Top Strategy #7 of 7: Turning Dreams into Reality--How to Believe You Will

Top Strategy #7: Clap Your Hands Three Times if You Believe!

I began this week’s blog series, Top 7 Strategies for Narrowing the Gap between Dreams and Reality, with a quote from Paul J. Meyer. I repeat it here, as it is the crux of turning dreams into reality.

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon…must inevitably come to pass.”

Up until this point, we have focused on identifying dreams and turning them into desired results as SMART goals. We’ve also broken down the steps necessary to achieve the chosen goals, so that you can start to take positive action and steps without being overwhelmed and discouraged. This is the ACT part of Paul J. Meyer’s quote. And continuing to take all the steps required is the continuation of the action necessary to make your dreams inevitably come to pass.

We’ve also touched on “what you sincerely believe” in our discussions on your internal dialogue and the reprogramming of your negative thinking into positive thinking. If you don’t believe you can ride a bike, you will not be able to ride a bike. You must believe that it is possible and you must believe it with all your heart. I am not talking about WISHING; I am talking about believing. And if you don’t believe that the dream or dreams you’ve identified will happen, then I’m telling you right now, they will not.

The Affirmations Guide & Worksheet on my website will help your mind begin to believe if you currently don’t. But if you’re deciding to attain dreams because you think you should, or someone else thinks you should, you are not going to be successful. I recommend abandoning such dreams for others that are truly yours and in which you sincerely believe. Please get your free worksheet at http://www.kathleenastonintl.com/.

One topic we have not discussed is visualization. “What you vividly imagine…” 

When I think about my life and the journey I am on, I can actually see myself at the end, where the dream goal is real—so real I could reach out and touch it. I can see myself looking out onto the ocean from my home office window. I know exactly what that room looks like. And when I go shopping for my last house, that room will be in it. This I believe. I have seen it. I ardently desire it! I see myself running my business ten years from now, I know what it provides me and I have no doubt that it will be exactly that successful, or even more so. I have no doubts about what my future holds, because I can see it and I believe it to be true.

When we began the process of awakening your Dream Genie, chances are you began to see with your mind’s eye a picture of that goal being achieved; maybe it was clear, maybe fuzzy. Your last step to dream realization is to visualize every day, as often as you can, yourself at the point where your dream is realized. This will inevitably come to pass. It is destined to be. If you believe, clap your hands three times and begin.

It has been such a blessing to share this series with you. I look forward to posts regarding this blog and to hearing about your success. I’m also happy to answer any questions if you have them.

Cheers,

Kathleen

FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTARY 20-MINUTE COACHING SESSION, E-MAIL: info@kathleenastonintl.com.  Or, call 1.888.447.1911.

Top Strategy #6 of 7: Turning Dreams into Reality: Silencing the Gremlins In Your Head

Top Strategy #6:  Silencing the Negative Self-Talk and Destructive Gremlins in Your Head.

If you’ve been following along and completing the steps I’ve outlined, you now have three dreams fleshed out and ready to be realized. Maybe you’ve already aligned all the tools and resources you need, and maybe you’ve even taken your first few steps. It feels so good, doesn’t it?

GOOD: That’s what I want you to sit and feel. How does it feel in your body? Do you have a sense of excitement? I hope so.

Now, I want you to sit with this feeling of “good” because on a day soon, maybe when you’re tired or under the weather, that negative self-talk—the sabotaging, self-confidence-eating Gremlins in your head—are going to try to wreak havoc on your dreams. And you need to remember that FEELING of GOOD so you can go back, sit down and re-access it, fill your heart and soul up with it, so the decietful, undermining gremlins of negative self-talk don't defeat you!

If your goal is to lose weight, maybe you’ll slip and have a brownie. That’s all the Gremlin needs to start a self-defeating dialogue with your conscious mind. “See, you can’t do this. Why bother? Really, just have another brownie, or the whole pan for that matter.” And many times, internal self-talk will be harsher than that.

Remember, the only thing you can really control in this world is YOUR THOUGHTS and YOUR ACTIONS. But thoughts drive actions, so it is of utmost importance that when your negative conversation starts to spin, you go to a quiet place and practice overriding that negative conversation with a positive one.

