A Goal is a Dream with a Deadline

"When I grow up, I want to be a rock star and an MLB player," dreams my 10 year old son. We've all had some kind of big big dream. Do you remember any of your dreams? To be a Disney princess and have big twirly dresses, to sing like Belle on Beauty and the Beast,and to be a teacher. These were a few of my dreams.

There's something instilled in us to dream and dream big. Somewhere along the way, we were told that dreaming big was unrealistic. If everyone believed that lie, there'd be no such thing as Justin Bieber and no such thing as the NFL. Their current life all started as a dream.

1. Start Dreaming

Get a piece of paper and a pencil. Then, start writing down some dreams; dreams for you, your business, your family, your health. What do you really really want? What do you want to see happen in those areas in the next month, year or years? Nothing is too lofty. Just keep writing.

2. Visualize your Dream

Now, next to those dreams, write why you really really want it. What will it feel like to have your dream come true? How would things change if these dreams came true? Identifying why you really really want something triggers an emotional response and that emotional response is often what motivates us into action.

3. Breakdown the Big Dream

Here comes the hard part. Take 1 of your dreams and write it on a new sheet of paper at the top. Now work backwards. If that dream will take 5 years, you'll have a lot to work back from. For practice, pick a dream that is more short-term. For example, "I'd like to increase my fan-base on Facebook to 1000 fans by January 31st." That's one of my goals being that we just started a new business. Working backwards from there, I say, "I will have 500 fans by January 15th."

4. Turning your Dream into a Goal with Deadlines

You have now taken a dream and given it a deadline. It's a measurable dream so now it's a goal. Write the deadlines in your calendar. You want to have them in front of you all of the time. No, they won't magically happen just by scheduling them. We'll cover how we plan on reaching those goals and making the dreams our reality in they next 3 blog posts.

5. Who will encourage you to chase your dreams?

Last thing, write down the name or names of at least two people in your life who will believe in you and hold you accountable. Sometimes you're able to do something amazing in life simply because someone else thought you could. Write down when you will tell them your dream and then do it.

We have one life. You have passions, you have dreams. Let's go get 'em!

I’m a mama of 3 little boys and a wife to a bubble boy, a forever optimist, my biggest fan. I am also a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and group fitness director at a club in my hometown.  Fitness was a hobby and then a career when I found out that I could have a job that is centered around encouraging others like you!  I found that fitness was an in-road to people’s lives and hearts.