Did you have fun dreaming BIG? I certainly did. But isn’t it interesting how it can be almost difficult to let yourself drift out of the dream circle of practicality into audacity?
I use the word audacity because much of the human world tends to scold us when it believes our desires are too lofty. After all, who are we to think we can have and enjoy such things as riches and luxury?
I’ll tell you who we are. We are children of a rich and friendly universe, a universe that does not intend us to struggle—just as a river does not struggle to flow or the sun to rise. We are to be at ease, joyful and enjoying all the bounty the universe has provided. There is no limit of grains of sand or grass, or leaves on the trees, and there are no limits on what we can enjoy and partake in. We just need to be clear that blessings are everywhere for us to enjoy, use and share.So, let’s make your Dream Genie dance! Ready?
Top Strategy #2: Review your Master Dream List. Now I want you to write next to each dream if it is a short-term attainable dream or a long-term attainable dream. If you are 95 and dream of being an internationally renowned ice skater, donning Olympic gold medals, then you need to put that under NL…next life! So that will be very, very long term.
For the sake of this exercise, pick two short-term goals that can be accomplished in 90 days, and one long-term goal that can be accomplished this year. (You can achieve many more of your dreams. I just want to give you a starting place.)
Now, I want you to take each dream and put it up against the SMART goal template.
Ask yourself these questions.
1. Is my dream/goal Specific? If not, make it crystal clear.
a. (no) I want to lose weight. b. (yes) I will achieve my ideal weight of 135 lb. by xyz date.2. Is my dream/goal Measurable? How will I track it?
a. Weigh in every week and track on a chart.
3. Is this dream/goal Attainable? See ice skater reference.
a. Yes b. No
4. Is this dream/goal Realistic?
a. If you are hoping to lose 100 lb. in 30 days, this is not a realistic dream/goal. You’ll need to move it to long-term goals, implementing realistic but aggressive outcomes each month. Don’t set yourself up for failure by being unrealistic about what is possible. I want my book published tomorrow, but the process would never be able to be completed in that time frame.
5. Is my dream/goal Tangible or intangible?
a. Dream/goals can be either. But you need to identify how you will know, or what will be the tangible evidence that you’ve reached your dream/goal. If we don’t set a point at which to aim, chances are we will miss the mark. So you need to determine the criteria for assessing when the dream has been achieved.
After asking and answering these questions, you will have determined if your dream/goals are SMART! Now, you need to ask yourself the hardest question: WHY? WHY is the realization of this dream/goal important?
YOU NEED A BIG WHY to be ultimately successful. If you’re trying to quit smoking and your biggest why is that you should…then chances are you are not going to have the outcome you are hoping for. However, if your WHY is to live to see your children grown, to see your grandbabies, to live without higher chances of cancer and sickness…then all of a sudden your WHY becomes a lot bigger.
SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON YOUR WHY. You won’t climb a mountain unless there is something wonderful waiting for you at the top…even if it’s the unworldly view limited to just a few.
Tomorrow, we’ll focus on taking a goal and “chunking” it down, or breaking it down into easy-to-complete steps so that you can move forward without feeling overwhelmed.
After all, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. And we want to narrow the gap dramatically between the points until there is no longer any distance at all!
Tune in tomorrow for Top Strategy #3: Going the Distance One Baby Step at a Time.
Cheers,
Kathleen
Ah, SMART goals! I have a feeling I'll be working on mine soon. Thanks for the preview!
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