Have you ever had a conversation with a little child about their dreams?
If you have, you will realize they have some amazing and big dreams.
As an adult you would indulge them but listen with doubtfulness that unfortunately, when the child grows up they will also adopt and then forget about the big dreams, they had as a child.
Think about you, think back to your childhood days.
What are some dreams you carried back then?
What are some “big ideas” you had?
Do you still have it now?
If you don’t then you would have done like the average person and felt it was silly to think such big dreams and simply abandoned them.
. . .
I recently met an acquaintance and she asked me how I was doing, I responded “I am good, working on my dreams”.
She seemed surprise and asked me about my divorce and I told her my divorce had presented me with the opportunity for remembering long forgotten dreams, which I am now pursuing.
Her facial expression was incredulous at my response, and I somehow believed she left the conversation thinking I wasn’t too sane.
The point here is, you have to learn to dream again and believe in achieving whatever you dream.
However, if you just dream again and take no action, dreaming will be just that — a dream. It is important to work on your dream and just how do you do that you may ask?
It is simple, yet difficult at the same time, you need to take action.
“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” -Colin Powell
I know you have heard that statement before, but really we all have various reasons for not taking action.
I hear it when conducting sessions with divorced persons — well you know I am divorced, I am a single parent, I have to work two jobs, I have to help the children with homework, and so the list goes on.
Please don’t misunderstand for a second what I am trying to get across to you. It is not that I am minimizing the multiple roles you do on a daily basis, because it is indeed difficult. What I am saying somehow, somewhere you have to find a way to take the action. The good news is most of us are presented with an excellent opportunity at this point to take action.
No matter where you are in the world you would have been impacted by the global pandemic of the COVID 19 virus, and for the most part, a large percentage of us have basically been — at home. Yes, your entire family may be with you and yes it is a time of heightened emotions in this time of uncertainty. However, in the midst of this health crisis. There is an opportunity.
The opportunity you possess in great abundance is the gift of TIME.
You may lose income, a partner, a friend, but these are all things you can regain as painful as it may be to lose initially.
However, the gift of time is often undervalued and it is one of the most important gifts because you can never regain lost time. So I have a very important question for you now.
What have you done with the time while you’re at home?
Yes, you may be concerned about stagnated income, loss of income and the financial impact of such.
Why not then fuel that energy into pursuing that big dream of yours by taking the TIME NOW to take action on it.
Quite often our dreams will present us the financial independence or put us on a path to achieving such. Yet there is one key thing that delays us taking action and that is PROCRASTINATION.
Think you have time?
I have a realization check for you.
If you are worried about if you have a job, or if your earnings may be stagnated, the reality is you don’t have any more time for PROCRASTINATION!!
Use the time you have and take ACTION NOW.
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone”― Pablo Picasso
. . .
You may think with the added responsibility of your family, you are unable to spare the time.
These are some simple strategies you can use to get time each day.
Breakdown the steps towards your goal. Do a little each day. Quite often you may never get towards action, if you think only about all the things that must be done to achieve the goal. Take the entire goal and break down into daily or weekly steps on your way towards the goal, as you look at the smaller steps, it will be easier to manage daily.
Devote the minimum possible time to start . In pursuing a goal, we often tend to be ambitious and want to see the entire day in day out working on the goal. However, if you are a single mother or father, this may not be practical.
Look at your individual situation and determine the amount of time you can comfortably commit to each day.
What is the best time available to you with minimal or no disruption?
You may realize the best time is after the children go to bed or early in the morning before they get up. It will still involve a sacrifice as it would mean rather than relaxing you have to devote this time. Think about what you want to achieve and keep that as your motivation when it gets tough. Heck a look alone at what is the economic after effect of this pandemic should be enough motivation to get you going.
Plan ahead. At the end of the time spent working on your goal, literally use pen and paper and write in advance what action you are going to take the next day, so that rather than getting distracted, you come with clear objectives of the time you want to spend working on your goals.
As you cover the list of things for each day, you will feel a sense of accomplishment that you are using your time wisely and taking action towards the goal you always dreamed of, and before you know it, you will find more time.
In every crisis there is opportunity presented, rather than increase your anxiety with constantly being bombarded with news about the pandemic, use the opportunity — TIME to take action towards your goal. Your very future may depend on the action you take today!!!!
“The only thing that will stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you.”– Tom Bradley
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This post was previously published on Change Becomes You and is republished here with permission from the author.
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