Dreams or goals?

I have recently had a conversation with my wife about plans, future and… dreams.
In one moment she interrupted me gently and asked:

Honey, how can you talk about dreams?”

I was confused and probably she noticed that, because before I said anything she explained what she had on her mind:

You’ve got no dreams, you’ve got goals.”

Well, even if this statement isn’t true, it made me think about dreams and goals.

Everything starts with a dream...

There’s no action without goal, there’s no goal without an idea. And there’s no idea without a dream.
I truly believe that behind any goal there’s a dream. There’s a someone who wanted something so strongly that they decided to stop dreaming. They started to plan, to think how the dream can be achieved.

By doing so, the dream become something more than a dream. It was no longer a fantasy. It became something real and possible to reach.

The trigger you need

The dream can be a trigger, but not each dream can be changed into a goal.

Before you can do it you need ask yourself if it is even possible. If your dream were to fly, there’s not too many chances to achieve it. However, if it were good enough for you to use paraglider instead flying on your own, you could go for it. In this way, thinking how the dream can be achieved, defining a goal, can redefine your dream. Or at least change it a bit, make it more doable.

Dream is not enough

You can dream about a small house on Bali, your own yacht, three kids or climbing the Seven Summits. You can visualize how it would be if your dream came true. You can almost feel how it would be. You can see yourself in your imagination fulfilled with happiness. And many people stay in that place. Dream remains only a dream.

If you don’t want to count on some lottery win or any fluke, you have to start thinking about your dream as a goal. You have to start planning what steps need to be taken to achieve it.

Dream as a goal

If you decided to make your dream come true, if you are ready to put some effort and make some austerities, it’s the right time to start thinking about your dream as a goal.

First thing you have to do is to make sure it is possible to achieve.
Next you should think of some milestones. Splitting the big achievement into small successes will let you to stay motivated.
Reaching the milestone will be also a good time for some retrospective. Is it still something that I want to fight for? Work on? Maybe priorities changed? Maybe I can achieve the goal in a different way?

Make the dreams come true

Everyone has dreams. Everyone can do something with themselves. Everyone can turn them into goals. Into the purposes they will follow. Yet, not everyone does.

Don’t wait for the moment when your dreams magically became true, change them into your goals and go for it!