Example: The month of January for me, personally, is overstuffed with big, bold accomplishments I have decided on. It is one month of incredible dedication and focus that I need to give to my business to reach the next level of success, which is what I ardently desire and sincerely believe I am supposed to do.

Yesterday, I found myself thinking, “You’ll never get this all done.” But because I am practiced at overcoming negative self-talk, my inner voice of self-parenting kicked in, beat the negative talk and emotions away, and replied, “Kathleen, this is going to be such an amazing, wonderful month. I am so excited! And when this month is complete you are going to be so ecstatic! And as a reward, make a plan to get away for a few days in the beginning of February as a celebration of all that you are going to accomplish!”

What am I going to do? Make reservations for the spa I love in Connecticut! No baby, no dogs, no noise!

If you need some help with this, and that begins with writing positive affirmations, go to my website at http://www.kathleenastonintl.com/ and download my Affirmations Guide & Worksheet. It’s free and will help you develop positive statements to override habitual negative self-talk.

Tune in tomorrow for Top Strategy #7: Clap Your Hands Three Times if You Believe!

Cheers,

Kathleen

Top Strategy 4 of 7: Collecting the Tools You Need For Dream Fulfillment

Top Strategy #4: Collecting the Tools and Resources You Need for Dream Attainment.

OK! We’re making progress! You’ve awoken you inner Dream Genie. You’ve reviewed you Master Dream List. You’ve evaluated your dreams to see if they are short or long term. And you’ve transferred two short-term 90-day dreams and one long-term yearlong dream into the SMART goal format.

And most importantly, you've discovered your BIG WHY--your important, passionate reasons for why this dream/goal must be achieved!

Top Strategy #4:

Now it’s time to review and align the tools and resources you need to achieve your SMART goal.

1.       If your dream goal is not SMART, you may want to put it away for now and choose another dream goal to focus on for the time being.

2.       If your dream is SMART, great! Let’s make a list of all the tools and resources you need.

a.       Which resources and tools are already at your disposal?

b.      What tools and resources do you need to gather?

                                                               i.      Mark down STEP ONE of your goal: gathering all the tools and resources.

3.       If you are trying to quit smoking, one step may be speaking with your doctor and family. These are people who need to know about the goal and can lend you support. You may also need tools, such as an online smoking cessation program, or products like nicotine replacements.

4.       You want to make sure you don’t start down the path of your SMART goal without having the necessary tools and resources. You would not set out for a road trip across the country without your map or GPS, cell phone, supplies, etc. Don’t start your dream attainment unprepared, or chances are you will get lost!

Tune in tomorrow for:

Top Strategy #5: Avoiding Sinkholes and Quicksand on Your Journey to Dream Attainment.

Cheers,

Kathleen

Top Strategy #3: Going the Distance One Baby Step at a Time.

One of the top reasons that people do not attain their desired results is that they become completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of the dream/gaol itself. This is especially true of big, bold, long-term goals with big, wonderful outcomes.

The most effective solution to this challenge is to break down the big goal or results into tiny goals or steps. Then accomplishing the single step becomes the goal or the desired result for any given day, and the feeling of impossibility subtly fades away. Meanwhile, every little step is moving you closer to the attainment of the ultimate goal and dream you desire.  How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Let’s go back to weight loss. It can be overwhelming to think about losing a lot of weight. “How will I ever do that? It’s impossible? Why even try?” This is the negative self-talk that should be your trigger to "break it down" into small, attainable actions--itsy, bitsy baby steps!

Let's say you have to lose 25 lb., let's break it down into the weight you want to lose every week, realistically and healthily, then all of a sudden it is manageable. So, let’s say that to be healthy you desire to lose 1–2 pounds a week. Now that is doable. That is a goal you can accomplish in 12 weeks if you're dedicated. And that will move you forward. Doing this process with any goal is the key to its attainment. 

So get started breaking down each of your selected dream goals into steps. And put in every step, no matter how small. Then start to review those steps as the active goal of the moment. Ahh…doesn’t that feel better?

Tune in tomorrow for Top Strategy #4: Collecting the Tools and Resources You Need for Dream Attainment.

