too much for you, then do 5 minutes or 3 minutes. It doesn’t matter. What matters is this number is easily achievable every single day. You want to make your action steps so easy that it is almost impossible to fail.
So, what time allocation works for you? What will you do in that time?
Now, get to it!
Inspiration for this post came from my favorite podcast, The Empowered Mama by Lisa Druxman episode 180, Your Power 3. https://fit4mom.com/podcast/your-power-3
