Dreams

Dreams

By Rev. Steven Van Meter

March 2014 Blog

Do you have a dream deep in your heart that you want to pursue? If you do, have you taken the first step necessary to achieve it? Taking the first step is perhaps the most difficult thing to do in achieving a dream. There are lots of mental obstacles that might make it difficult to take that first step.

Here are some “don'ts” to help you solve the mental obstacles:

1. Don’t wait until the situation is perfect. You can’t wait until the situation is perfect because the situation will never be perfect, it is perfect right now. No matter how or when you see it; there will always be something that make you think again.
   
   
2. Don’t wait until everybody agrees with you. Just like you shouldn’t wait for the situation to be perfect, you shouldn’t wait until everybody agrees with your idea. There will always be opposition, and that is perfectly normal. If you wait until there is a consensus, you will never get started.
   
   
3. Don’t wait until your skill is refined. We might think that we need to have good skills before we start doing something new. But the truth is, you will learn much more by doing than by waiting. Doing allows you to hone your skills much faster than just learning the theory.
   
   

Here are some more things you “should” do to successfully take the first step:

1. Believe in your dream. Believing in your dream is essential to get the motivation you need to achieve it. You simply can’t fool your own heart, but fake it till you make it. Deep down inside you know whether or not you can believe in your dream. Is the dream worth pursuing? Is it something that you want to pour your heart into? If it wasn’t you wouldn’t have gotten this far!
   
   
2. Visualize your dream as a completed idea! Imagine – in detail – how the world will look like when your dream comes true! Visualizing your dream as completed will energize you because you can then see how the world changes for the better and how people live a happier life because of your dream. Feel the energy and excitement right now!
   
   
3. Don’t Expect it to be too a hard road. While it’s not impossible, achieving your dream is not always easy. But don’t expect a difficult way. Releasing your expectations from the beginning will make the journey much easier. That way, you won’t be surprised and lose heart if you encounter obstacles along the way.
   
   
4. Take one bite at a time. Your dream may be big one (and it should be!) and that might make it seem overwhelming. But, like the saying goes, “When eating an elephant take one bite at a time.” So take a small portion of it that you can handle. Think about something that you can do within one week, and then think about what you can do today. It could be as simple as calling a more experienced friend to ask some questions.
   
   

There is no doubt that you can eat the elephant. But the key is to take small bites, early and often.