Cheers,

Kathleen

Strategy 1 of 7: Awaken Your Inner Dream Genie Before She Turns to Dust!

Top Strategy #1:  Reawaken Your Inner Dream Genie Before She Turns to Dust in the Bottle

To be able to realize a dream, you must be able to imagine it.  You must be able to see it happening so clearly, just as you imagined yourself flying to the moon when you were five years-old.  This may seem simple. But as adults, our dream machines are rusty.  Starting them up again can be a slow process. But it is critical to believing, once again, that anything, ANYTHING, is possible.

The first step to building up your atrophied dream muscles is to make a new dream list. OK, hear me here.  This is a “no-holds-barred, cut-loose, anything you could possibly want” dream list.  It’s fine to have things like a new car, or new carpeting. But, I really implore you to think like your inner five-year old.  I want YOU to want it all! Then write it down.  Allow yourself the pleasure of extravagant desires.  Allow yourself the gift of imagining life without any obstacles, barriers or real-world limitations.

It is only by allowing yourself to fully dream again, that you will stumble across the lost dreams of your passion, or your inner longings and true purpose.  If you do not allow yourself this luxury, you may ultimately find that you are aiming at dreams that are imposed on you by another … and that don’t truly belong to you at all.

Here are just a few things that are on my dream list: 

·         Have a full-time housekeeper, cook and gardener

·         Have a driver to take me everywhere I need to go

·         Travel to four exotic destinations a year, once every quarter

·         Reach and impact 1 million women in a positive way

Now, it’s your turn.  Get out the paper … get pretty paper or fun paper and a great pen.  Then just write whatever comes into your mind … reach high, reach wide, reach for everything you ever imagined. I want BIG, BOLD, AUDACIOUS DREAMS HERE PEOPLE!

Please let me know all the new dreams that you awaken!  Tomorrow, we’ll be exploring how to take those dreams and put them into a master goal list!  Boy, this is going to be fun!

TUNE IN TOMORROW: Monday, January 3, 2011 FOR:

Top Strategy #2:  Are You the Master of Your Goals OR Are You Executing Someone Else’s?

See you then!

Kathleen

7 Top Strategies for Narrowing the Gap between Dreams and Reality

What you vividly imagine, ardently believe, sincerely desire, and enthusiastically act upon…must inevitably come to pass! --- Paul J. Meyer

Never have I found a statement to be quite as true as the above quote from success and transformation leader, Paul J. Meyer.  It four key elements of visualization, belief, desire and action are the quintessential components that drive the realms of one’s reality and dreams together, fusing them  forever and breathing life into the vapor of a thought that existed at one point as a mere fantasy of consciousness.

It is upon these magnificent four points of visualization, belief, desire and action that I have built these life-changing 7 Top Strategies for Narrowing the Gap between Dreams and Reality.  And over the course of the coming week, I will share with you an overview of each strategy on which you may reflect and digest as you make your passionate plans for your own dream fulfillment in 2011.

As children, we have absolutely no problem envisioning ourselves as Queen of the Castle.  As we bounce around on little feet, we are exuberant and alive with the many dreams we entertain hourly.  We believe, as we are often told, that we can become anything we want.  We are delighted when our parents and adult role models nod at our dreams of being an astronaut or rock star.  We are all in agreement, children and adults alike.

Then something happens.  We start to grow and suddenly our beliefs, that we can be anything, are passively resisted by the adults within our sphere of influence.  We hear phrases such as, “Well, you know, not many people who play music really get to be rock stars. That’s not real life, Sally.  It’s just nice to dream.”

The adult resistance to our higher ideals becomes more aggressive with every birthday that passes. Finally, with a sledgehammer it is hit home: dreams are just that--wild, fun, fantastic daydreams—and nothing more. We are told to be practical. To get our heads out of the clouds. To come back to earth.  And sadly, that is the beginning of the loss of our dream capabilities and our connection to and belief in what is truly possible.

TUNE IN TOMORROW FOR:

Top Strategy #1:  Reawaken Your Inner Dream Genie Before She Turns to Dust in the Bottle

See you then!

Kathleen